The Complete Cocktail Manual Read online

  VERMOUTH The name for vermouth actually comes from the German wermut, or “wormwood,” which is the chief botanical that defines vermouth. Despite the hysteria that revolved around the hallucinogenic properties of wormwood in absinthe, no one ever complained about seeing green fairies from drinking vermouth. Nevertheless, the use and amount of wormwood was decreased in many brands.

  Vermouth comes in a variety of styles: dry (or French), white (a sweet version of dry), red (or sweet, or Italian), and rosé. The flavors vary greatly, even among similar styles, because each producer has his or her own botanical recipe—like most wines. Pick up a few small bottles and keep testing until you find what works best for you.

  016 STOCK YOUR CELLAR

  Stocking your bar with bottles isn’t just about hard liquor; it’s also about beer and wine. Aside from mixing an occasional sangria (see item 177), michelada (see item 182), or shandy (see item 180), you’ll probably be serving your beer and wine as is, so the type you select should suit the event. A party where most people are standing is probably not the right event for fancy wine served in delicate glassware. Instead, look for drinks that balance value and quality, and also note what kind of food will be served. Remember, cheese works with pretty much everything. Whatever you choose, do a little research on the winery or brewery in case anyone is curious—putting thought into even the inexpensive wines is always impressive. This doesn’t work, however, if you serve supermarket brands—no one is going to need to ask you anything if you serve Natty Ice—except “Seriously?”

  017 IMBIBE SWEET LIQUOR

  Liqueurs are one of the oldest types of distilled spirit beverages, and they’re nothing more than sweetened liquor. At first, liqueurs were the specialty of monks—they used alcohol as a medium to create medicinal herb tonics, and added sweeteners to make them more palatable.

  Technically speaking, in order for something to be called a liqueur, it must have at least 2.5 percent sweetener by weight—flavored by distillation, infusion, or extracts. Another class of liqueurs called crèmes must contain at least 25 percent sugar, and while usually dairy-free, their name comes from the syrupy, creamy texture of the liqueur (thanks to large amounts of sugar).

  018 WATCH YOUR SUGAR CONTENT

  The thing to keep in mind about liqueurs is that the sweetness levels can vary significantly, and the percentage (which could range from 2.5 to 25 percent) is not listed on the bottle. This means that you should always taste a cocktail when swapping out brands or trying a new type of liqueur in a recipe. Try it out on a half-size recipe first—and remember that cold liquids taste less sweet than those at room temperature, so make sure your test includes the shaking or stirring process, too.

  019 FIND YOUR SWEET SPOT

  The sheer number of flavors liqueurs come in can be baffling, and while you’ll never need more than a couple of bottles for your home bar, it’s always good to know what’s out there.

  HERBAL Originally consumed for its purported medicinal qualities, herbal liqueurs run the gamut from single flavors like mint (in crème de menthe), basil, or sage to more complex recipes like the Carthusian monk specialty chartreuse.

  BITTER This style of liqueurs can be served both predinner (aperitif) and postdinner (digestif), and their recipes can contain every plant from a botanical garden and anything traded on the spice road. The bitterness comes from traditional ingredients like cinchona bark and gentian root, but it can also be added with hops or a high concentration of citrus peels.

  FRUIT The biggest category involves almost every fruit imaginable: raspberries, apricots, peaches, bananas, you name it. These also tend to be the most susceptible to oxidation, so buy small bottles, or plan on drinking the liqueurs while they’re fresh.

  CITRUS The most common in mixed drinks, citrus-based liqueurs like triple sec and curaçao give drinks a brightness you can’t get from juice alone. Citrus is the only style you need to have in your basic home bar.

  SLOE GIN This gin-based liqueur gets flavored with tart sloe berries that meld nicely with the juniper and other botanicals.

  CREAM These dairy liqueurs add richness to drinks and are fridge stable for a very long time, making them terrifying in their longevity—and deliciousness.

  COFFEE Jolts of caffeine and coffee flavor make these liqueurs a great alternative to hot coffee at the end of a meal.

  CHOCOLATE You’ll mostly find chocolate presented via crème de cacao, but more chocolate liqueurs are popping up from artisanal producers. They’re a great way to add rich chocolate flavor.

  SPICE The spice rack in liquid form allows you to think with a culinary mind when mixing up cocktails. You’ve probably already had zesty ginger, so why not try saffron, allspice, or anise?

  NUTS Great for both baking and mixing, nut liqueurs are the most popular in almond, hazelnut, and walnut flavors.

  FLORAL Flower liqueurs are like drinkable perfumes, and, as with fragrant foods, too much in a cocktail can make them taste soapy. You’ll find the ever-popular elderflower on the shelf alongside a whole garden’s worth, including violet, hibiscus, poppy, and rose.

  020 BOAST BETTER BITTERS

  Historically speaking, cocktails by definition had bitters in them. As defined in an article in The Balance, and Columbian Repository from 1806, a cocktail combines liquor, sugar, water, and bitters. While bitters aren’t a requirement in the modern definition, they are critical for many drinks. Even a few dashes of these botanical-infused liquids can dramatically flavor a drink. Here are the kinds to know.

  AROMATIC

  One of the old standards, aromatic bitters are used for making drinks like manhattans. The style is best known as the iconic angostura brand, made since 1824, with its oversize paper label and yellow cap, and its flavor of baking spices with a quick sting of bitterness from gentian. Angostura isn’t the only brand of aromatic bitters available these days, so keep an eye out at your specialty retailer if you want to try something different.

  CREOLE

  Cherry-red creole bitters are a floral counterpart to aromatic bitters. Peychaud’s is the historic brand here, developed in New Orleans in 1830.

  ORANGE

  Another staple at most bars, orange bitters are made with dried citrus peels (which also contribute some bitterness) and often include coriander and cardamom.

  Once you’ve got the basics down, feel free to branch out—almost any flavor you can think of is available in bitter form. Some are specific enough that they only work in a narrow category of drinks, but there are some wonderful bottles worth getting (such as chocolate, lavender, and celery) to help expand your cocktail ingredient palette.

  021 GET INTO MIXERS

  When we discuss mixers, we’re not talking about those jugs of commercially made sweet-and-sour, margarita, or old-fashioned mix. Considering that the old-fashioned is a three-ingredient cocktail, the fact that there is a premix is a special kind of madness. Here are some actually useful mixers for stocking your bar.

  SODAS

  Cola

  Lemon-lime

  Club*

  Seltzer*

  Ginger beer**

  Ginger ale**

  Tonic

  MIXERS

  Tonic syrup

  Bloody Mary***

  Orgeat (almond syrup)

  Falernum (lime, clove, and ginger cordial)

  Grenadine

  Lime cordial

  * Contrary to popular belief, seltzer and club soda are not the same. Seltzer is just carbonated water; club soda has salts of some kind, usually alkali ones like baking soda to offset the acidifying effect that carbonation has on water. They taste different and are used differently.

  ** Ginger beer is sometimes fermented and more potent (gingery), while ginger ale tends to be sweeter and lighter, often using only ginger extracts.

  *** We’ll show you how to make your own Bloody Mary in item 183, but it’s not a terrible idea to have a mixer in case of a bad hangover.

  022 GET HOOKED ON TONICS
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br />   All tonics are formulated with different botanical recipes, from floral to spiced, and mixing them with your favorite spirit will highlight different aspects. This means that your favorite gin or vodka may taste totally different when mixed with a new tonic. Choosing one from the huge variety available can be a little overwhelming—unless you see it as an opportunity to have friends over to conduct a taste-test.

  BOTTLED Even if you favor tonic syrups, it’s never a bad idea to have a couple of small bottles in the fridge. A great choice for those who like the feel of carbonation or the look of crystal clear beverages.

  SYRUPS If you like less carbonation and don’t mind some color in your gin and tonics, syrups are great. They also tend to be so flavorful that they taste good even without any alcohol, making them a fun choice for those on the wagon.

  023 PRODUCE THE JUICE

  How much juice is there in each piece of fruit? Here’s what you’ll get out of each garden-variety, average-size citrus fruit.

  LIME = 1 OZ JUICE

  LEMON = 1½ OZ JUICE

  ORANGE = 2½ OZ JUICE

  GRAPEFRUIT = 3½ OZ JUICE

  024 KNOW YOUR GLASSES SPECS

  Aside from the obvious need to contain liquids, glasses are critical to a good drink. They don’t need to be fancy (bartenders often build their collections from thrift stores), but they should be appropriate for the drinks you want to make.

  The shape will affect both the flavor and aroma of the drink, especially anything neat. Just for fun, try pouring a little of your favorite booze into a handful of differently shaped glasses, then smell and taste each one—they can differ dramatically.

  Finally, size does matter: smaller is better (we’re sure you’ve heard that before). Two small, cold, and freshly made cocktails are better than one huge drink that comes to room temperature halfway through. Plus, a standard-size cocktail in a big glass looks stingy and can lead to overserving guests.

  PINT Good for anything and everything—from mixing drinks to drinking them. Made with tempered glass. 16 ounces

  COCKTAIL Shaken drinks like a Cosmopolitan (see item 134) or Lemon Drop (see item 137) get a classic cocktail glass. And just because it goes in this glass doesn’t mean you need to add “-tini” to the name. Please. 8 ounces

  COUPE Coupe glasses were used for Champagne, originally, but are now popularly used for stirred and shaken classic drinks like a Daiquiri (see item 122). 5–8 ounces

  OLD-FASHIONED Ideal for spirit-focused cocktails that may or may not come with ice, like the namesake Old Fashioned (see item 085), Sazerac (see item 097), and Negroni (see item 057). 10–12 ounces

  NICK AND NORA Martinis (see items 100–106) and other stirred drinks belong in these glasses, perfect for cocktail hour. 5 ounces

  COLLINS Drinks with soda, juices, or low-alcohol patio drinks such as a Pimm’s Cup (see item 171), are best in a Collins glass. You’ll need a bottle brush for washing the tall, narrow kind. 11 ounces

  CHAMPAGNE FLUTE Use flutes for Champagne and sparkling wine drinks like a Mimosa (see item 067), Bellini (see item 064), or Champagne cocktails. 5 ounces

  025 RAMP IT UP

  While not essential, some additional glassware items can be a lot of fun once you’ve got some shaking and stirring skills under your belt—and once you can identify the styles of cocktails that best suit your tastes.

  These glasses, mugs, and novelty serving pieces are very much for the specialist or fetishist—you can certainly get away with using other mediums when you’re just starting out. Wine glasses, for example, are workhorses and will do just fine for anything neat, such as whiskies, cordials, aperitifs, and after-dinner drinks. A coffee mug works well for anything served hot, and a big bowl or even a hollowed-out pumpkin or watermelon makes an excellent punch bowl. Finally, simple pint glasses will do the job for tiki drinks and pretty much everything else.

  But there’s something deeply satisfying about drinking from a vessel made for a single type or category of cocktail, like a tin julep cup or a copper mug for your Moscow Mule. On a hot day there’s nothing so cooling as frosty metal cup, and a Polynesian cocktail is even better in a mug with a tiki idol to ward off bad spirits.

  WHISKY This shape amplifies aromas for neat spirits like brandies or whiskies. Stölzle Glencairn glass is the best. 6 ounces

  CORDIAL Cordials are small, curved glasses, perfect for a post-dinner shot of grappa, eau-de-vie, or liqueur. 3–4 ounces

  TIKI MUG You can serve anything tiki in these and they look dramatic. Heck, even juice is fun in one of these. 12–16 ounces

  JULEP CUP The gleaming silver cup for Mint Juleps (see item 176), the julep cup also works well with any drink that uses crushed ice. The tin keeps things cold and prevents dilution from happening too fast. 12 ounces

  PUNCH BOWL A big, glass bowl is great to have for entertaining and serving batched drinks or punches like the Fish House Punch (see item 250), and they’re great for bustling parties. Various sizes

  COPPER MUG Mules (or bucks) including the Moscow Mule (see item 169), are the typical drink for classic copper, but anything with ice and soda works well in these vessels. 12–16 ounces

  IRISH COFFEE MUG Irish Coffee (see item 194) and hot drinks deserve their namesake glass, along with layered drinks (see item 245). Made with tempered glass. 6–8 ounces

  WHISK(E)Y TO “E” OR NOT TO “E”

  FOR A SPIRIT THAT IS PRIMARILY DEFINED SIMPLY AS “ONE MADE FROM GRAIN,” YOU’D IMAGINE THE COUNTLESS VARIATIONS TO BE STRAIGHTFORWARD AND COMPARABLE TO EACH OTHER—YET THE DISPARITY OFFERED BY THE VARYING AGES AND RECIPES SHOWS A REMARKABLE VERSATILITY. THE DIFFERENCES IN SPELLING ARE SIMPLY REGIONAL: “WHISKY” FOR SCOTCH, JAPANESE, AND CANADIAN; “WHISKEY” FOR ALL AMERICAN (INCLUDING BOURBON AND RYE) AND IRISH. IT IS COMMON TO SPELL IT “WHISK(E)Y” WHEN REFERRING TO ALL FORMS.

  026 SIP A TASTE OF WHISK(E)Y

  It is believed that Christian monks brought distillation to the British Isles somewhere around the 11th century, primarily as an alchemical process to distill herbal medicines made with local grain. Called uisge beatha (Gaelic for “water of life”), the drink was first historically noted when Henry II claimed Ireland in 1171 and described his army enjoying the spirit.

  Eventually the practice of distillation evolved beyond the monasteries and apothecaries—farmers saw the process as a way to economize on grain bumper crop years, and the popularity of the practice (and the unaged grain liquor) surged. The tradition spread to Canada and the United States with Scottish and Irish immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries.

  027 SAY “OAK NO HE DIDN’T”

  history

  Scotch whisky as an aged spirit wasn’t common until 1915, when a teetotaling British prime minister, David Lloyd George, put the Immature Spirits Act in place. While George was hoping to slow the consumption of the unaged distilled grain liquor scourge in Scotland, his law instead kicked off the innovation and experimentation with oak aging now renown in Scottish whiskies.

  028 DECIPHER THE LABEL

  Whisk(e)y labels often include a lot of descriptions and explanations that may not always make much sense. Here are some common phrases and what they really mean.

  SINGLE MALT Single malts are distilled, aged, and bottled by one distillery and made entirely with malted grain of one kind (usually barley).

  BLENDED MALT Two or more single malts from different distilleries combined together form a blended malt.

  BLENDED WHISK(E)Y Blended whiskies are single or blended malts combined with a lighter grain spirit that may or may not be aged. Grain whiskies are made from less expensive and often unmalted grains (like corn) and distilled to a higher proof for more neutral flavors.

  SINGLE CASK/BARREL Single-cask or single-barrel whiskies are bottled, as you may have guessed, from a single barrel.

  CASK/BARREL STRENGTH These whiskies are not diluted with water after they’re drawn from the barrel, but they may still be filtered unless otherwise stated. Note that unfiltered aged spi
rits may cloud slightly when chilled.

  CASK FINISHED Cask finished whiskies get a secondary aging period in a different type of barrel, usually one that has previously aged something else, like port or sherry.

  029 COOK UP A WHISK(E)Y

  STEP ONE The traditional methods for cooking whisk(e)y begin much in the same way as for beer: by malting barley. Grain is soaked in water, allowing it to germinate (an important step in which the enzyme amylase is created), and then roasted. Roasting over open peat fires incorporates the smoke character found in some Scotches.

  STEP TWO The grain ingredients are combined to make a beer. The recipe (mashbill) is important and can define the style, as with bourbon, which requires at least 51 percent corn. Barley is often included even when it’s not the primary grain, since the amylase enzyme converts starches from other grains into sugars accessible to the yeast.

  STEP THREE Once the beer is ready, it’s time to distill. The type of still and process used varies from product and distillery, from pot (lots of grain flavor) to continuous column distillation (higher proof with lighter flavors). On average, it takes 500 gallons of beer (at around 6 percent alcohol) to distill out 53 gallons—enough to fill a standard oak barrel.

  STEP FOUR How and where the spirit is aged is where the art and distinction between whiskies comes in. The size of the barrel defines how much oak flavor is extracted—as does the location of the storage facility, the ambient temperature, and whether the barrel is new or used. Barrels that have previously aged sherry are especially sought after, due to their rich, nutty complexity.