Golfe Juan

 

I'm breaking out the French-themed drinks, even though not all ingredients are French in and of themselves. Golfe-Juan is a seaside resort on France's Côte d'Azur. The place has an air of tropical paradise to it with all the trappings of French tourist sites. The cocktail blends these two attitudes perfectly with European liqueurs of the golden age of cocktails and pineapple and lemon juice.

Altogether, you can possibly have as many as three European nationalities represented in one touristy cocktail: French brandy, Italian maraschino liqueur, and German kirschwasser. Don't use an American sweet kirsch. It tastes like cherry candy and you already have maraschino for that. A true kirsch, however will easily float on this drink, kicking up the alcoholic nose and giving the whole drink the boozy beachside cafe feel you are looking for.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used but use cognac to make it more French)
• 1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur like Luxardo
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. kirsch float (Kammer Kirsch used)

Combine all ingredients except for kirsch in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Use a bar spoon to float the kirsch on top of the drink.

Bess Arlene

I'm on a French cocktail swing again, this time with Ricard in place of Pernod and Korbel brandy as the base spirit. Whoever Bess Arlene was, I bet she was French. This cocktail of hers is all about the Parisian cafe experience--sipping a light cocktail like this as the sun sets on the Seine. 

For pastis and absinthe substitutes, Ricard is a great choice when it comes to giving a few drops of herbal pop to your sodas or lining the glass of a Sazerac. I woudn't use it in place of real absinthe in a Frappe or other all-absinthe drinks. Because it becomes a cloudy gray-brown, I also wouldn't try to treat it like the green-colored Pernod when it comes to all-Pernod drinks. But in cases like this where it only comes down to a few drops, who can tell the difference between Parisian Pernod and Mersaille's Ricard. 

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1/2 oz. curacao (triple sec used)
• club soda
• dash Pernod (Ricard used)

Pour brandy and curacao into a chilled Collins glass and fill with ice. Top with soda and add Pernod on top before stirring gently.

 

Ho-Ho-Kus Pocus

 

Is this a Christmas cocktail or did you just stutter? I'm asking because the phrase Hocus Pocus is a medieval term that mocked the use of Latin in church. Adding an additional "ho" to the phrase makes it sound like Santa is doing magic. Either that or you've had too many drinks already, as I'm sure I've already had. Somehow, though, I don't think that this is a typo.

The one thing I did think was a typo was to pour the drink, ice and all, into the cocktail glass. That's seldom done unless it is a blended drink. One could do that, but it would destroy the subtle flavors that the drink has going for it. Sure, you could blend it, but you'd want more sugar.

This cocktail comes out pretty dry and stiff. If there's any magic to it, it is the idea of mixing three spirits that don't always work well together. Applejack and brandy go well together; as do brandy and bourbon--but all three? The trick, it seems, is to use only a few dashes of bourbon as vanilla flavor. You might as well use vanilla extract. My impression is that the whole mix isn't as sweet as it could be, but I didn't mind. I was drinking a lot of cocktails at the time.

• 1 oz. applejack (Laird's Applejack 86 used)
• 1 oz. Brandy (Korbel used)
• several dashes bourbon (Virginia Gentleman used)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice.  Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (Alternative recipe: blend all ingredients with a tsp. of suger and pour into the cocktail glass.)

Grenadier

 

This simple cocktail was an excellent way to showcase my homemade ginger brandy. Now it is just diluted with the brandy I used to make it with more simple syrup and grated ginger on top. It is a winner and a spicy way to sip brandy on a cold night. 

The portion is a bit small for a cocktail glass, so I broke with tradition and chose a cordial glass that looks a bit more like a grenade. I'm sure if you drink the Grenadier quickly enough, the warmth in your stomach will feel like an explosion.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
  
• 3/4 oz. ginger brandy (homemade ginger brandy used)
• dash of simple syrup or to taste
• pinch of grated ginger

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass (cordial glass pictured). Garnish with a pinch of ginger sprinkled on top. 

Ginger Jones

 

This is a fun cocktail for winter sipping. I especially like how ginger and orange juice play off of each other to create a warming sensation in a cold drink, especially when served in an Old Fashioned glass where there is more spirit-to-juice ratio.

This is the first use of my ginger brandy made from Korbel and a combination of fresh and dry ginger. To make it, I soaked a quarter cup of candied ginger and a tsp. of fresh chopped ginger in a jar with about six ounces of brandy. After a week, I strained out the solids and folded an ounce of simple syrup into the liquor. 

I'm especially proud that I found an old defunct label from Paramount Distillers in Cleveland. In the prohibition era, they used to label their ginger brandy as medicinal for stomach aches. Feel free to take this cocktail for medicinal pourposes.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1/2 oz. ginger brandy (homemade used)
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup or to taste
• candied ginger garnish

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with the ginger piece.

Ambassador West

 

I'm not sure which historical figure that this drink's name refers to, but I bet it isn't the Ambassador West hotel. If I had to decide, I think I would go with the novel by the same name by Mark West. The fact that the book is about an assassination plot against South Vietnam's president in the 1960s is a not congruent with a Martini variation that makes copious use of brandy. 

As far as Martinis go, this variation is a winner. I really like how brandy changes the texture a little so that it is richer and a little silky. I knew that the brandy had potential to cover over the gin, however, so I went with a spicy gin that I made at home through infusion. This gin is high on juniper and as dry as 100-proof vodka that it is made from. There is some lemon peel and fresh herb garden notes, but overall, the gin is designed to stand out, and it should. The ingredients that flavor it were steeping in vodka for a week and their influence arrives in the glass. 

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1 oz. gin (homemade used and dry gin recoomended)
• 1/2 tsp. dry gin (Dolin used)
• green olive

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Drop the olive into the drink. 

Alabammy Bound

The name, of course, refers to the southern state of Alabama where peaches and peach liqueur are symbolic of Southern drinking. The recipe calls for Louisiana's proprietary liqueur, Southern Comfort, but other peach flavored spirits are also acceptable. 

For this drink, I used a sample of Evan Williams peach bourbon, which seems appropriate because of Bourbon's prominent place in southern cocktails. It is the brandy that seems out of place in an Alabama-themed cocktail. That is, at least, until you realize that Southern Comfort is a brandy--not a bourbon--spirit. 

I heartily recommend this cocktail. The peach flavor tastes unique when paired with citrus and mint. This drink stands out from many southern-styled cocktails like the Alabama Slammer and a whole host eye catching drinks made from  flavored and artificially colored liqueurs. I enjoied Evan Williams peach bourbon so much that I would be happy to buy a full-sized bottle. 

• 1 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1 oz. Southern Comfort (Evan Williams peach bourbon used
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup or to taste
• mint sprig

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the mint sprig. 

Brandy Julep

 

Since both bourbon and brandy are aged in oak, albeit oak from different origins, it stands to reason that a brandy based Mint Julep would be a thing. Making it is similar to the bourbon version as well. The recipe is a little loose since it requires freezing the Julep cup with crushed ice and making a muddled mint simple in the glass. Therefore, exact proportions are not listed. You have to make the ingredients work for you, and being beholden to a specific set of measurements can work against the overall cocktail.

I recommend that you have more than enough simple syrup on hand to get started. You can cap the amount of brandy to about three ounces, but feel free to experiment with that proportion. What you really need is about two trays of crushed ice cubes. This estimate is a little high, but you don't want to come up short.

• brandy (Korbel used)
  
• simple syrup
• 6 mint leaves 
• mint sprig
• confectioner's sugar
• crushed ice

In a metal Julep cup, muddle mint leaves and 1/2 oz. simple syrup. Add crushed ice and churn with a bar spoon while adding brandy. The goal is to mix the ingredients while lowering the temperature of the cup. Add ice and brandy as needed and continue to churn until ice forms on the outside of the Julep cup. The end result should have a mound of fresh crushed ice above the lip of the cup. Garnish with mint sprigs and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

Brandana Cooler

 

This is the cousin of the Brandana Frappe that includes real banana and club soda to make it a fizzy Cooler. I think I like this version better, though, because of its larger (and more sturdy) glassware format and the inclusion of banana slices. 

You can see that I chose this recipe to use up my bottle MurLarkey banana whiskey. As always I remind readers to use a little sugar or sugar syrup to compensate for the dryness of MurLarkey products when you substitute them for sweeter cremes. With regards to the banana slice used as a garnish, I also like to throw a few slices into the blender. Banana adds texture to a blended cocktail, so by all means put some in there if that suits you as it does me.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 3/4 creme de banane (MurLarkey banana whiskey and 2 tsp. sugar syrup used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• club soda
• lemon wedge
• banana slice

Combine brandy, banana liqueur, lemon juice (and banana slices if desired) with cracked ice in a blender. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Top with soda and stir gently. Garnish with the lemon wedge and banana slice. 

Adrienne's Dream

I'm not sure who this Adrienne is, but the dream she had just came true with this cocktial. I often overlook fizzy drinks and those that combine creme de cocoa and mint liqueurs as simply being gimics. Something else caught my eye in this instance, though. There wasn't a call for green creme de menthe to make a glaringly green soda--the only colorful liqueur is the brandy. The proprotion of the liqueurs to the rest of the ingredietns is so small that the flavors are more like suggestions to the senses than a main aspect of the overall drink. 

Brandy is the big feature here, and it is a rich, oaky brandy like California's Korbel to carry the weight of this cocktail. Citrus, which seems misplaced in a drink with sweet liqueurs, is actually a major element of the Adrienne's Dream's balance. Again, the cremes add a lot in small proportion, and the lemon juice just makes the drink feel light and fresh. 

• 2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. creme de cacao
• 1/2 oz. white peppermint schnapps
• club soda
• mint sprig

Combine lemon juice and spirits in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice.  Top it with soda and stir gently before garnishing with the mint sprig.

Apple Blossom #1 & #2

 

This is a double post featuring both Apple Blossom recipes. These drinks are similar but use different spirits. The Apple Blossom #1 (pictured right) is an apple juice and brandy cocktail, but the inventor of the Apple Blossom #2 went one step further and made the cocktail with apple brandy. The second is a major improvement, one because there is even more apple flavor, but also because it is better balanced with maple syrup.

Here they are in order:

Apple Blossom #1

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1 oz. apple juice
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• lemon slice

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

 Apple Blossom #2

• 1 1/2 oz. applejack (Laird's used)
• 1 oz. apple juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
  
• 1 tsp. maple syrup
• lemon slice

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