Pollyanna

What's with the garnishes on this drink? The Pollyanna looks like a tropical drink, but it is really a sweet Martini with grenadine surrounded with tropical fruits. The interesting thing is that the scent of all those pineapple and orange slices really changes the drinking experience. The cocktail itself is pretty bitter, with gin and Antica Formula vermouth, so sipping next to sweet fruits balances things out. Why three of each piece of fruit? So you can bite one for every sip you take. And I really recommend it to readers: bite an orange slice and sip; bite a pineapple slice and sip again and see how the drink changes. You're no Pollyanna if you can make and consume this drink.

• 3 oz. gin
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1/2 tsp. grenadine
• 3 orange slices
• 3 pineapple slices

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass garnished with 6 pieces of fruit.

Chapala

Chapala is a city in Jalisco, Mexico. It is also a nice cocktail to pair with Mexican food. (Check out the taco platter in the backgroung.) Orange juice changes it up from a standard Margarita. Using grenadine for sweetness instead of sugar syrup  also makes it more tropical. Ole!

• 2 oz. gold tequila
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a highball glass. 

Hotel Plaza Cocktail

Simple, elegant, rich: the Hotel Plaza Cocktail is a throwback to times when people really loved vermouth but wanted to drink something a little stronger than fortified wine. It is also one of those cocktails that rely on the quality of the ingredients to pass muster. I believe that one of the reasons why people dislike vermouth--and the diminution of vermouth from Martinis can be taken for evidence of this--is because we've grown accustomed to bad vermouth. This is the equivalent of some duffer in the '80s saying he doesn't like wine when the only wine he can get easily is cheap, sweet rose like Riunite d'Oro. But the truth is that quality vermouth has only very recently been available, so you can't blame today's Martini drinkers.

With Antica Formula for the sweet vermouth and Mancino dry vermouth, this drink was subtly spicy and very rounded. There's almost no juniper from the 1/3 part of gin. I get the feeling that it matters little what gin you use, but gin was the main white spirit of the time when this drink was popular, so there it is.

• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1 oz. dry vermouth
• 1 oz. gin
• maraschino cherry (Omit for simpler Plaza Cocktail)

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

Long Island Iced Tea

I've made so many of these in my three years of bartending, and never have I added creme de menthe, nor have I bothered to photograph the drink and use it on my blog. That must be because it is a code drink for people who want to signal that they want to get drunk as painlessly and as covertly as possible.

Yes, you can add whiskey to your coke or coffee, but you can only get so much of it in the glass before it becomes obvious that the stuff in the glass is not just Pepsi. The Long Island Iced Tea has no tea in it, but the tea color from the cola is a crafty camouflage for all the alcohol--about two drinks worth--in the same glass that iced tea should be served.

For this drink, I'm providing my recipe and the NY Bartender's guide recipe. The reason for this is because most people expect the drink to be the recipe I follow at the bar rather than the older one represented in the book. I think, sometime, I will try the NYBG recipe at home to see how it compares.

My typical Long Island Iced Tea recipe:

• 1 oz. vodka
• 1 oz. gin
• 1 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. tequila
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
•  lemon wedge
• splash of cola

 The New York Bartender's Guide recipe:

• 2 oz. vodka
• 1 oz. gin
• 1 oz. white tequila
• 1 oz. white rum 
• 1/2 oz. white creme de menthe
• 2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• lime wedge 
• cola

Combine all juices, spirits, and sugar (or sugar syrup) in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass full of fresh ice. Fill (or just splash with) cola and garnish with fruit.

Hoffman House

Is this a Martini? According to my standards for the drink, I'd say yes. It is a gin drink with a smaller portion of dry vermouth and an olive, so it's a Martini in everything except in name. But there's the addition of orange biters that changes things slightly. You get a fruity and spicy bite that gin doesn't quite provide and seems at odds with olive brine.

A couple of things made this drink exceptional. One was the use of Bombay Sapphire gin, which is dry and has a lot of citrus botanicals. So it was bright. I used Mancino vermouth, which is complex while still dry. My homemade orange bitters make use of cinchona laden amari like Meletti and Picon Bierre, so it is less like a spice cabinet and more like bitter fruit zest. Then the Tipsy Olives, soaked in vermouth, are so richly flavored and sweet (not bitter or harsh like so many olives) you can taste it on the first sip, and you'll be swooning with the last swallow when you take down the olive and all of it's dry vermouth brine.

If you're tired of the regular dry Martini, try the Hoffman House for something different from the dirty and sweet variations of the drink.

• 2 oz. gin (Bombay Sapphire used)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Mancino used)
• 3 dashes orange bitters
• cocktail olive (Tipsy vermouth olives)

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

Gin And It

If you are going to make a Gin And It, you need to make sure that the gin is good quality and your "It" is a flavorful vermouth. With only two ingredients, this almost isn't a mixed drink. There's potential for a bland and uninspired sipper if you use pedestrian spirits.

I chose the richly flavored Bluecoat Barrel Reserve gin for its oak character and botanical spice. A gin that is good enough on its own, like Bluecoat, is a very smart move for the Gin And It. Then there's Antica Formula Vermouth, which is like a sweet vermouth with bitters included.

Despite its simplicity, this cocktail was outstanding,  I can imagine this cocktail as a flagship barreled and top shelf offering in a classy bar. I'd pay $20 bucks for it, easily. Good ingredients made it one of the best I've tried.

• 3 oz. gin
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth

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

Jamaica Mule

This is a deadly strong rum version of the Moscow Mule. The classic vodka version of the drink is downright mild by comparison. Rum: 151, dark, light and falernum make up 70 percent of the liquid in the glass. That's fine since ginger beer is pretty flavorful and rounds things out. But think of this cocktail as a Zombie version of the Moscow Mule.

I love that candied ginger is a recommended garnish. A pineapple spear is also suggested, but there's no pineapple in the drink and this is a Jamica Mule not a Hawaiian one.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. dark rum
• 1 oz. 151-proof rum
• 1 oz. falernum (Velvet Falernum used)
• 1 oz. lime juice
• ginger beer
• candied ginger
• pineapple spear

Combine rums, juice and falernum in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass full of fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with candied ginger and pineapple spear.