Pere Bise

In French, this cocktail is called "Father Kiss." I'm hoping it is a chaste kiss, which is why I am showing off my Sacre Coeur Basilica coaster. I got it from the gift shop there years ago.

This is another one of those cases where blended whiskey is the recommended base spirit, but feel free to take it in any direction you want with the exception, maybe, of blended scotch. Blended whiskey is usually very malleable in terms of a spirit category. So I usually opt for flavors that compliment the rest of the ingredients. You could use Bourbon and send it sweeter, and a scotch would add sweetness and smoke. But this is already an herbaceous and citrusy drink. With an egg white in it, I wouldn't want to risk going too rich. That's why I've got the lemon whiskey out for it.

Overall, this is a very classy Egg Sour kind of cocktail with the pastis there just to suggest French herbs de Marseilles. It is interesting that in this instance the recipe calls for keeping the ice, which I think tames the foam. Next time I'd like to see what would happen if I really got a foamy top on this glass. Without ice, I'd have the room to do that.

• 1 1/2 oz. blended whiskey (MurLarkey lemon whiskey used)
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Herring
  
• 1/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 egg white (or double the recipe and make two so you can drink them both)
  
• several dashes Pernod (Ricard used)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice. Shake vigorously and pour into a Sour glass

Soul Kiss

I know I've done this drink before. It's a great one, the cocktail that I bought my first bottle of Dubonnet Rouge just to do. I remember being excited to try it. But now when I search for it on my website, it is not there. All the other Dubonnet drinks I've done are there, but not this one. I guess I'll just have to have it again. Sigh!

Soul Kiss is another word for French kiss. It is the title of a lesser-known Olivia Newton John song, by the way, and I think of it as a French cocktail in the Kiss series with the French Kiss, another bourbon drink, and the Kiss Me Quick.

I've got better ingredients this time around. Fresh squeezed orange juice helps a lot. So does Filibuster dual cask bourbon aged in oak and French sauvignon blanc casks. Then the spicy notes of Rivata dry vermouth are really interesting. This drink is foremost a bourbon drink, but Dubonnet Rouge gives it this bright red color and an herbal and sweet flavor that is hard to miss.

• 2 oz. bourbon (Filibuster dual cask used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Rivata used)
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge

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

Kiss Me Quick

What a nice Parisian cafe-style cocktail with lots of fizz and anise cordial flavor! This would be a green cocktail except for the Angostura bitters that turn it orange. It is flavorful, sweet and fizzy. A good drink for the afternoon before moving to stronger stuff.

• 2 oz. Pernod
• 1/2 tsp. curacao
• 3-5 dashes Angostura bitters
• sparkling water

Combine all ingredients except sparkling water in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling water and stir gently. 

Kiss Me Again

This drink is one of the short "Kiss" series. I made it before making the original Kiss Me Quick, which will follow. This is served up with an orange slice.

• 1 1/2 oz. scotch
• 1/2 egg white
• several dashes Pernod
• orange twist

Combine scotch, egg whit and Pernod in a shaker in ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the orange slice.