Jesper Lind (Death & Co. Recipe)

Vesper Lind is James Bond's beau. This is the woman for whom he never married. And we all have had a Vesper or a 007 Martinii. This is different. In fact if I was to suggest a  Bond Enemy drink, this might be it. 

There is a lot of richness in the nose: vanilla and orange. When you sip it is full of raisin from the sherry and herbal notes from the gin and aquavit. And that last bit is where the name comes from: a common masculine name in Norway, Jesper. All of which hints at the addition of aquavit as a botanical ingredient. This is the dude drink to match Bond's woman. And I'm down with that. It's richer and more herbaceous. There's no vodka to tame it down. The flavor is full and ready. 

What it lacks is garnish, if that is even necessary. At a cool bar like Death & Co., I'd be surprised if that was even necessary. And truthfully, you don't need lemon oil from the twist or a cherry to throw off the perfection of the individual ingredients. 

• 1 1/2oz. dry gin (homemade bathtub used)
• 3/4 oz. Lustau East India Solera Sherry
• 1/2 oz. Linie aquavit (homemade used)
• 1 tsp vanilla syrup 
• 1 dash orange bitters

Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a coupe glass. 

Gonzalez (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This drink is named after  Jessica Gonzalez, the first female bartender at Death & Co. She must have like the Martinez, because that is what this drink is doing, essentially. And it's great, its easy, it's so approachable, I had to make it with my own homemade gin.

• 2 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. Punt e Mes (Cocchi di Torino used)
• 3/4 Luxardo maraschino
• 2 dashes aromatic bitters (Hella used)

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

Satan's Whiskers (Enroulee)

 

This Difford's Guide recipe changes the replaces Grand Marnier in the classic Satan's Whiskers with Mandarine Napoleon. It's not a major change, but the effect is a lighter orange note in a fortified wine and gin cocktail. 

Mandarine Napoleon is similar to Grand Marnier in that it is an orange cognac spirit, but while Grand Marnier has chocolatey and singed orange peel notes, Mandarine Napoleon has a grape spirit and juicy mandarin flavor with hints of baking spice. I consider this a drink of necessity--the necessity being that you want it but you don't have Grand Marnier. I also don't have Mandarine Napoleon except that I made a knock off spirit by infusing real mandarin in cognac. 

• 1 1/2 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz.  sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Mandarine Napoleon (homemade used)
• 1/4 oz. orange juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• orange twist rolled up like a curly mustache. 

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the orange zest tightly and lay it on the rim like a twisted whisker. 

Jager Negroni (Difford's Guide Recipe)

 

It may surprise you, but I love Jagermeister. I didn't always (that's not surprising) but not for the reason that most people who dislike Jager say--"it's the taste." It wasn't the taste I disliked, it was they way people would just shoot it, as if trying to get past the taste.

I think that I didn't appreciate Jager before I had it to compare with other Alpine spirits, as if my problem with Jager was that I viewed it as a stand-alone product with a weird flavor. When taken as a group with Chartreuse, Strega, various Italian Amari and other German Alpine spirits, Jager makes a lot of sense. They compliment each other in a Negroni, which is usually an Italian Campari drink. 

This Negroni variation tastes like Jagermeister--it's sweeter with licorice root, cinnamon and citrus flavors. It breaks out of the ultra bitter and dry Negroni mold and causes you to do a double take. It might also force you to reevaluate your dislike of Jager.

• 3/4 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)
• 3/4 oz. Jagermeister
• 1/4 sweet Italian amaro (Don Ciccio & Figli Ambrosia used)
• Orange slice

Build the drink in a double Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice and stir before garnsihing with the orange slice.

Oh, Cicilie! (Difford's Guide Recipe)

What a lovely rocks sipping cocktail! Part Negroni and part Old Fashioned, this drink combines the bitter citrus of sweet Italian Amaro and French Amer Picon with spicy angostura bitters and gin.  Of course I've made a lot of these ingredients, like the Amer Picon, of course, and a dry gin. I'm also showing off Don Ciccio & Figili's Ambrosia. This is a nice stand-in for Aperol, but has a more honeyed citrus flavor. 

The cocktail drinks like an Old Fashioned, but the richness and spice of that classic drink opens up in the sip to citrus bitterness and honey. I love the thoughtful addition of a grapefruit twist, which really offsets the bitter orange of the Amer Picon. As stiff as Oh, Cicilie! is, I can see it being a nice afternoon aperitif cocktail, something to wet your appetitie for dinner. 

• 1 1/2 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. Aperol (Don Ciccio & Figili Ambrosia used)
• 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)
• 1/4 oz. Amer Picon (homemade used)
  
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• grapefruit zest

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass full of ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice. Twist the grapefruit zest over the glass and drop it in. 

 

Angel's Advocate

 

 

 

Angel's Advocate is a play on words because this drink is made with a little advocaat. Advocaat is a Dutch egg liqueur that I recently learned to make from this Youtube video. The recipe essentially calls for mixing sugar, brandy and egg whites with some vanilla beans. Then it is heated and allowed to cook down briefly before bottling.

The advocaat spirit is thick, like a strong eggnog without the nutmeg. (It actually makes an excellent bottled starter for eggnog, just add milk and nutmeg.) The benefit of this spirit is the ability to add a protein-rich texture without needing raw eggs handy--it is refrigerator stable for a few weeks, so the party can last. In large doses in cocktails, you get dessert drinks, but smaller portions make for creamy textures without adding milk or raw eggs. It also can mix with citrus without clotting the way dairy does. A little goes a long way in that instance, and you will find it makes a gin drink like the Angel's Advocate cloudy and soft with a vanilla scent.

(Note: "Advocaat" is also the word for lawyer in Scandinavian countries, so this drink is a triple play on words.) 

• 1 1/2 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 1/6 oz. advocaat (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. vanilla syrup (simple with vanilla extract used)
• 2/3 oz. lemon juice
• 1 dash cardamon bitters (Hella aromatic bitters used)
• orange zest laid in a cross shape
  

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Lay the orange zest pieces on the drink surface in the shape of a cross.

Greta Garbo (Bows)

 

Because of the popularity of Swedish Punsch at the beginning of the 20th Century, there were a handful of Greta Garbo cocktails named after the Swedish film star. I'm researching and trying them all with my homemade Swedish Punsch.

This cocktail, sometimes called the Greta Garbo Bows, is almost an exact copy of the better known (but still very obscure) Biffy Cocktail. That was one I found really too tart for my liking. Either Swedish Punsch used to be insufferably sweet, or the intention of the bartender was to create something so tart that it was a feature and not a bug of the recipe. See Ink Street, for examples of this. While I get the concept, I often have felt that intensely tart drinks with a low component of spirits were really the stuff of inexperienced Prohibition era bartenders who were trying to divert the drinker's attention from the alcohol. 

Perhaps that is what happened with this cocktail. According to legend Greta Garbo asked a bartender for something that hid the taste of alcohol. When she tried this drink, she bowed to him. It would be something special if it turned out to be true. The drink would be even better with a bit of sugar, though. So I have included it in the recipe just as I did with the Biffy Cocktail. 

• 1 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch (homemade used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• sugar syrup to taste (1/2 oz. used)

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

Eve's Seduction

 

This French-style aperatif cocktail does not appear in any of my bar books. Instead, I found the recipe on Lee Spirits website for their revival of a liqueur known as Forbidden Fruit. It is almost winter, so I made a small batch of my own Forbidden Fruit recipe in order to try Lee Spirit's Eve's Seduction and other recipes. 

Forbidden Fruit is a brandy-based spirit that has bright citrus notes, particularly grapefruit (the original forbidden fruit, or so it is said). The liqueur itself is sweetened with honey, though this recipe calls for some honey as well. Since the amaro is not specified, I think Averna or Montenegro will suffice or maybe Amer Picon if you can make or find that. I had free choice to use Don Ciccio and Figili's Ambrosia. Now Ambrosia is the sweetest of their Italian bitters, with plenty of its own honey flavor, I felt justified in leaving out the additional honey for fear of creating a honey bomb. 

This drink turned out well. A perfect sipper before or after dinner. I was happy with the elegant look and color and put it in my cordial glass to show that off. Additionally, the flavor was a lovely blend of bitterness and sweet honey.

If you happen to buy a bottle of Lee Spirit's Forbidden Fruit, and I hope you do if you can get it, I'm including the recipe as it is printed on the website. I'm making a note, however, as to the use of a half ounce of honey. If you put that much honey in your shaker, it will solidify before you pour the drink. You should make a 1:1 ratio mixture of honey simple using honey and warm water. Then only use half an ounce of the honey simple in the cocktail. 

• 1 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
  
• 1 oz. Forbidden Fruit
• 1/2 oz. amaro (Don Ciccio and Figili Ambrosia used)
• 1/2 oz. honey syrup
• (lemon twist or slice as garnish recommended but not included on the original recipe)

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

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. 

Shiedam Manhattan (Original Recipe)

 If you get Schiedam gin from the Netherlands or if you can make it yourself, you will enjoy this Manhattan recipe with soft malt and juniper notes for the cooler months. It is nearly the same as any Manhattan recipe out there that uses sweet vermouth, but it substitutes Schiedam gin (A.K.A. my homemade bathtub gin) for whiskey. 

I rather like the spiciness of this cocktail: it has something for both the whiskey drinker and the classic Prohibition-style gin drinker. It's fun and makes your usual Manhattan interesting.

• 2-3 oz. Schiedam gin or low-juniper bathtub gin
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)
• several dashes orange bitters (Hella used)
• maraschino cherry garnish

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

Homemade Bathtub Gin

It's counter intuitive that a well-stocked spice cabinet can ensure that you have a well-stocked bar. Usually if the two stashes are related, they deplete each other in equal measure, but when it comes to spice and herbal infusions, you can sometimes expand your liquor selection by sacrificing a handful of items that are commonly found in the kitchen.

Bathtub gin or steeped gin is one of the most basic methods of flavoring spirits by infusing herbs and spices in neutral grain spirits like vodka. It is brownish in color and strong on flavor in was that mass-marketed gin is not. Today's gin, which is predominantly flavored with juniper berries, is a clear spirit with a clean dry taste. Modern distillation practices remove solids and impurities of the botanicals added to the mash or percolated in an infusion basket. This process takes a lot of precise equipment that is out of the range of most hobbyist bootleggers.

But a steeped gin, while it takes the color of the botanicals, is an easy, low-tech way to get a refreshing spirit. It's also a fun craft to experiment with and perfect. Outside of juniper berries, you are free to dabble with whatever flavors you want in your gin. Here are a few categories items to consider when making your own gin recipe.

Citrus: Lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit are common gin flavors. For the most part you are going to use the peels of these fruits, not the juice, but adding slices of fresh fruit is a surefire way to punch up the acidity and citrus scent of your gin. Feel free to use as much as two to three fruits worth of citrus peels or zests.

Spice: A small but outsize component of gin comes from spices. Just a pinch of these dried flavors go a long way, so use them sparingly. Common gin ingredients include nutmeg, black pepper, allspice, clove, cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, and anise seeds or pods. For your first batch, start small. One peppercorn in a whole bottle can have a noticeable presence. A whole stick of cinnamon will blow out your recipe; you won't taste anything else but cinnamon.

Herbs: Fresh and dried herbs add complexity of flavor and even alter the texture of the spirit. You can use more fresh ingredients than spices as they tend to be more forgiving in infusions. Depending on what herbs you use you can make your gin more floral or more savory. Obviously use edible flowers like roses, orchids or lavender if you want floral flavor. Cooking herbs like thyme, parsley, sage, rosemary, dill, and basil are a wonderful choices and you can use a lot of them without harming the recipe. Seeds add flavor and texture. I like angelica for body. Angelica is a great unifier: It has a way of tying desperate flavors together. Corriander, fennel, cumin, and carraway, if used in moderation, can keep your homemade gin dry-tasting.

You can make any combination of these flavors and more to make your gin. The sky is the limit! Think outside the box: try a pinch of salt, an unusual spice like masthia or sumac, and play around with unusual berries and barks. Cubeb berries and birch bark, twigs and leaves are often found together in schnapps recipes. They will make your gin earthy.

Proportions: All these flavors above and more are easy to find and great for making gin, but don't go completely wild with your first batch. Overdoing it will only give you a bottle of undrinkable spirits. Start small: try four botanicals and keep your proportions small. Be patient and allow the flavors to infuse over time rather than overcompensating with too much of any ingredient. The recommended proportions below should keep your gin balanced.

• 1 750-ml bottle of 100-proof vodka
• 1/4 cup juniper berries (required)
• any combination of botanicals including up to 1/4 cup of citrus peels or fruit, 1 tsp. total of all spices keeping in mind that anise and cinnamon are strong and should not be a majority of the spice category, 1-2 tbsp. herbs.