I like making drinks … not just like “Jack and Coke” or “Seven and Seven” or “gin and more gin” (my martini recipe) … but trying my hand at more complex cocktails. Charlotte (my fiancée) and I are fans of the Flatiron Lounge, which is one of Manhattan’s more notable “let’s bring back old-time cocktails like the ‘corpse reviver’ and such” bars. They are extremely exact with their ingredients: they measure each part of the cocktail, no eyeballing, and their bartenders put a lot of care into their work. As a result, they’ve always got great stuff, and I’ve been inspired to play around with ingredients.
Sometimes I fail. Badly. Other times I’m mildly successful – it’s pretty hard to screw up “gin + lime juice + simple syrup.” A few creations I’ve been happy enough with to pay real attention to what I did, so I can repeat it. Here are two of them:
Classic Sweet Manhattan
3oz Rye Whiskey (I like Tuthilltown’s Hudson Manhattan Rye)
1oz Sweet Vermouth
2 Heavy Dashes of Angostura Bitters (critical!)
Pour ingredients into a shaker or pint glass, fill with ice, and stir vigorously with a bartender’s spoon until the outside of the glass frosts. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist and a bourbon cherry (or maraschino in a pinch).
The Ginja Assassin
3oz Pineapple Juice
2oz Gin
1oz Cointreau or Grand Marnier
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 tsp Fresh Ginger (roughly chopped)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Fill a Collins glass with cracked ice. Muddle ginger in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add other ingredients and top with ice. Shake vigorously to combine and strain into the Collins glass. Garnish with a pineapple slice and a maraschino cherry.
I hope these recipes serve you well!
