La Jolla

La Jolla is a San Diego neighborhood known for high end houses and beautiful beaches. It kind of makes sense that this tropical cocktail has a brandy base. It makes even more sense to use cognac when suggesting luxury. For this cocktail I used Remy Martin's 1738 cognac blend.

The cocktail also calls for creme de bananes, which I don't use and refuse to buy. Instead, I grabbed MurLarkey's banana whiskey and added a half tsp. of sugar to sweeten the drink since banana whiskey doesn't have sugar like creme de bananes.

It worked out well. I especially liked how much stronger La Jolla tasted with the banana whiskey and the whiskey notes it gave off. You can't miss the cognac either.

• 2 oz. brandy (Remy Martin 1738 used)
• 1 oz. creme de bananes (MurLarkey banana whiskey and 1/2 tsp. sugar used)
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Champagne Cup

This is an easy champagne drink to make if you have cognac and curacao around. It is light and refined, like a cafe cocktail enjoyed in Paris. I kept thinking about the drinks you find in Paris along the Champ Élysées now. You'll find fortified wine or champagne with mint and fruit in them. This is light drinking, Paris style.

• 1/2 oz. cognac (Remy Martin 1738 cognac used)
• 1/2 oz. dry curacao
• orange slice
• mint sprig 
• champagne

 Build drink in a wine glass with cognac and curacao and a single ice cube. Stir until the cube dissolves. Top with champagne and garnish with the orange slice and mint sprig.

Baltimore Bracer

What's up with Baltimore that it gets so many egg drinks to its name? There's the Baltimore Bracer and the Baltimore Eggnog (one I'm looking forward to making this winter.) The Bracer is pretty simple and rewarding. Pernod goes great with cognac and egg white, it is a changeable liqueur that is thick but also light and easy to whip into a froth if there are proteins in the drink. It is a clear green shade but it becomes opaque and yellow when mixed with ice. This drink takes advantage of all of that and the anise flavor of Pernod to give you this classically French colonial style cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (I recommend cognac like Remy Martin 1738)
• 1 oz. Pernod or anisette 
• 1 egg white

Shake all ingredients in a shaker without ice until frothy. Add ice and shake to cool. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  

French '75'

The original French '75' cocktail seems to have been intended to pack a major punch. You won't see it served in a highball glass like this in restaurants, mostly because this much cognac and champagne amounts to two expensive and potent drinks in one. Presumably no one would pay such a steep price for one drink, and bar guests would get fall-down-drunk pretty quick if these were served.

So make this one at home. It's still as refreshing as it was in New Orleans before prohibition hit, and it is just as intoxicating as ever now. Good cognac really amounts to a richer and more interesting drink, as does the use of quality champagne. Then you are really pushing this drink into a super deluxe category of cocktails. It might easily be possible to order a Remy Martin Louis XIII French '75' with a very rare vintage champagne and pay somewhere around $700 dollars for it. But Remy Martin Louis XV and cava will do just fine for me.

• 2 oz. of cognac
• 1 tbsp. sugar syrup
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• champagne or sparkling wine
• lemon twist

Combine cognac, lemon juice and sugar in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass full of fresh ice. Top with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist. 

Cognac Coupling

Cognac is France's national spirit. It is to France as Bourbon is to the U.S. and scotch is to Scotland. Unlike whiskey, it is made of grapes (the juice peels, seeds and stems) fermented and distilled and aged. It is aged in barrels that formerly held wines, ports, and sherries. That is why it combines well with tawny port, which provides a nice foam when shaken. But the nutty tasting port is less important in the flavor of this cocktail as the absinthe or Pernod and the Peychaud's bitters, which really balance this drink away from being overly sweet.

I used Remy Martin 1738 for the cognac, which makes for a very sherry-forward first sip. I also reduced the proportion of absinthe from 1/2 oz. Pernod to 1 tsp. Absente Refined (a stronger and dryer spirit with lots of wormwood botanical) so as not to overwhelm. Altogether, this was a very balanced and very French cocktail.

• 2 oz. cognac (Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal used)
• 1 oz. tawny port
• 1/2 oz. Pernod
• several dashes Peychaud's bitters
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail or coup glass. 

Pousse L'Amour

Pousse Cafe are a strange concept for a layered mixed drink that uses liqueurs with different specific gravities. They were very popular between 1830 and 1860, and there was even a Pousse Cafe glass that was in fashion at the time that made layering easier. Pousse Cafe made a brief comeback in the mid nineties, more as a way for bartenders to show off their mixing skills than as a good way to enjoy spirits. I just got a Pousse Cafe glass that really shows the layers of the drink.

The recipe recommends putting egg yolk after maraschino liqueur--and I whipped the yolk rather than leave it whole, because you can't sip whole egg--but it turns out that Benedictine that goes in after the egg is heavier and so they changed places. The last layer is the lightest spirit, in this case Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal. I'll list the ingredients in the order that works best, not the way the recipe I followed worked. That should prevent the egg yolk from sliding around.

• 1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur
• 1/2 oz. Benedictine
• 1/2 oz. egg yolk (whipped)
• 1/2 oz. cognac (Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal used)

Pour the ingredients into a narrow glass in the order given. Carefully pour over the back of a spoon to get a layered effect.