Mocha Mint

I was afraid that this cocktail would be too much like a dessert. It was far from that, though. A combination of liqueurs that add coffee, chocolate and mint in equal measure, what's not to like about the Mocha Mint?

Even better, since there's plenty of sugar in the cremes, I could use MurLarkey coffee whiskey without having to add more sugar to balance it. If anything the coffee whiskey was the balance.

• 1 1/2 oz. coffee liqueur (MurLarkey coffee whiskey used)
• 1 1/2 oz. white creme de menthe
• 1 1/2 oz. white creme de cacao

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

Peppermint Patty

Not the shot version, this cocktail is actually a pleasant sipper that not too rich to enjoy any time. It's also easy to make, with equal parts white creme de cacao and white creme de menthe. It is chocolatey, minty and attractive with a little creamy whiteness, not that fake green color of most creme de menthe.

• 2 oz. white creme de menthe
• 2 oz. white creme de cacao
• 1 oz. half-and-half

Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. 

Kahlua Toreador

The original Toreador is a blended dessert drink made with tequila. It's pretty amazing in itself if you go all out with whipped cream and cinnamon.

This Toreador is more of an excuse to make a coffee flavored cocktail that's strong and slightly sweet. Not quite a dessert drink. Gone is the cream, whipped or otherwise, and in the place of Tequila, there's Kahlua. Holding it all together is a half of an egg white.

In place of Kahlua, I used a combination of MurLarkey coffee whiskey and sugar syrup to sweeten this liquor to the level of Kaluah. Copper and Kings brandy was also a good choice for this cocktail for its strength. You can't make a Toreador without something stronger than coffee liqueur at it center.

• 2 oz. brandy (Copper and Kings used)
• 1 oz. Kahlua (1 oz. MurLarkey Coffee Whiskey and 1/2 tsp. sugar used)
• 1/2 egg white

Combine all ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Egg Sour

The whole egg sour recipe in the New York Bartender's Guide is a brandy drink. Go figure. I'm finding that egg and brandy drinks are great if you use Copper and Kings brandy, which is strong and clean tasting. That's useful when the rest of the cocktail is so rich.

The fun thing about a whole egg sour is that it is so rich and creamy as well as tart. This is an egg cocktail lover's drink. Of course freshness of ingredients really counts here. For the drink and the photo I used Andean blue eggs. You can almost see the blue tint of the shell. But a fresh and healthy chicken egg makes a big difference when a raw egg is the main ingredient in a drink.

• 2 oz. brandy (Copper and Kings used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Cointreau
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• whole egg

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

Brandy Gump

This cocktail a dry, tart drink that really shows off your brandy. I opted for cognac here, because if you are going to be drinking a lot of brandy it might as well be cognac.

Now "gump" has no meaning in terms of cocktail recipes. As far as I know, it is the only use of this term in the name of a cocktail. It does, however, mean a dim-witted person in Scottish, so there's that. With three ounces of brandy, this drink will make a gump of anyone.

• 3 oz. brandy (cognac please)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. grenadine

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

Biffy Cocktail

This cocktail was an epic journey for me. I had to acquire the ingredients to make Swedish Punsch, a cocktail in itself that used to be sold bottled and can now only be found in Scandinavia. 

I got the recipe from several I found online and made adjustments for the strength of the flavors I was working with. Central to this recipe is Batavia Arrack--a rice yeast cane sugar infusion from Indonesia that is itself difficult to find. The recipe for this is already posted earlier. Then I went about making this cocktail several times.

The first Biffy Cocktail I made was with Icelandc Vor, a heavily barley tasting gin from Iceland (shown above.) This might have been overkill, and I feel it covered over the flavor of the Swedish Punsch. On second go, I felt that Vitae Modern Gin (right) with its rum base and funky sugar smell did the drink the best justice. I also added a touch of sugar to balance the lemon juice, which also has a way of covering things, especially since it was a lot of work getting the lemon essence into the Swedish Punch without using juice.

Lastly, I don't know why such a good drink has such a bad name. Biffy is the old fashioned term for the outhouse. That's cute, but it doesn't speak well of what is really a complex cocktail. 

• 2 oz. gin
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch (homemade used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar (recommended)

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

Thunder Cocktai

This is an incredible recipe. I mean that if you see it written out you won't believe it. Tasting is believing though. This is a brandy cocktail with egg yolk and cayenne pepper. It is sweet and spicy and not at all what you'd expect.

I tried it out with Copper and Kings American brandy aged in bourbon barrels, and it worked very well. I attribute the success to Copper and King's being a dry and stronger then average brandy. Keep in mind that it is a grape spirit that gets most of its flavor from barrel aging.

The result is a drink that creates a sweet suspension with egg yolk--which when sweetened comes across as creamy. The chili was hot! I recommend using cayenne pepper and not just any powdered chili. The finer the grind, the better.

• 2 oz. brandy (Copper and Kings used)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

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