Caprioska

... 11pm After a bunch of food and wine

Armen: What do you have that's a traditional spanish after dinner drink?
Waiter: hmmmm, a lot of people like gin and coke
Armen: No, anything more traditional like sherry or some liqueur made in Spain?
Waiter: The Caprioska is pretty traditional here I think it's originally from Brazil
Armen: No, I don't want that, how about some grappa or anything from Spain
Waiter: Some draft beer?
Armen: hmmmm, no that sounds pretty filling after all of that food
Waiter: you should try the Caprioska I think you'll really like it it's very refreshing it's got vodka and lime...
Armen: I don't really want... Ok I'll take the Caprioska

Caprioska:
Vodka
Lime Juice and lime wedges for garnish
Sugar
Soda water and crushed ice

Build in glass and enjoy after some delicious spanish food for a traditional end to your meal.

Attention Cocktail

This one is from Jamie Boudreau. It's not bad. A little wimpy though. I think it needed a little bite. Maybe a bar spoon of the modifiers instead of 1/4 oz.

2 oz gin
¼ oz absinthe
¼ oz dry vermouth
¼ oz creme de violette
2 dashes Regan's orange bitters
Stir with ice.
Strain into an iced cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist.

Brooklyn vs. Manhattan

It's the season premiere of Gossip Girl so I decided to recreate the battle of Blair Waldorf and the other socialites of Manhattan against the Humphrey's of Brooklyn.

OK, I'm a little embarrassed that I know that much about GG. (That's what I call it.) However I am excited about doing some comparative tasting between two classic cocktails.

I thought for sure I was going to prefer the Manhattan, and I "knew" Wendy would. Oddly enough we were torn.

Here are the recipes:

Brooklyn
2 oz rye whiskey (Wild Turkey)
3/4 oz dry vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
1/3 oz Torani Amer
1/3 oz maraschino liqueur
Stir and strain and garnish with a cherry.

Manhattan
2 oz rye whiskey
1 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir and strain and garnish with a cherry.

Montego Bay

• 1½ oz Smith & Cross Jamaican rum
  
• 1 oz 1:1 honey syrup
• ½ oz grapefruit juice
• ½ oz lime juice
• ¼ oz pimento dram
• 4 dashes absinthe
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Shake well with ice and strain in to a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with an grapefruit zest twist.

I'm stepping up my garnish game. I received a bottle of Smith and Cross as a gift and have been experimenting with tiki and other rum drinks. This one was great! This rum is crazy. Really strong. 114 proof! Not a sipper but it has some great flavor. It stands up to the pimento dram which can really overpower a drink.

The crushed ice is key. The glass is all frosty and slippery. Great on a hot SF Valley evening.

Pan American Clipper

I picked up a glass with the old mexicana airlines logo on it so I went looking around for a good aviation drink (but not an aviation). I'm a pretty big fan of grenadine and lime together, and adding calvados sounded pretty delicious too. From Around the World with Jigger, Beaker, and Flask.

1.5 oz Calvados
1 oz Lime Juice
1 tsp Grenadine
dash Absinthe

Shake/Strain/Drink

Peach Old Fashioned

I have some peaches and have been trying to incorporate them into a drink for a few nights now. The Whisky Peach Smash by Dale Degroff was what I wanted to make but I had no mint. Instead I came up with this simple twist on my simple favorite.

Muddle a slice of peach coated in four or five dashes of grapefruit bitters with a teaspoon of simple syrup.
Add 2 ounces of bourbon and stir with an ice cube until it begins to dilute.
Add one more slice of peach and another ice cube.

Ramos Gin Fizz

Another good breakfast drink from the pages of Jigger, Beaker, and Flask.

1 tsp. sugar

3-4 drops orange flower water

Juice of 1/2 lime

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1.5 oz dry gin

1 egg white (to be safe, use pasteurized eggs)

1.5 oz. milk, half and half or cream

Shake with crushed ice for at least a minute and pour over finely crushed ice and top with 1 -2 oz seltzer water.