Cagnes-Sur-Mer

Believe it or not, this cocktail belongs to the race track family of drinks. Cagnes Sur Mer is the motorway in Fance where the Monaco Grand Prix is held. This long drink is full of citrus flavors from curacao and Forbidden Fruit. I've extolled the exotic virtues of Forbidden Fruit in many of my posts, (in this drink it lends a sweet grapefruit flavor to the orange juice) but this time the unusual ingredient is the Vitae Orange Liqueur that I used in place of the curacao.

This cocktail is good to drink in hot weather. It has a fresh gin flavor with refreshing juice and citrus liqueurs. The sweetness comes from the honey and cognac in Forbidden Fruit and it all comes together with orange bitters and soda.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination gin used)
• 1/2 oz. Forbidden Fruit (Homemade recipe used)
• 1/2 oz. curacao (Vitae orange liqueur used)
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• several dashes orange bitters (Hella used)
• club soda
• orange slice

Combine the first six ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with soda and stir gently. Garnish with an orange slice. 

Bentley

The Bentley is a part of the luxury car series of cocktails, along with the Monte Carlo, Rolls Royce, and Ferrari. Although these cars and car drinks are kind of worlds apart from each other.

The Bentley uses Dubonnet rouge as a spicy aperitif wine to blend with the apple brandy. Laird's good stuff makes this cocktail especially rich and spicy.

• 2 oz. apple brandy (Laird's used)
• 1 oz. Dubonnet rouge
• lemon twist

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

Rolls Royce

This is a "Luxury Car" cocktail series drink I have been planning to make since I got Antica Formula vermouth. It isn't luxury without good vermouth, after all. You can see the Golden Cadillac and I will soon make a Bentley. Like the Monte Carlo, it also uses Benedictine, but I wanted to feature Bada Bing cherries in this entry.

The Rolls Royce doesn't call for a cherry garnish, but Bada Bings aren't maraschino cherries. They are rich and plump bing cherries, a flavor that goes well with this herbal Martini variation. Bada Bing are organic with no artificial coloring, so if you have issues with maraschino cherries, these won't bother you.

The Rolls Royce recipe according to the NY bartender's guide is as follows:

• 3 oz. gin
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/4 oz. Benedictine

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