Silver Streak

There's a few drinks involving Jagermeister that are associated by the word "silver." If you pour a shot of Jagermeister in a shot glass, the concentrated liquid looks gray. But when you dilute it with gin or water, it is clearly brown. I can't think that the name is therefore a comment on the color of the drink like it is with the Silver Fizz (Gin Fizz with egg white.) It seems more likely that someone mixing with Jagermeister wanted to commemorate the 1976 film Silver Streak, or give it the name of a high speed train or their own hotrod. Who knows.

One of the reasons that cocktails are awesome is that you take a strongly flavored and often expensive liqueur and spread it out with a base spirit like gin. When you use a more expensive gin like Commonwealth Gin, that defeats the purpose a little. But Commonwealth gin is really great with Jagermeister. It adds maltiness without covering it up with juniper. This way you can really appreciate the rootiness of Jagermeister and the German liqueur's herbs and spices flavor the gin, rather than the other way around.

• 3 oz. gin
• 1 1/2 oz. Jagermeister

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

Green Devil

At last, the final drink in the series of Devil cocktails! The Green Devil is on par with the strength of the other "colored" Devils: The Blue Devil, Red Devil, Black Devil. It is not as strong as the infamous Little Devil, but beats the hell out of the Devil's Cocktail and Diablo in terms of strength.

When it comes to flavor characteristics, the port cocktails (Devil's and Diablo) and the Rum Martini-like Black Devil are more like colonial cocktails, made with pre-classical ingredients that were deemed really strong and somewhat sinister during their time. The Blue, Red and Green Devils have more modern and colorful ingredients that they take their name from. As a consequence, they have the associated flavors of these liqueurs. The Red is bitter from Campari, the Blue is citrus from Blue Curacao, and the Green is minty (oh, God is it minty) from creme de menthe.

The Green Devil is a robustly mint drink that isn't a bad as it sounds. It tastes like a mint Martini with a noticeably lime center. I actually liked it a little. There's something awesome about the cooling effect of the creme de menthe and looking at the creepy green color while it kicks your butt.

Creme de menthe and brightly colored cocktails became popular in the early 20th century when artificial coloring became available for liqueurs. Modern literature records this rise in the novels of the 1920s and 30s. A chapter of D. H. Lawrence's Women In Love is titled "Creme De Menthe," and shows London gentlemen drinking the spirit with prostitutes in a bar.

• 2 oz. gin
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 2 oz. creme de menthe

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

Greenback

I am usually wary of creme de menthe drinks designed to make use of the color with no thought to the flavor of the cocktail, like the Greenback. A greenback is an antiquated term for American paper dollars, which used to be very green. Now only ones, fives, and twenties are green (and other colors as well) so the term is losing its relevence.

The Greenback cocktail runs the risk of becoming a Christmas cocktail with gin and creme de menthe making a minty and piney drink that reminds one of a Christmas tree. I countered this with the use of Commonwealth Gin, which is a less junipered American gin. The effect was that you experience the drink as a gin sour with a minty finish. The maltiness of Commonwealth Gin made it almost like having a whiskey drink like a mint julep, so it was actually very pleasant. There are, however, some horrid combinations of cheap gin and cheap creme de menthe that could go really wrong.

• 2 oz. gin (Commonwealth Gin used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 oz. creme de menthe

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. 

Rum Swizzle (Revisited)

My idea of a swizzle involves lots and lots of stirring, no soda, and plenty of bitters--preferably made by a swizzle hawker with a stick of brush found on a beach in Barbados. This is more of a layman's swizzle that takes the name simply by having a swizzle stick. That doesn't mean it is a bad drink at all. The classic swizzle is a challenging cocktail to drink as well--it is tart, bitter, and very strong. You are better off drinking it down in a single draft and wincing through it. This is a much more approachable (touristy) swizzle.

• 2 oz. dark rum
• 1 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters (Hella Aromatic Bitters used)
• sparkling water

Combine sugar, rum, juice and bitters in a Shaker with ice Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling water. Serve with a swizzle stick.

**Alternative and more authentic preparation. Combine all ingredients except sparkling water in a highball glass full of ice. Stir with a swizzle stick until the ice is melted down by half. Top with ice again and stir until the glass freezes over. Serve with swizzle stick and a side of sparkling water to drink after you shoot down the entire cocktail.

Imperial Fizz

One is tempted to try to make a connection between the spirits used in the Imperial Fizz and the scope of 19th century empires. You can say that rum and whiskey were the spirits that colonized America, for instance. On the other hand, the word Imperial denotes a drink that is stronger than others, like Imperial IPA. It is a highly fortified drink and probably more suited to Biggie Size drinkers or, in the past, royalty.

• 2 oz. blended whiskey
• 1 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• sparkling water

Combine all ingredients except sparkling water in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass full of ice. Top with sparkling water. (Lemon twist recommended).

Gin Fizz & Gin Cooler

There are a lot of similar gin cocktails out there since the beginning of the Fizz, Collins, and Fix assimilation of the late 19th century. These are two that are nearly identical. A Fizz is exactly what it sound like: drink with gin, lemon and soda. It is less potent than the Tom Collins, which has three ounces of gin and is designed to get you drunk quickly.

The Gin Fizz (left) is a nice refresher on a hot day. Made almost like the Tom Collins according to the recipe below.

• 2 oz. gin
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• sparkling water

Combine gin, lemon juice and sugar in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass full of fresh ice. Top with sparkling water.

The Gin Cooler (right) is part of a more nebulous group of drinks (some that use mint and some that use sparkling water or juices) designed to chill the blood on hot days. Make it like this, without a shaker.

• 2 oz. gin
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• sparkling water
• lemon peel

Mix gin and sugar in the bottom of a Collins glass without ice until sugar dissolves. Add ice and top with sparkling water. Garnish with the lemon peel. 
 

Bossa Nova

A nice tropical passion fruit smoothie, the Bossa Nova is one of the more unusual Galliano cocktails. My impression though is that passion fruit is very bitter and sour and needs more than Galliano--in its recent more bitter branding--to balance it out. Add about 1/2 oz. sugar syrup just to keep it on the sweet-ish side.

• 2 oz. dark rum 
• 1 1/2 oz. Galliano
• 1 oz. apricot brandy
• 4 oz. passion fruit juice (add 1/2 oz. simple syrup to sweeten)

Pour all ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend on low for 15 seconds. Pour into a highball glass.