Solera Sidecar (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

I have been waiting to do this cocktail for a while, hoping to source the exact ingredients for the recipe. Unfortunately, I used up the last of my East India Solera sherry during Halloween and I haven't seen it in stores since then. But I figured I could make this recipe with cream sherry, and it definitely works. 

The idea behind this craft Sidecar is to substitute excellent ingredients (and sherry) into a well-known cocktail recipe that is essentially a cognac sour with orange liqueur. Sweet sherry adds richness, as does ameretto and cognac-based orange liqueur like Grand Marnier. The problem remained that I had neither of the latter ingredients as well. Then it occurred to me that I do have a cognac-based orange liqueur and an almond liqueur, they just weren't the brand names the recipe called for.

So I substituted homemade Mandarine Napoleon for Grand Marnier--which is an easy solution. I also used Tempus Fugit creme de Noyaux, a French, rather than Italian, almond liqueur. It worked out well, and the effect of the craft Sidecar was pulled off. In addition I got to use my homemade orange liqueur.

• 1 1/2 oz. cognac (Meukow used)
• 1/2 oz. East India Solera Sherry (Dona Luisa cream sherry used)
• 1/4 oz. Grand Marnier (homemade Mandarine Napoleon used)
• 1/4 oz. Lazxaroni ameretto (Tempus Fugit creme de noyaux used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/4 oz. simple syrup

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

Pimlico Special

Preakness is one of the main events during the horse racing season in America. This drink is a nod to the thoroughbred race track, Pimlico Field, in Baltimore. This is an overly sweet cocktail that will take you a while to finish. The sugar makes for added richness on the tongue and the flavor is somewhat like chocolate chip cookies. If that's your thing, try this drink. Better yet, try it while watching the race in the stands at Pimlico Field or at home.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy
• 1/2 oz. amaretto
• 1/2 oz. white creme de cacao

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

Step-Father (Original Recipe)

The Godfather family of cocktails has a new member--the Step-Father. Amaretto and Ricard pastis taste great together, so I don't know why this hasn't been tried before. I was inspired by the French Connection in this cross-nationalities cocktail that is just as simple to make and easy to order, if you are at a French restaurant that carries Ricard or some other pastis.

• 1 1/2 oz. Ricard
• 1 oz. amaretto

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

French Connection (Larressingle Armagnac and Lazzaroni Amaretto)

The French Connection is one of those easy and great tasting classic drinks. It is pretty standard in its execution, but sometimes changing out the ingredients makes for an interesting experience. Here is Larressingle armagnac and a different amaretto, Lazzaroni. The drink is more complex and less silky when you don't use cognac. Lazzaroni gives it more of a fresh-baked Serrano cookie taste too!

•  1 1/2 oz Cognac (Larressingle armagnac used)
• 3/4 oz. Amaretto (Lazzaroni used)

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice (or a large format ice.)

Toasted Almond

Coffee liqueur is supposed to add a toasty flavor to amaretto in this dessert drink with a kick. And it does this very well. Even though amaretto tastes more like cookies than almonds, there is more of a nutty note in this drink due to the roast of coffee in the liqueur.

The only coffee liqueur I keep on my home bar is MurLarkey coffee whiskey, which I sweeten with a teaspoon of sugar syrup to get it closer to a dessert ingredient that will work in a creamy drink.

• 2 oz. coffee liqueur (MurLarkey coffee whiskey and 1 tsp. sugar syrup used)
• 1 1/2 oz. Amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 2 oz. half and half

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into an Old Fashioned glass. 

Verona Cocktail

I'm always happy when good ingredients take what could be an overly sweet cocktail in an interesting direction. In the case of the Verona cocktail, that is almost every one of the ingredients I chose. This quintessentially Italian cocktail shows off flavors of northern and southern Italy.

First a good amaretto like Lazzaroni is less bitter and has more of the Sorrono cookie flavor than the mainstream brands. Punt E Mes is a very bitter sweet vermouth. There's so much packed into it that it doesn't even resemble other sweet vermouths. Finally, Copper Fox VirGin is a gin spiced like no other gin. All together this is one of the most flavorful and equally light and interesting rocks cocktails you can make with these same ingredients. It's totally luxurious and at the same time, simple. The ingredients really make the difference.

• 2 oz. gin (Copper Fox VirGin used)
• 1 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Punt E Mes used)
• 1/4 tsp. lemon juice
• orange slice

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh (large) ice. Garnish with the orange slice. 

Bocce Ball

What a cute name for an Italian drink. I can see bocce players sipping these between bowls on a sunny lawn. That's where I got the inspiration for this photo. The bocce balls and oranges suggest that the game is afoot.

And this is a light and tasty drink that is well suited to outdoor drinking. It's not too strong or sweet. I really notice the quality of the biscotti-tasting Lazzaroni, and the subtle marzipan flavor that comes through the orange juice.

• 2 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• orange juice
•  orange slice

Add amaretto to a highball glass and fill it with ice. Top with orange juice and stir, then garnish with the orange slice.

Godchild

The Godchild is part of the Godfather family of amaretto cocktails. When I made this I liked it better than I expected. Godchild is the only family member of these drinks that is blended and made with half-and-half. It retains that spike of vodka of the Godmother, however, and I was happy that this wasn't another of those weak amaretto dessert drinks.

• 1 1/2 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 1 oz. vodka (Divine Clarity used)
• 1 oz. half-and-half

Combine all ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled champagne flute. 

Amaretto Sour

This is probably the quintessential amaretto cocktail--the one at the forefront of everyone's mind. That's why I've been putting it off for some time. I like the more obscure, the arcane.

But as far as sours go, it is really easy. Take care to serve this up in a sour glass. Otherwise it will just be a Fix of some sort. There's only two ingredient and a garnish, so it's hard to screw up.

• 2 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• orange slice

Combine juice and amaretto in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a sour glass. Garnish with the orange slice. 

Pink Almond

The Pink Almond has a few unusual liquors in it that really attempt to make a rich almond flavor shine. Amaretto is a sweet cookie-tasting almond liqueur from Italy. Creme de noyaux is a sweet French almond liqueur that is famous for being bright pink. I'm showing off a bottle of Tempus Fugit Creme de noyaux here! And kirschwasser is a German cherry brandy that has a faint scent of nuts. Put these all together, plus whiskey and lemon juice and you have the Pink Almond.

Which is a little funny because this drink really comes down to being a nutty Whiskey Sour, whatever pretensions it may have. And it is really terrific, if not a little overblown, especially with the amount of alcohol. The whiskey you choose is less important here than the other ingredients, but avoid Bourbon or anything smoky. MurLarkey Heritage with it's own nuttiness on the palate is appropriate.

• 2 oz. blended whiskehy (MurLarkey Heritage used)
• 1 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 1/2 oz. creme de noyaux (Frangelico and a dash of grenadine used)
• 1/2 oz. kirschwasser (Kammer Kirsch used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• lemon slice

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour (don't ask me why, but it's ok) into a chilled sour glass. Garnish with the lemon slice.

Amaretto Coffee

Another simple drink, taking a liqueur like amaretto and dumping it into a cup of coffee, becomes more elegant with spice and whipped cream. Dress up an everyday almond-syrup tasting coffee with a quality amaretto like Lazzaroni Amaretto can feel like an especially decadent treat.

Ground coriander on whipped cream lends a whiff of dried citrus to the nose of this special drink. The whole experience feels appropriate for the holidays when we expect to find richer and more extravagant drinks. This recipe does all of that right.

• 1 1/2 oz. amaretto
• 8 oz. hot black coffee
• whipped cream
• ground coriander (optional but recommended)

Add amaretto to a warm coffee mug. Fill with hot coffee and stir. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle coriander on the whipped cream topping.

Amaretto Mist

Sometimes a spirit is so good you don't need to mix with it. Simply serving it in a particular way achieves a cocktail in a way that serving it neat does not. I'm thinking of the Snowball series of drinks with anise liqueurs and the Scotch Mist, which I realize is a brother of this drink and one I would have done better with crushed ice, which I didn't do the first time I made this drink.

The effect of this quickly melting ice and the lemon zest is that the flavors brighten considerably and the spirit opens up with the cold water. You can better appreciate something like amaretto, which is usually too thick and sugary to get a handle on when taken warm and neat.

• 2 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• crushed ice
• lemon twist

Build the drink in an Old Fashioned glass with crushed ice. Twist lemon peel over the glass and drip it in. 

Vanity Fair

This is a very opulent cocktail in terms of ingredients, not presentation. It has a jumbled and dessert-like quality that reminds me of tiramisu. It's not that the drink tastes creamy, it is just that there are many things going on, and all of them contribute to a general flavor direction, but some flavors contend with each other for your attention. It's best not to have too much of this drink, as it becomes cloying after a few sips.

Laird's Apple Brandy, Kammer Kirschwasser, Lazzaroni Amaretto, and Luxardo maraschino liqueur make this cocktail a heavily sweet brandy and cordial cocktail. I recommend splitting the glass up into three shots to be shared with a holiday dessert. 

• 2 oz. apple brandy
• 1 oz. kirschwasser
• 1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur
• 1 tbsp. amaretto

Combine all ingredients except amaretto in a mixing glass with ice (the NY Bartender's guide says to shake, but don't) and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Float amaretto on top. 

Ferrari

This is a quintessential Italian cocktail, and it is very European in general. Europeans tend to enjoy vermouth in large quantities, mixing it with sugar and citrus. They don't like their drinks too strong, but richness and complexity are the general rule.

It's a multi-layered drink with citrus nose and orange spice, marzipan sweetness and a dry and herbaceous wine center. Ferrari is an appropriate name for such a designer Italian cocktail. It gets good flavor traction on the tongue and moves fast.

There's a series of car drinks including the [Golden] Cadillac, Monte Carlo, Roles Royce, and Bentley. Check them all out on my blog.    

• 2 oz. dry vermouth (Mancino used)
• 1 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• dash orange bitters (homemade bitters used)

Build cocktail in an Old Fashioned glass full of ice. Stir well and twist lemon peel over the glass before dropping it in. 

Godmother

If your godmother is Russian or Italian, then this is a good comfort drink for you. Actually, it is an offshoot of the Godfather, which is a scotch and amaretto cocktail of larger proportions. With that one, amaretto softens and sweetens the scotch. For this cocktail, the amaretto is the expensive ingredient and it is blended down by a larger component of vodka.

It's a great holiday drink that's rich and tastes like amaretto cookies and nothing else. I used Stolichnaya vodka, which is very pleasant and mild. The whole effect is like sipping marzipan.

• 2 oz. vodka (Stolichnaya used)
• 1 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)

Build drink in an Old Fashioned glass full of ice and stir well. 

Cardinal

Not the bird as much as the the bright red-robed Catholic clergy. The Cardinal is one of the class of Monkish drinks that have nothing in common except for their related names (Sanctuary, Abby, Cloister, Bishop, etc.) This one is very different in that it is the only one of these drinks with amaretto in it.

I can't say enough good things about this drink. It has that great combination of lime juice and triple sec and enough white rum to make it tropical, but amaretto makes it fit into that class of drinks like the Cloister that make use of richly flavored Central European liqueurs. Lazzaroni is very classic amaretto with an angelic marzipan cookie flavor that you really notice in this drink.

• 2 oz. white rum
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. amaretto
• 1 oz. lime juice
• lime slice

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

Amaretto Sour

So this is the first bottle of Amaretto I've owned in my 20 plus years as a mixologist. I guess I was just waiting to build knowledge and live an an area where there's greater selection. Otherwise I would have bought an American knock-off without thinking. So this is the first Amaretto Sour I've made for the blog as well.

With only a sweet, cookie-like liqueur and lemon juice it was a little sugary and the flavors were very concentrated. But I didn't have to add sugar either, so the drink is simple and takes advantage of the sweetness of amaretto. Of course you have to try it--it's a classic!

• 2 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• orange slice

Combine all ingredients except orange in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a sour glass (poured into a rocks glass shown). Garnish with orange slice.

Fern Gully

The Fern Gully is a fanciful drink that seems to recall European romance of the tropics. Here Italian amaretto and rums from the Caribbean and American colonies are combined for an exotic experience. There is an immistakable nuttiness to the drink that comes from amaretto and coconut cream, that when put in a tiki mug like this one, evokes a shady place to rest and contemplate romantic notions. If you have amaretto, don't rule out going the tropical route with this ordinarily continental liqueur.

• 2 oz. dark rum (Lyon Bijou Batch used)
• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Plantion 3 Stars used)
• 1 oz. amaretto (Lazzeroni used) 
• 1/2 oz. coconut cream
• 1 oz. orange juice 
• 1 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a grim-faced tiki and garnish at will, or just put it in a chilled wine goblet.

Tutti Fruity

On the surface, Tutti Fruity is a tropical fruit drink with spice and exotic flavors. In fact, it is a very Italian drink with amaretto and maraschino cherry liqueur. I used Lazzaroni amaretto and Luxardo liqueur brands, so no domestic knock offs here.

But "tutti" in Italian (especially in orchestral direction) means to combine voices following a solo. That is what you have here, a combination of fruit, each doing a counterpoint to each others' melodies that we already know so well. There's summery peaches and winter pears and apples. There's cherry (and I dropped some of my wishniak soaked cherries into the blender to up the alcohol content and dark fruit flavors for bass effect), and there's apples for juiciness.

Peels are pureed and give the drink texture and flavor as well. Then there's the funky interplay between gin spice with Bombay Sapphire East in my recipe (with lemongrass and black pepper botanicals) and almond and maraschino liqueurs that are a little bittersweet. If you have a lot of fruit and the liquors on hand, this is a "must do!"

• 2 oz. diced apples
• 2 oz. diced pears
• 2 oz. diced peaches
• 3 oz. gin
• 1 oz. amaretto
• 1 oz. maraschino liqueur
• 1 oz. pitted Michigan cherries (optional but recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a blender with 1 cup of cracked ice. Blend until smooth. Pour into a chilled highball glass. (Makes two servings.)

Alabama Slammer

I love the assonance in the name of this drink. Makes me want to call it Alabama "Slamma!'" It is strong and sweet too. Don't be fooled--it's no Negroni. What we have here is an all-liquour drink that is nutty and fruity. There's a hint of gin spice, too, from the sloe gin, but it is mostly cover over by sugar.

Lazzaroni Amaretto is an Italian amaretto from the town of Saronno, where they make cookies with the almond cordial flavor. The spirit is supposedly an infusion of these cookies in the spirit. Sounds like a "chicken and egg," situation when it comes to determining which was first.

• 1 oz. Amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 1 oz. Southern Comfort
• 1/2 oz. sloe gin
• squeeze of lemon wedge

Combine all ingredients in a rocks glass with ice. Stir gently and squeeze lemon wedge over the drink before dropping it in.