Adrienne's Dream

I'm not sure who this Adrienne is, but the dream she had just came true with this cocktial. I often overlook fizzy drinks and those that combine creme de cocoa and mint liqueurs as simply being gimics. Something else caught my eye in this instance, though. There wasn't a call for green creme de menthe to make a glaringly green soda--the only colorful liqueur is the brandy. The proprotion of the liqueurs to the rest of the ingredietns is so small that the flavors are more like suggestions to the senses than a main aspect of the overall drink. 

Brandy is the big feature here, and it is a rich, oaky brandy like California's Korbel to carry the weight of this cocktail. Citrus, which seems misplaced in a drink with sweet liqueurs, is actually a major element of the Adrienne's Dream's balance. Again, the cremes add a lot in small proportion, and the lemon juice just makes the drink feel light and fresh. 

• 2 oz. brandy (Korbel used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. creme de cacao
• 1/2 oz. white peppermint schnapps
• club soda
• mint sprig

Combine lemon juice and spirits in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice.  Top it with soda and stir gently before garnishing with the mint sprig.

Apple Bang!

This cocktail comes with an exclamation point! And I have to say that it deserves it. Seldom do I come across a blended apple cider cocktail that includes egg white and has a specific suggestion of glassware and all of the elements work out perfectly. It is truely an ace of a drink that is frothy, rises perfectly above the glass and is delicious to the last sip.

• 2 oz. calvados or applejack (Laird's Applejack 86 used)
• 3 oz. apple cider
• several dashes lemon juice
• 1 egg white
• club soda
• 1 tsp. apple schnapps

Combine all ingredients except soda and schnapps in a blender with crushed ice. Blend until frothy and pour into a large wine goblet. Fill with cold club soda and top with apple schnapps.

Jack Rabbit

This cocktail is a fun play on the Jack Rose, originally a sour cocktail with applejack, lime juice and grenadine. The minor changes to the recipe include swapping out the lime juice for lemon and orange and using maple syrup instead of grenadine. The result is a sweeter cocktail that doesn't have the characteristic red glow of the Rose family of cocktails. But, as the name suggests, the Jack remains and its fruitiness is accentuated by the orange juice and maple syrup. Now you really notice that you are having apple brandy and not some flavorless apple spirit.

• 1 1/2 oz. applejack (Laird's Applejack 86 used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1 tsp. maple syrup

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

Apple Knocker

What a silly sounding name for a cocktail. I can only surmise that the knocking that goes on is in your head when the apple brandy reaches your brain--this recipe callso for three ounces of the stuff. Despite the fact that not much of the rest of this cocktail contains any apples, the name and the apple brandy (I used Laird's Applejack 86, which is an apple brandy) suggest the flavor of apples nonetheless. Perhaps it's the caramel in the sweet vermouth, but I felt like this was a candy apple of a drink.

• 3 oz. apple brandy (Applejack 86 used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)
• 4 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

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

Boomerang (Swedish Punsch Version)

The Boomerang that I know is a Martini variation with a dash of Angoastura bitters and maraschino liqueur. This is more of a Manhattan variation. There's rye, dry vermouth, and Swedish punsch, which is a rum-based spirit with spices and citrus. (Note: the bottle pictured is actually my own recipe for Swedish punch, not the name on the lable.) The punsch added a sweetness that I was not accustomed to in a dry Manhattan, and it was a welcome change that made this cocktail unusual and more international than the standard New York drink. This is another cocktail recipe that I came across in researching Swedish punch and does not appear in any recipe book I've used.

• 1 oz. rye (North Fork rye used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin used)
• 1 oz. Swedish punshc (homemade used)
• 1 dash lemon juice
• 1 dash angostura bitters

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

Brandana Frappe

This is an odd cocktail in that it is a frappe (blender cocktail) of an already blended drink by the same name. I suspect that because this was the easier cocktail to make having no fresh banana, it was invented later as an easier substitute. It is also strange that even thought the name suggests brandy (Brand-ana), it is apple brandy that shows up. The selection, however, was thoughtful because the overall experience is fruity: apples, bananas and oranges. It's a liquor lunchbox!

• 1 1/2 oz. applejack (Applejack 86 used)
• 1/2 oz. creme de banana (MurLarkey banana whiskey and 1/2 oz. simple syrup used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• orange slice garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend and pour into a wine glass and garnish with orange slice. 

Diki-Diki

 

From the name, you might guess that this is a tropical drink. And I would say you're not quite wrong. Swedish punsch isn't exactly a Nordic ingredient--it's a recipe. A punch cocktail known as caloric or Swedish punch was popular at the beginning of the 20th century. Eventually it was bottled like a bottled cocktail or a punch ingredient that had wide distribution. Prohibition ended this, however, and now the only Swedish Punsch you can find is in the Scandinavian countries. (Note: this is not the modern Kronan Swedish Punsch but a recipe I've made that replicates it in a bottle with a fake lablel.)

The Diki Diki is very tropical in fact. Swedish punsch includes cloves and cardamon, so it has that equatorial bitter note. There's also black tea and lemon scent sweetened with brown sugar. The spirits are a combination of rums, but in this case, my recipe involves mixing MurLarkey lemon and three tea whiskies with rum. 

• 1 1/2 oz. applejack (Laird's applejack 86 used)
• 1 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade recipe used)
• 1 oz. grapefruit juice 

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