Pillow Talk (Deat & Co. Recipe)

 

I knew I'd find a use for Wine Cube sparkling rose when I bought it! Sparkling cocktails are tricky. You have to invest in them because opening a bottle of bubbles is a commitment and not something you typically do on a whim. 

But this is a very whimsical cocktail. Bloom gin and sloe gin just scream Bloomsbury movement (both very relaxed and, at the same time, very English.) I didn't have Creme Yvette (a nut and berry liqueur similar to cassis with a lovely pink color) but I did have a lot of Mazzenez cassis, which is also enjoyed more readily by English folk more readily than it is across the pond--so I'm often looking for a reason to use it. 

I'm sure a better quality sloe gin would have been an improvement. For decades, Mr. Boston was they only brand making sloe gin, and it is still hard to find the new Plymouth in most stores. There just isn't a big market for sloe gin, and I have no idea how to make it. 

The final product was rich and fruity. Bloom is already a floral and fruity gin, but grapefruit juice and all the berry flavors from the liqueurs punched that up a notch. The rose was really there for texture and bubbles, because the drink was going to be bright pink anyways. I'd try this with dry champagne in a heartbeat. Ok. Well, maybe not a full bottle of the Dom, though.

• 1 1/2 oz. Bloom gin
• 1/4 oz. sloe gin (Mr. Boston used)
• 1/4 oz. Creme Yvette (Mazzenez creme de cassis used)
• 3/4 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. vanilla syrup
• sparkling rose

 Shake all ingredients except the sparkling wine with ice. Strain into a flute and top with sparkling rose.

Julian Sorel (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

For some reason, Julian Sorel is called "the worst drink name ever," in the Death & Co. recipe book. I don't see why, exactly, though. It's named after the protagonist in The Red And The Black, by Stendhal. In my mind, that makes it a bit of a Scholarly French name. And Julian Sorel doesn't appear in the list of staff picks for worst names in "On The Naming of Cocktails" page of the bar book. Good name or no, Julian Sorel is a good idea.

It blends The Last Word with a champagne cocktail, which is an awesome idea--dare I even say "a genius-level move." If a Negroni can be crossed with a French 75, then why can't a Last Word be mashed-up with a classic French 75 with cognac. And it works surprisingly well. Best of all: it maintains the easy-to-remember proportions of The Last Word!

• 1/2 oz. Courvoisier cognac
• 1/2 oz. green Chartreuse (Dolin Genepy used)
• 1/2 oz. Luxardo maraschino
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• dry champagne (Aria cava used)
• 1 lemon twist garnish
  

Combine all ingredients except champagne and garnish in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top with champagne and garnish wtih the twist.

 

Ric-O-Chet

Alright, champagne cocktail drinkers--here is another beauty! The Ric-O-Chet is a lot like a Death In The Afternoon, in that it is a sparkling cocktail with a ton of herbal flavored and grape-based spirits in it. It's almost a drink designed to display the color of the spirits and present an interesting form of glassware for consuming something that pretty much tastes like absinthe. It will also kick your butt and make you quite tired if you make it part of your day drinking routine.

The recipe calls for cognac, and there is almost no reason to use a high quality spirit. But since I didn't have any cheap cognac, I opted for my pricey armagnac by Larressingle. I'd like to say that this was a good move, but a lot of the subtlety of armagnac is lost behind the anise and licorice of Ricard. If anything, the cognac is there to spread that flavor around and make the Ricard a little more rich.

One key to this drink (and any restaurant bartender who tries this by reducing the liquor content by half in order to be sold legally in most states) is to build the drink with the cognac and Ricard in the glass first and add ice to chill it. This allows the herbs in the Ricard to express out and create a cloudy caramel visual effect. Remove the ice with a spoon and top with the champagne and stir.

• 1 oz. cognac (Larressingle armagnac used)
• 1 1/2 oz. Ricard
• sparkling wine or champagne

Add Ricard and cognac to a chilled champagne flute and stir to chill. Remove the ice with a spoon and top with sparkling wine or champagne and stir gently. 

Imperial Kir

Now that I'm on the subject of Kirs, let me introduce you to this baddie! It is a Kir on steroids (or Kirsh, actually) and it combines two fruit spirits with bubbles and a lot of crushed ice. The Kirshwasser--not a small portion, here--is probably what promotes the Kir Royale to an emperor. If not that, though, it must be the massive size of this drink. It's like it is designed to wipe out any drinker in one cocktail.

Kirschwasser--the traditional stuff from Germany, like this Kammer Kirsch--is very high proof. It tastes like dry fruit brandy, and I love how that dryness and fruit comes through what is normally a sweet black current pie of a cocktail. Crushed ice makes the whole think unbelievably cold compared to the often improperly-served warm Kir (when you don't chill the cassis and just put it in the warm glass and top with champagne and hope for the best.) It turns out that the Imperial Kir is a drink that is enjoyable when you take your time with it and let it dilute a little. At this strength and size, you almost have to!

• 2 oz. creme de cassis (G. E Massenez used)
• 1 oz. kirschwasser (Kammer Kirsch used)
• champagne or sparkling wine

Combine creme de cassis ingredients with crushed ice in a shaker or blender. Shake or blend briefly to combine evenly and pour into a large wine goblet. Top with champagne or sparkling wine and stir gently.

Bubbling Passion

This sparkling wine cocktail is the passionfruit edition of of a Kir Royale! It uses the now extinct la Grande Passion liqueur that Grand Marnier used to make. In this resurected drink, the passionfruit comes through the bubbles even better than cassis, and you can even taste the chocolate notes--not bad for an easy bubbles cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. la Grande Passion liqueur
• sparkling wine or champagne
• lemon twist

Pour la Grande Passion into a chilled champagne flute and top with sparkling wine or Champagne. Twist lemon peel over the glass and drop it in.

Hinkey Dinks Fizzy (Smuggler's Cove recipe)

This cocktail is featured in Smuggler's Cove. It comes to us originally from Trader Vic's celebration of their fiftieth anniversary in the 1980s. A few things have made this cocktail a treat. I made passionfruit syrup specifically for this recipe and bought sparkling wine in small-format cans. I even got this stemless snifter that is large enough to hold this drink simply for the presentation.

But Roku gin is probably the best addition I made. It is very floral and somewhat bitter. Even mixed in this cocktail, you can taste or smell the cherry blossom botanicals. The drink has a great appeal with its blended ice and fizzy taste. Use a straw to drink this one!

• 2 oz. sparkling wine
• 1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. passion fruit syrup (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. apricot liqueur (Jaquin's used)
• 1 oz. London dry gin (Roku used)
• 1 oz. blended lightly aged rum (Flor de Cana extra seco used)

Pour sparkling wine in the bottom of a large brandy snifter. In a blender add ice and the rest of the ingredients. Flash blend and pour into the snifter. Garnish with a mint sprig. 

Champagne Punch

(Photo by Ned Drummond)

This is a reasonably sized punch for a small gathering, and a really good use of sparkling wine and spirits to produce a strong and balanced communal drink. The photo I used is a half portion, so it doesn't fill the bowl completely. But it was the perfect amount for three big drinkers. The full-size punch makes 15 servings.

• 1 cup cognac (Mewkow used)
• 1 cup cherry liqueur (Cherry Heering used)
• 1 cup triple sec (Cointreau used)
• 1/4 cup sugar syrup
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 bottles (750 ml.) Champagne or sparkling wine (Korbel brut used)

Combine juice, spirits and sugar in a bowl and refrigerate up to two hours before serving. Fill with large cakes of ice (snack bags filled with water and frozen beforehand are great.) Add Champagne and stir when ready to serve.

Hinky Dink's Fizzy (Smuggler's Cove)

I really enjoyed this drink for its rum flavor and dry spiced gin--wholly different from the flavors associated with spiced rum. For this cocktail I chose Monkey 47 to keep the drink dry like a champagne cocktail.

This cocktail comes from Smuggler's Cove. The Hinky Dink's reference points to the 30's vintage Tiki bar in Oakland, California. The drink itself was invented in the 1980s. Better modern rums and gins are now available, so a drink like this gets a facelift with Monkey 47 dry gin and Vitae modern rum.

• 1 oz. blended lightly aged (white) rum (Vitae Platinum used)
• 1 oz. dry gin (Monkey 47 used)
• 1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. passionfruit syrup
• 1/2 oz. apricot liqueur
• 2 oz. sparkling wine
• mint sprig/ flower garnish

Combine all ingredients except sparkling wine and mint sprig in a blender with crushed ice. Flash blend and open pour into a large snifter or wine glass with the two ounces of sparkling wine in it. Garnish with mint or flowers.

Josiah's Bay Float (Revisited With Pineapple Shell Cup)

I had previously tackled this cocktail and the Baracuda #1 in the New York Bartender's Guide several years ago. It is amazing, as you'd expect with rum, sparkling wine and Galliano, which gives the drink a smooth and slightly anise spice flavor. It is amazing how suitable Galliano is to tropical cocktails.

This time I wanted to take up the suggestion of making the drink in a pineapple shell. I lucked out when I got a moderately ripe pineapple that was easy to carve up. You basically cut the leafy top off, several inches down at the point where the fruit is widest. The bottom two thirds of the pineapple will make up the container with the drink. Using a sharp knife, cut a circle approximately one inch inside the shell, leaving a good portion of the fruit as the wall of the container. Cut diagonally inward in a circle to remove a cone-shaped segment of the core. The remaining core and fruit can be scooped out with a spoon, but leave more than two inches in the bottom of the container space.

If the pineapple sits a little lopsided, you can even it out by cutting into the base of the fruit, but this only works if you left plenty of room beneath the container space or else you end up with a hole in your container.

Use the pineapple container right away or freeze the pineapple for up to a week to use it when you want to.

Here's the recipe again:

• 1 oz. gold rum
• 1/2 oz. Galliano
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 2 tsp. sugar syrup
• 2 tsp. lime juice
• champagne or sparkling wine
• lime slice
• maraschino cherry
• hollowed out pineapple shell (optional)

Combine all ingredients except champagne, lime slice and maraschino cherry in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a hollowed out pineapple shell or hurricane glass. Add champagne and stir gently.

Diamond Fizz

The Diamond Fizz is pretty similar to the London French 75 except that it is served long and on the rocks. The concept is the same. I think that the cocktail is good simply because it is stronger than you  expect, which may be why it rates as a "diamond." It is also sparkly.

I picked Hendrick's gin for no other reason than it's diamond-shaped label, but it did help to class up this cocktail a bit. The sparkling wine, this dry Circova, is really the dominant flavor though. It almost doesn't come across as a gin drink anyway. It is like a sparkling lemonade with a huge punch.

• 2 oz. gin (Hendrick's used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• sparkling wine (Circova used)

Combine gin, lemon juice and sugar in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled highball or Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling wine and stir gently.

Spritzer

This is another one of those drinks that is arguably not a cocktail at all, but it is still a mixed drink. A weak one at that. The Spritzer is a summer wine and soda drink when a glass of wine would be too much. It is mostly for people who don't feel like drinking, but would like a taste of wine in a refreshing soda cocktail. You can drink these all day, if that's the kind of thing you like to do.

The Spritzer does what a cocktail is meant to do, however: it spreads out the expensive alcohol with other additives. Soda makes your wine choice like champagne, and you still get to have the experience of drinking an elegant-looking drink from a wine glass with half the alcohol. So go ahead, make a Spritzer with your best white or red, or go cheap. It doesn't matter. No one's getting drunk today anyway.

• 6 oz. red or white wine
• club soda
• lemon twist

  Pour wine over ice in a wine goblet (stemless shown) and fill with soda. Garnish with twist.

Whiskey Daisy

This is amazingly refreshing and very much like a sweet Whiskey Sour. Definitely do this on a hot day.

• 3 oz. whiskey
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. grenadine
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• sparkling water
• orange slice

Combine whiskey, lemon juice, grenadine and sugar syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour contents into a highball glass. Top with sparkling water and garnish with orange slice.