Grand Autumn

 

This cocktail is from the St. Germain website, and I've done it before when I had my first bottle of St. Germain many years ago. It was a hit, but I didn't make it to my satisfaction, so now I am attempting it again with the bitters and proper Fever Tree ginger beer. 

This cocktail is such a crowd-pleaser--almost tiki, like the Suffering Bastard. The ginger beer is paired wonderfully with rye and lime juice. (You get the sense that drinkers prefer a richer rye and ginger beer cocktail to a Moscow Mule with boring vodka.) All of this would tend to make an acidic drink that hides the North Fork rye's best qualities, that round oak note and American whiskey flavor. But St. Germain comes to the rescue, adding sweetness to tame the acidity and a floral note that ties everything together.

The Grand Autumn is a cocktail that looks great, smells good and tastes even better. I'm glad I gave it another chance.

• 2 oz. rye (Glacier Distilling Co. North Fork rye used)
• 1 oz. St. Germain or elderflower liqueur
• 1/4 oz. lime juice
• ginger beer (Fever Tree used)
• several dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine rye, St. Germain and lime juice in a shaker with cracked ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass. Top with ginger beer and float dashes of Angostura on top. 

Jamaica Mule

 

I think I've just covered all of the Jamaica-themed cocktail out there. I'm returning to this old stand by that I've made in the past to try it with fresh ingredients (I've been squeezing the pineapple juice along with the citrus) and a lovely ginger beer. Fentiman's is a spicy botanical ginger beer that tastes not only fresh but barreled and oaky. 

The cocktail departs from the standard Mule by being so large that it requires a Collins glass, but not crushed ice. There's a lot of booze in it too--between the 151-proof rum and the full measures of light and dark rum, you may want to wait a bit before having another one. 

• 1 1/2 oz. light Jamaican rum (Plantation 3-Stars used)
• 1/2 oz. dark Jamaican rum (Pusser's navy rum used)
• 1/2 oz. 151-proof rum (Cruzan 151 used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• ginger beer (Fentiman's used)
  
• pineapple stick
• piece of preserved ginger

Combine rums and juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Chilled collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and stir gently. Garnish with pineapple stick and preserved ginger.

Vina Del Mar Cooler

I love a summer cooler. You need to hydrate while drinking your booze when the temperatures go up. What better way to relax on the porch than to enjoy a fruity and strong cocktail that cools you off.

This particular cooler feels very Caribbean with ginger beer from Jamaica, orange juice and lime zest and a piratical rum like Blackbeard's Point. I followed the recipe exactly in my use of kirsch, but I feel that the cherry brandy is lost with all of the other bright flavors. One might experiment with Cherry Heering or cherry flavored brandy, or even maraschino liqueur and see if you get better results. My feeling is that if the proportion of kirschwasser in a recipe is below a half ounce, you are probably not going to notice it and a spirit with stronger cherry flavor is going to be better.

Also a note on the ginger beer. Some ginger beers like Fever Tree are really spicy. I'm looking for a sweeter ginger beer because this recipe contains no added sugar and kirsch is actually very dry. Fever Tree ginger ale is exactly what I'm looking for. A homemade ginger beer that is lower carbonation and spice will also work.

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Blackbeard's Point used)
• 1/4 oz. kirsch (Kammer kirsch used)
• 4 oz. orange juice
• ginger beer (a sweet one like Jamaica's finest or a spicier ginger ale recommended)
• lime twist

Combine juice and spirits in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a double Old Fashioned glass. Top with ginger beer, stir and twist lime zest over the glass and drop it in.

Keeping Currant (Original Recipe)

This cocktail makes use of the red currant syrup I made this summer and MurLarkey orange whiskey for a sweet and juicy tasting drink. Of course you can use any whiskey or swap out the main spirit for gin, but you miss out on the orange zest and vanilla that goes so well with ginger beer.

The fun thing about this cocktail is that it is low in acidity. That means it tastes sweet and strong, with a fizzy tingle of ginger beer. The effect is like having an alcoholic flavored soda with orange, berry and ginger notes and just a whiff of citrus.

• 2 oz. whiskey (MurLarkey orange whiskey used)
• 1/2 oz. red currant syrup
• ginger beer
• lime twist

Build drink with currant syrup and whiskey in a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Fill with ice and top with ginger beer. Stir and twist lime zest over the glass and drop it in.

Dark And Stormy

The cocktail world hasn't seen a well-marketed drink like this take over the bar scene lsince the Moscow Mule. It's interesting that the Dark And Stormy and the Moscow Mule were products of marketing campaigns and both are made with ginger beer. There's something to the simplicity of the Dark And Stormy that makes it so successful. Just open a can of ginger beer and you have a nice black rum drink that's refreshing for summer drinking.

Like Smirnoff's launch of the Moscow Mule in the 1950s, Gosling's proprietary cocktail is supposed to be made with rich black Gosling's rum. Goslings even makes a ginger beer so that they have a monopoly on the ingredients. The Dark And Stormy has staying power, but I can't imagine it will remain solely a Gosling's drink in the same way that no one thinks of Smirnoff when making a Moscow Mule.

• 2 oz. dark rum
• ginger beer
• 2 lime slices

Fill a highball glass with ice and ginger beer, leaving about 2 inches at the top for dark rum. Float dark rum on top and squeeze one lime slice over the drink. Garnish with the other lime slice.

Highland Cooler

Shana Steele, bartender and events planner at Rebellion on 18th Street came up with this cocktail to turn her guests on to Barrelhound scotch. It turns out that it is the same recipe for a Highland Cooler, although she chose to serve it up in a coupe glass and use ginger beer. The original is served in a highball glass. But the drink was done in spirit and probably better after having been stirred and strained.

• 2 oz. scotch
• 2 oz. club soda
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• ginger ale
• lemon twist

Combine all ingredients except ginger ale and lemon twist in a highball glass full of ice. Stir and top with ginger ale and lemon twist.

Foghorn

This is a simple drink you can make on the fly with ginger ale and gin. So simple, it's automatic, it turns out. I used a kolsch glass for effect here.

• 2 oz. gin
• ginger ale (or ginger beer)
• lemon slice (optional)

Build the drink in a tall pilsner glass. Add ice if ginger beer is not chilled.

Horse's Neck

This is the original ginger ale and whiskey drink that people go for when when they make a Jack and Ginger. The idea of the Horse's Neck is to serve it in a tall highball glass with a long curl of lemon peel. I didn't have ginger ale, but Barritts ginger beer can be a spicy improvement. It's drier than ginger ale, but not as sharp as some ginger beers.

• 2 oz. blended whiskey
• ginger ale (or ginger beer)
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters
• lemon rind peeled in a spiral

Begin by using a citrus peeler to get a long curl of lemon peel and settling it in a tall glass of ice. Build the drink in the glass with whiskey and ginger beer first, stirring slowly to blend ingredients. Top with bitters.

The Blanche Devereux (From a recipe provided by Barritts Ginger Beer)

• 1 oz. blanco tequila
• 1oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 oz. ginger liqueur (I use my home made ginger vodka)
• Barritt’s Diet Ginger Beer

Shake tequila, juice and ginger liqueur in a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass or mason jar. Garnish with a lime wheel and jalapeno slice.