The Joy Division (Death & Co. Recipe)

I'm often looking for a different take on a Gin Martini. The Joy Division appealed to me because I was feeling like enjoying French ingredients and you can easily make this cocktail without leaving the country of France with its gin, wines, and liqueurs. 

Here I've chosen Citadelle dry gin principally because it is French, but also because it is dry and of such a quality that you can replace Beefeater with it and only improve your cocktail. The recipe calls for Cointreau, and triple sec is a fair substitution, but I wanted Royal Combier for the spice and orange of this French liqueur. Finally absinthe and Dolin dry make this an herbal cocktail like no other.

• 2 oz. dry gin (Citadelle gin used)
• 1 oz. Dolin dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Cointreau (Royal Combier used)
• 3 dashes absinthe (Ricard Pastise used)
• 1 lemon twist

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with the lemon twist.

 

Messianic Cocktail (Difford's Guide Recipe)

 

The name of this cocktail is quizzical: how is a cocktail related to followers of a messiah? Maybe it has to do with the spices and fruits that were often used in the Holy Land two thousand years ago. Cloves and ginger might have scented oils for anointment. In cocktail form, this blessing attains these flavors by infused spirits as well as a little muddling of the clove directly into the mixture. 

I've infused cloves, cooked them into teas and syrups, and used them as garnishes. This is the first cocktail I've made that involves muddling cloves. More on that later. The rest of the ingredients, ginger liqueur and Grand Marnier (or in this case Royal Combier) are spiced to make them more exotic. But we have grown accustomed to these ingredients in our cocktails. Clove really sent this drink's profile in a new, richer direction. 

You get clove on the nose and rich baking spices on the sip. This is followed up by oaky rum notes and finishes dry with cloves and orange. I'll be doing this trick again soon.

• 1 dried clove
• 2 oz. Haitian rum (Barbancourt 5-years used)
• 1/4 oz. ginger liqueur (homemade ginger brandy used)
  
• 3/4 oz. Grand Marnier (Royal Combier used)
• orange zest twist. 

Add clove and all liquid ingredients to a mixing glass and muddle to break up the clove. Add ice and stir to chill before fine straining into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the orange zest over the glass and drop it in. 

Hot Passion

I'm not a fan of fruited coffee cocktails. Sure, a spiced coffee with brandy or tequila is very nice if done right. I even like Grand Marnier in a coffee if it has whipped cream. Its just that adding passion fruit in the form of La Grande Passion to coffee only makes it slightly more bitter. And the recipe doesn't call for whipped cream, which would have made this so much better and I would have used it if I had it. Imagine, chocolate sprinkles and all! What a nice drink. Instead, I got a hot mess not a Hot Passion.

Part of my problem is that I don't have real La Grande Passion. Nobody does since it went out of production almost 30 years ago! My homemade version is a very filtered infusion, but that still doesn't prevent it from separating when added to hot coffee. You see passion fruit floaters in the cup. Creme de Grand Marnier would cover it up, but that also wasn't an option because it is now unavailable. If I ever do this one again, and I won't, I'll use whipped cream or shave chocolate on top (or both) to cover up the separation.

Another problem is floating the Creme de Grand Marnier. I'm sure the original product would have floated nicely, but I'll have to play around with the proportions and use heavy cream to get it light enough. You can make it by adding 1:2 proportion of Grand Marnier to heavy whipping cream and sweetening it with confectioner's sugar. Whip it rapidly until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid starts to foam. Again, separation is the enemy of this drink, and I feel like we are observing a dinosaur of the 1990s, extinct and as yet impossible to resurrect.

• 1 1/2 oz. La Grande Passion (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier (Royal Combier used)
• 1/2 oz. Creme de Grand Marnier (homemade recipe attempted)
• 6 oz. hot black coffee

Build drink in a warm coffee mug with passionfruit and Grand Marnier in first. Fill with hot coffee and float Creme de Grand Marnier on top. 

 

Mobay Cocktail

 

This is another one of those internationally-styled club cocktails like the Clover Club or Pendennis Club. These cocktails tend to be brightly colored and easy to consume. They virtually advertise themselves at the clubs and advertise for the clubs when ordered elsewhere. 

The name comes from Mobay Club on Montego Bay, but there's not much of the beach involved here. No tropical fruits, no wild island-themed garnishes--besides the Jamaican rum, this cocktail is strikingly French. There's the mistakable ruby color of Dubonnet rouge and the rich candied orange flavor or Grand Marnier--a favorite ingredient of clubs and hotels worldwide. 

The only substitutions I've made (and they are minor) is that I'm using Pusser's dark rum instead of something from Jamaica, and that I use Royal Combier (another French orange cognac liqueur) instead of Grand Marnier. As my last drink of the day, I found it overly rich, however. I'm not sure if it was the ingredients or the fact that the Movay seemed incongruent with other Jamaican-themed cocktails with a lemon twist as its only fruit. 

• 1 1/2 oz. dark Jamaican rum (Pusser's dark rum used)
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet rouge
• several dashes Grand Marnier (Royal Combier used)
• lemon twist

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist a lemon zest over the glass and drop it in. 

Cat Cay

 

I have to say that this cocktail doesn't scream Bahamas to me. It rather fits into a classic cocktail profile that really mimics French cafe drinking from more than a century ago. French liqueurs like Grand Marnier and Royal Combier (which I used instead) appeared in the early 20th century with new advances in distilling and preserving the flavors of fruits and spices. 

Cognac and orange liqueur were blended in France along with other ingredients intended to prevent Malaria on long sea voyages. That didn't work as well as adding lime juice to prevent scurvy, which you see in this cocktail. The cognac and orange flavor of Combier goes so well with citrus juice and even balances it all out with the added sugar in the liqueur, that these kinds of cocktails made their way back from the high seas to take over Parisian cafe scene. 

One thing about the name, though. The cocktail recipe calls for Haitian or Martinique rum, obviously for their French style and origin, which again makes my point about it being very French in style. But why is the drink named after an island in the British Bahamas?

• 1 1/2 oz. Haitian or Martinique rum (Plantation 3-Stars used)
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier (Royal Combier used and recommended)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• lemon peel

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

Kurant Juice Break

 

This cocktail doesn't lie. It is a juicy drink. It is actually a proprietary Absolut Kurant vodka recipe that I've adapted to using my red currant liqueur and Smirnoff vodka. I also substituted Royal Combier for Grand Marnier because you can totally switch one spiced orange cognac for another. 

The Juice Break is best if you are using fresh squeezed orange juice as shown here. You can safe an orange slice from one of the oranges to garnish with.

• 2 oz. vodka (Absolut Kurant suggested but Smirnoff used)
• 1/2 oz. currant spirit (if you don't have Absolut Kurant)
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier or Royal Combier
• 2 oz. Orange Juice
• orange slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a Cooler glass or a highball. Garnish with cherry and orange slice.

Flavio's Special

As long as this drink was going to take a deep dive into orange flavors, I felt it was appropriate to complete the journey--by substituting MurLarkey's orange whiskey for the regular blended stuff. Flavio's Special already has orange liqueur and bitters, and I was correct that the taste from the whiskey, particularly the vanilla notes, could be enhanced by this local Virginia whiskey steeped in orange peels and vanilla.

Now the only question is who is Flavio? There are several restaurants and even a food critic and chef who share the same name, but I'm not sure that the title can be traced back to any one individual person or place. Names like these are lost to time, a particular bartender, guest or owner of an establishment who comes up with a Manhattan Variation that is a hit for a short while. What is more likely is that the name is intended to evoke an Italian theme that fits a restaurant, and the orange flavor is an echo of common Italian aperitifs. We may never know the full story, but we don't have to. Make this drink with orange whiskey or a mild blended whiskey and enjoy the spice and orange flavors rolling around your tongue.

One other thing of note: the recipe calls for Grand Marnier (which is French) but I made an equally acceptable substitute of Royal Combier, a competing orange cognac liqueur. With all of these substitutions, I have come a long way from the original recipe, but I think it is an improvement on a recipe that otherwise hews too closely to a standard Manhattan. 

• 1 1/2 oz. blended whiskey (MurLarkey orange whisky used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi Dopo Teatro used)
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier (Royal Combier used)
• dash orange bitters (Hella used)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

French Twist

Bourbon, named after the French royal family at the time of it's creation, is the most French whiskey made in America. Cognac is quintessentially French as well. All this cocktail needs is a liqueur to sweeten it--why not something bearing a royal name as well?

Royal Combier is the coup de grace (in place of Grand Marnier listed in the original recipe) because of its regal combination of cognac, oranges and spices. The only thing left according to the name is the twist (not listed in the original recipe.) I think I really improved this cocktail. The only thing I wouldn't change is the portion size--its kingly.

• 1 1/2 oz. bourbon
• 1 1/2 oz. cognac
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier (Royal Combier used)
• lemon twist

Combine all ingredients except lemon peel. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the lemon peel over the glass and drop it in. 

George V Cocktail

A kingly cocktail requires royal ingredients--I mean Lillet and Royal Combier. This cocktail fits well within the classic French gin cocktails using wine and cognac-based spirits. Orange and spice rule here. Lillet blanc is an orange bitter and fortified wine. Royal Combier has north African spices and oranges in its cognac and eau de vie blend. Finally, orange bitters punch up the baking spices like clove and allspice and bring the orange flavor to the front.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used)
• 1 tsp. oz. Cointreau (Royal Combier used and recommended)
• 1 oz. Lillet Blanc
• several dashes orange bitters (Hella used)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Proper MurLarkey

There aren't many great Irish whiskey sipping cocktails. Most of the St. Patrick's Day-themed cocktails are sugary and heavy on cream and artificial green colors. This cocktail may be slightly orange, but the flavor is undeniably Irish.

MurLarkey Honey whiskey is a rare bottling. The master distiller soaks naturally harvested honeycomb in a barrel of their white whiskey. It isn't sweet, but it has a honey essence. Irish whiskey like Proper Twelve has a honey scent on the nose as well. The rest of the drink brings bitter citrus and spice to make this a well-rounded and rich cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. Proper Twelve Irish whiskey
• 1 oz. MurLarkey honey whiskey
• 1/ 2oz. Royal Combier
• 1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of ice. 

Grand Royal Margarita (With Royal Combier)

You know the Cadillac Margarita with Grand Marnier. This is a similarly rich rendition of the classic with Royal Combier, a cognac-based spirit flavored with oranges and Mediterranean spices.

• 2 oz. gold tequila (Sauza Anejo used)
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 oz. Royal Combier
• coarse salt
• lime wedge

Place coarse salt on a saucer. Wet the rim of an Old Fashioned glass by rubbing it with the lime wedge and dipping it in the salt. Combine all liquid ingredients and sugar in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into the Old Fashioned glass. Use the lime wedge for garnish.

Grand Royal Hotel

This is an unusual drink that combines rum, creme de cacao and light rum. The recipe for the Grand Hotel in the New American Bartender's Guide lists Grand Marnier as the orange spirit. Royal Combier is a similar cognac and orange spirit that also includes some complex exotic spices that distinguish it from Grand Marnier. Combier is less sweet, which is fine, and the spice notes match the flavor that this rum drink is going for: chocolate, orange, lemon and baking spice.

• 2 oz. light rum (Flor de Cana extra seco used)
• 1/2 oz. Royal Combier
• 1/2 oz. white creme de cacao
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

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

Grand Royal Hotel (Original Recipe)

This cocktail, based on the Grand Hotel is a much needed update on the original. I wanted to best represent the recipe for the Grand Hotel, which I pulled of so sloppily in my original post linked above.

In this post I'm addressing my failure to use crushed ice in the cocktail glass when I first tried the drink. It was in part the fault of an amateur bartender. It is also a flaw in the recipe I found in the Poister New American Bartender's Guide, which confusingly calls for either using crushed ice in the shaker or a blender and then pouring the whole thing into a cocktail glass. Is this a blender drink or not?

A few liqueur-forward cocktails I've done lately show off the character of a spirit like Amaretto or Creme de Menthe by serving it on crushed ice. I wanted to do the same thing for Royal Combier, which has orange and the north African spices of the Elixir Combier in it. MurLarkey's ImaGination Gin is a good match for these kinds of spicy and sweet flavors.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used)
• 1 1/2 oz. Royal Combier (Originally Grand Marnier)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• dash of lemon juice
• lemon twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass full of crushed ice. Twist the lemon peel on top and lay it on the ice. 

(DIY) Amer Picon

I've done it! Finally, I have my own Amer Picon knock off. I got the recipe from PUNCH, which was easy except that finding Combier is pretty difficult depending on where you live. But that is all easier to get than Amer Picon--a bitter orange liqueur that hasn't been available in the U.S. for decades. Even the varieties available in France are no longer the same bitter boozy product that Amer Picon once was.

It all started with picking up a bottle of Ramzzotti amaro. I'd seen Combier on bar shelves in the past and figured that the other ingredient wouldn't be too hard to find. As it turns out, Elixir Combier (which may or may not be the ingredient listed in the PUNCH recipe) is not available in the Washingtion, Virginia, Maryland region. Elixir Combier is a biter French orange liqueur with spices from the Mediterranean like myrrh. It turns out that I could find Royal Combier, the same liqueur with cognac added so that it is a competitor to Grand Marnier. This, I assumed, would be a suitable substitute.

The small jar on the right of the photo is orange bitters. I made these using MurLarkey Justice White Whiskey--a version that is 110-proof so that it makes infusions better.



I takes 2 cups of Ramazzotti and one cup each of Combier and orange bitters. Add 1/4 cup of orange peels (I used bitter cara cara orange peels) and let the mixture steep for a week in the refrigerator. For my bottle, I used an old scotch bottle and printed one of the many images of this long-lost spirit