Ginger Jones

 

This is a fun cocktail for winter sipping. I especially like how ginger and orange juice play off of each other to create a warming sensation in a cold drink, especially when served in an Old Fashioned glass where there is more spirit-to-juice ratio.

This is the first use of my ginger brandy made from Korbel and a combination of fresh and dry ginger. To make it, I soaked a quarter cup of candied ginger and a tsp. of fresh chopped ginger in a jar with about six ounces of brandy. After a week, I strained out the solids and folded an ounce of simple syrup into the liquor. 

I'm especially proud that I found an old defunct label from Paramount Distillers in Cleveland. In the prohibition era, they used to label their ginger brandy as medicinal for stomach aches. Feel free to take this cocktail for medicinal pourposes.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1/2 oz. ginger brandy (homemade used)
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup or to taste
• candied ginger garnish

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with the ginger piece.

Newton's Gravity Apple

 

This is a funny and sublime name for a cocktail made with applejack. I can just see it now. A physics major drinking at a bar asks for some kind of a cocktail that he can name after Issac Newton. Afterward there is some confusion among the laity as to why applejack is an important ingredient. The bartender explains that its the "gravity apple guy's drink!"

Even so, this simple cocktail suffices. I'm really enjoying Laird's Applejack 86. This is the third bottle I've purchased and I like it better than their 80-proof for its strength and flavor and I'm not sure I'll bother buying aged apple brandy again.

• 1 1/2 oz. apple brandy (Laird's Applejack 86 used--as it is actually apple brandy)
• 1/2 oz. curacao or triple sec (Leroux triple sec used)
• several dashes Angostura bitters
• apple slice (optional garnish)

Combine spirits in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. The apple slice is not required but it is a nice touch.

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. 

San Remo

 

San Remo is a beautiful coastal town in northern Italy. Like the bright colors of the rooftops of San Remo, the cocktail of the same name has a brilliant hue. The Italian Alpine spirit, Strega is a white brandy-based liquor flavored with a secret recipe of herbs and spices such as saffron and mint. 

The San Remo is designed to spread out this flavor across a dry palate of herbal gin. That is the reason I chose Bulldog for its light London dry style. Is it a good drink? It is balanced, is is fresh and herbacious and bright despite having no citrus juice. So yes, unless you don't like Strega, and then I can't help you.

• 2 oz. gin (Bulldog used)
  
• 1 oz. Strega
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin extra dry used)

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

Alabammy Bound

The name, of course, refers to the southern state of Alabama where peaches and peach liqueur are symbolic of Southern drinking. The recipe calls for Louisiana's proprietary liqueur, Southern Comfort, but other peach flavored spirits are also acceptable. 

For this drink, I used a sample of Evan Williams peach bourbon, which seems appropriate because of Bourbon's prominent place in southern cocktails. It is the brandy that seems out of place in an Alabama-themed cocktail. That is, at least, until you realize that Southern Comfort is a brandy--not a bourbon--spirit. 

I heartily recommend this cocktail. The peach flavor tastes unique when paired with citrus and mint. This drink stands out from many southern-styled cocktails like the Alabama Slammer and a whole host eye catching drinks made from  flavored and artificially colored liqueurs. I enjoied Evan Williams peach bourbon so much that I would be happy to buy a full-sized bottle. 

• 1 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1 oz. Southern Comfort (Evan Williams peach bourbon used
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup or to taste
• mint sprig

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

Brandy Julep

 

Since both bourbon and brandy are aged in oak, albeit oak from different origins, it stands to reason that a brandy based Mint Julep would be a thing. Making it is similar to the bourbon version as well. The recipe is a little loose since it requires freezing the Julep cup with crushed ice and making a muddled mint simple in the glass. Therefore, exact proportions are not listed. You have to make the ingredients work for you, and being beholden to a specific set of measurements can work against the overall cocktail.

I recommend that you have more than enough simple syrup on hand to get started. You can cap the amount of brandy to about three ounces, but feel free to experiment with that proportion. What you really need is about two trays of crushed ice cubes. This estimate is a little high, but you don't want to come up short.

• brandy (Korbel used)
  
• simple syrup
• 6 mint leaves 
• mint sprig
• confectioner's sugar
• crushed ice

In a metal Julep cup, muddle mint leaves and 1/2 oz. simple syrup. Add crushed ice and churn with a bar spoon while adding brandy. The goal is to mix the ingredients while lowering the temperature of the cup. Add ice and brandy as needed and continue to churn until ice forms on the outside of the Julep cup. The end result should have a mound of fresh crushed ice above the lip of the cup. Garnish with mint sprigs and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

Brandana Cooler

 

This is the cousin of the Brandana Frappe that includes real banana and club soda to make it a fizzy Cooler. I think I like this version better, though, because of its larger (and more sturdy) glassware format and the inclusion of banana slices. 

You can see that I chose this recipe to use up my bottle MurLarkey banana whiskey. As always I remind readers to use a little sugar or sugar syrup to compensate for the dryness of MurLarkey products when you substitute them for sweeter cremes. With regards to the banana slice used as a garnish, I also like to throw a few slices into the blender. Banana adds texture to a blended cocktail, so by all means put some in there if that suits you as it does me.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 3/4 creme de banane (MurLarkey banana whiskey and 2 tsp. sugar syrup used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• club soda
• lemon wedge
• banana slice

Combine brandy, banana liqueur, lemon juice (and banana slices if desired) with cracked ice in a blender. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Top with soda and stir gently. Garnish with the lemon wedge and banana slice.