The Sours

Another huge family for cocktails, is called the sours. While it is kind of unoriginal, the main base is to mix something, with something sour.

First, an observation. Personally, I use this way of thinking to remember ingredients. It’s so much easier to remember all 5000 recipes, if you make some sort of  hook for yourself.  Something to help you remember. Such as the families, or groups, or whatever you wanna call them. For me, the families have ingredients, and thus tastes in common. The cocksuckers have the combination of Cointreau and sourmix, while the Ice Teas always use the “tea”-mix, and the sourmix. See my posts, on my thoughts on the sourmix.

The most famous member of this family, would be the patriarch; the Whisky Sour.

IBA, the bartenders that try to standardize everything in the most boring way, tell us that a Whisky Sour should consist of 3 parts whisky, 2 parts lemon and one part sugar.
Of this recipe, the only sure ingredient would the lemon. As in, “what kind of whisky do you use, and what kind of sugar do you use?”

Well, lemme go into detail.

Firstly, some claim that if you use egg white in this drink, it changes name to Boston Sour, but since every bar and every bartender (almost) has their own take on this drink, changing the name every time you add a new ingredient or change the measures a little, seems a little weird. There is a new drink made every hour, and if we keep giving them new names all the time, people are gonna get a lot confused.

People always come into a bar, asking if the bartender know of a drink called [insert fancy name here], and the perhaps great bartender cannot say yes every time, and does feel like a fool if not able to say yes.
This is a common thing, when it comes to home made drinks, or some concoction that some bartender made up as he went a long, and just popped a name on it.

No matter. The egg white gives texture to the drink, no flavor, and it gives it that nice foam on top. Without it, the drink feels thin and bland. So, to me, the egg white is an important ingredient. A whole egg can even be a little much, so I prefer to crack a few eggs, and keep the egg white ready on a blowbottle, and then and squirt once for each drink.
Some people like to use an egg for every drink, but there is an upper limit, and once you taste this ingredient, I think you’ve reached it.

Also, I find that orange and a cherry fits well in the drink, and so does angostura bitter. In short, I squirt three drops of bitter (or orange bitters if you can get it) on half a slice of orange in the glass, and toss a cherry in there, and it muddle it like I would muddle an old fashioned. Like.. a lot, and slow. Leave this mess in the glass, and cover it with ice, to hide the scene of the crime.

Then I pour 4 parts of bourbon (Jim Beam or Makers Mark), 3 parts of lemonjuice, 1 part gomme (as always, half and half water and sugar, by volume) and the egg white in the shaker, and shake a little harder and a little longer than I would do drinks without egg white. This causes the foam to get finer, and the drink to get better. Strain it over ice in the already prepared old fashioned glass.

Of course, you can do the muddling in the shaker, in case you want to use some other glass, and no ice. Just make sure to wash the shaker properly if you’ve had bitters in it. It leaves a lot of taste.

The Whiskey Sour:

4 parts bourbon
3 parts lemon
1 part gomme
2 – 3 parts egg white
3 drops of angostura bitter
half a slice of orange
a maraschino cherry

This fine little classic where most likely the start of the Sours family, and they all revolve around mixing something with lemon-juice and some sugar. It did start out with some very special limes, that only grew in one British sailor-turned-bartenders backyard, but .. legend has no place in cocktails! :)

A fine alternative to this original is to change the bourbon with Southern Comfort. Leave the rest of the drink as is, and add the southern liqueur instead. It gets a little sweeter, and a little heavier texture. It’s nice, and a good after-dinner cocktail. I would call this a Janis, from Janis Joplin who had Southern Comfort as her poison of choice, but .. that would be a good name for every drink with Southern Comfort in it. So, no name as of yet. Sour Hick, sur søring.. there have been a few good ideas, but none that stick. It’s just a variation, anyways.

Another good alternative is Midori, the Suntory produced japaneese melon liqueur. I normally skip the maraschino in the muddling part of the drink, and use it as garnish, as the drink gets a nice green color. A green cherry would do nicely, but so does the red and yellow kinds. As a matter of fact, I don’t like too fancy garnish, so you can use whatever you want, and I won’t care.

Many other liqueurs can be used, Belle de Brillet is excellent for instance. But, why not brandy. Why not Campari. Why not Port Wine, or sherry, or any other kind of fortified wine? Why not a Barbaresco? Wine Cocktails is so forgotten, but have you ever had a good Sangria? It’s great!

The Long Island Ice Tea

Ugh, you might think. And, rightly so. Sometimes.
As the Mojito, this immensity popular drink is the subject of many a myth, and poor craftsmanship.
Let’t not spend more time with the myths, than to tell you all that there are no more alcohol in this than in any other drink. Just more kinds, than normal. Not more in content.
Now let me get started on how to make this excellent drink.

To make this drink as good as it can be, it takes a little preparation. First off, you’re gonna need what all bartenders knows as the Ice Tea Mix. This is normally equal parts of five white spirits; white rum, vodka, gin, white tequila and triple sec. This mix has it’s history, but, I’ll save that for later.  First, let’s discuss the ingredients.

I would suggest a Russian style vodka; distilled as many times as possible, and preferably filtered after that. This leaves as little taste as possible, the way that the Russians like it. Adding a polish type vodka will add some more flavor, but I don’t think it adds a flattering dimension to the drink, and we will use this excellent brand of spirits in some other drinks instead. When it comes to gin, the norm is to grab the cheapest there is; but if you like gin, you should probably find one with a lot of flavor. Gordon’s is a personal favorite, as it makes it possible to find the juniper-berries especially, in the final product. Larios, or any other dirty gin can also be used. Try not to use the premier brands, and stay clear of the cucumber gins (in my opinion) as these will disappear completely in this mix, and not add any dimensions at all. Unless that is what you aim for, of course. But in that case just leave the gin out of the mix.
Like with all drinks that you use white rum into it, it doesn’t really matter which one you choose. I normally stay clear of the cheaper kinds from Bacardi, but in this mix, it doesn’t matter. The heavier brands will leave more impact on the drink than the smoother, premium brands, so this is also up to personal opinion; it all depends on whether you like rum or not.

Tequila is a common ingredient to leave out of the mix, especially in countries where 4cl is the common serving of spirits. That way, you don’t need to make the mix, and you can pour four bottles at the same time into the shaker. But, of course, compromising on the drink, in order to look awesome, is a young mans game.
Also, tequila has a strong and salty taste, and it will leave a heavy impact on the mix, and it might be a good idea to  cut down on the amount you use. Though, this depends on personal tastes, and of course, which tequila you use. Tradition claims the tequila have to be white, though I have used reposado and even anejo with good results many times, and I prefer their smoothness to the white roughness. At the moment, the Sierra Reposado is the one I use, but that’s mainly an economic choice. Also, it’s smooth enough to leave a trace on the drink, but not take over.

Finally, the triple-sec. As you might know, the premium brands of triple-sec, Cointreau and Grand Marnier, are in such a league of their own, that most bartenders don’t even know they could be labeled a Triple-sec.
As Wikipedia will tell you, Triple Sec means triple dry, and it is one third as sweet as a normal Curaçao liqueur, which is a type of liqueur made from bitter oranges that grow only on the island of Curaçao. As with most fruits you wanna make spirits from, they are inedibly bitter. If you can’t eat the fruit, then you can make good spirits from it. This is the case with cognac, calvados, and so forth.
Anyways, don’t waste your money on Cointreau or Grand Marnier, all though they can of course be used with (as always) excellent results, but so will most triple sec’s. They add some flavour of orange, and sweetness. That’s the reason they are there. That, and the fact that they are white.

Racy! Let’s spend some time on history, it’s not like this rant has to be short, right?
The Long Island Ice Tea (as some of it’s variations) where first made during the american prohibition. As you know, this was the period where Alcohol was banned by american law, and coincidently, it was also one of the more prolific periods for new recipes of cocktails. Nothing like making something illegal to make something more popular.
Since bars of course where out of the question, there where a lot of Ice Tea bars popping up. The general idea was that people would sit and drink tea or coffee, instead of their poison of choice.

Well, white spirits look a lot like water, so the first Ice Tea was made from the idea of “let’s just mix all the white spirits together, and add some lemon and tea”, and it kinda worked. Also, weeks later, the Long Island Ice Tea was born, from adding Coca Cola instead of tea as a top, giving a better flavor and color. The fact that it looks like tea, is the reason for it’s name, and existence.

Oh well, that’s the spirits, and some digressions. Now on to the recipe.

The Long Island Ice Tea
4 parts Ice tea mix
4 parts sour-mix (see it’s own post)
top Coca Cola
Shake with vigor (if you use egg-white in a drink, always shake a little harder and longer than if not)
Serve in a Collins glass, or something big; a tumbler or a large wineglass does the trick.
Garnish with a wedge of lime.

As you noticed, I mentioned Sour-mix as an ingredient. Optionally, you can just use lemon juice and gomme (simple syrup), and egg-white. I normally like less gomme, as the Coke adds enough sweetness anyway, so I use 3 parts lemon, and one part gomme, or 4/0.

Now, this opens up for variations. Firstly, there are about as many variations in names, as there are optional toppings to Coca Cola. Add Cranberry juice, and you call it the Long Beach Ice Tea. Add Champagne, and you call it the Beverly Hills Ice Tea, and so on.
But, also, since we’ve just made a mix, it can also be used to add variation. A better of these is the Tokyo Ice Tea, made by a Norwegian, as a matter of fact.

The Tokyo Ice Tea
2 parts Ice Tea Mix
2 parts Midori
4 parts sour-mix
top sprite

Midori, an excellent melon liqueur from Japan, makes for an excellent ingredient in many cocktails, and adds a mellow and smoothly fruity dimension to the drink. The topping of sprite can of course be changed into anything you like, though I am quite sure sprite was the original recipe. Though, who cares. I am sure Fentiman’s Victorian Lemonade will make the drink a lot better.

So, there you have it. One of the richer families of cocktails; the Ice-Teas. Where only your imagination can stop whatever variations

Sidecar

The sidecar was invented around the end of world war one, and the fight of ownership was supposedly hard. But, you know I don’t care as much about who made it, but rather how to make it as good as possible.

The sidecar is most likely the premier drink in what some bartenders call the Cocksucker Family. The cocksuckers get their name from the ingredients of the drink. Supposedly so that it will be easier to remember what goes into it, but most likely just to be sexy. Anyways, I will explain the cocksuckery after i recite the recipe.

2 parts brandy
2 parts cointreau
3 parts lemon juice
1 part gomme

Shake it well, and strain it into a chilled cocktail glass.

Now, to the cocksuckery.  The cock is C, a letter is shares with Cointreau. The sucking is the letter S, which it shares with Sour-mix (or sitrus, if you want). So, as you can see, many bartenders will use their sour-mix for this drink, which is all right, really. I just prefer the drink a little more sour, so I up the parts of lemon to three and reduce the parts of sugar to 1 (check out the post on sour-mix if this confuses you). It’s also quite all right to just skip the gomme, for a nice sour excperience. I normally lower the lemon to two parts in such a case.

Furthermore the Sidecar is dubbed the Big Cocksucker, as it contains Brandy. For the same reason. The Great Cocksucker, however, contains Gin. This little cutie is called the White Lady. The Really Big Cocksucker contains both Rum and Brandy. The Really Great Cocksucker, Rum and Gin. And so on. They all share the base of Cointreau and Sour-mix, and thus the Cocksuckers where born.

Also, some original recipes does not include sugar at all; just cointreau, lemon and Cognac og Armagnac. But, I do find that the sugar helps a little. It takes away some of the edge from the lemon. It can be argued that you get the same effect from cointreau, but, in all honesty, I don’t see this as too important. More lemon, a little more sugar. Less lemon, and you can skip the sugar. But then you get a smaller drink. This can go on and on forever.

But what brandy to use?

I would prefer you using a straight forward premium brandy. If it is too young, you will get some tastes you don’t want into it. So, skip the VS’s. Some VSOP’s will do just fine, however, among them the Hennessy Privilege, Courvosier Exclusif, or the Brillet VSOP. There are many others, of course, and if you like it, it will do just fine, most likely. If you don’t then who knows?

If you can’t afford a cognac, most armagnacs are cheaper, and especially some of the heavier of the armagnacs are wonderfull to use. A heavy taste of brandy adds character to the drink, I think.

A part of this certainly goes without saying; you need good quality ingredients to make a good cocktail, so the lesser qualities are to be shunned.

While some old sources claim it has to be Cognac or Armagnac used, it doesn’t have to be so. While Cognac and Armagnac was the only Brandies of quality around 1920, that reality has changed today. You can use a Calvados, or whatever other kind of fruit-based spirit (Brandy = spirits made from fruits), but don’t expect the same kind of drink.

Dry Martini

It is the king of cocktails, sure, but it is also so simple to make, that I assume that why bartenders all hail it so; so they don’t have to make yet another Mojito, or something that actually takes work.

Anyways, the recipe, in all it’s simplicity.

1 part gin
1/5 parts extra dry vermouth (amount varies, for variations in dryness)
olive as garnish.

The reason for this drink never going out of conversations, is the method to make it.  There are as many methods as there are reasons to go to a bar, and all of them have their different fans.

Firstly the ingredients you use can of course vary. Make it with some thin gin, like Bombay Sapphire, and you get a certain kind of drink. Use Gordons, and you get something different. Find your own favorite.
Me, I prefer my gins to taste gin, and Bombay and Hendrick’s, all though fine gins just doesn’t cut it in this mix, for me anyways. They are too clean and neat. I want something dirty, like Gordon’s or Finsbury.
Also, which vermouth you use also has quite the effect on the drink. Of course, as every cool hipster bartender knows, Noilly Prat is preferable. Though, Martini’s or Cinzano’s Extra Dry variety does do the job. And if you can find some smaller brand, that’s always very interesting. So called Artisan brands are always a lot more fun.

Now on to the methods. Firstly, chill your glass (a v-shape, ‘Cocktail-glass’), then dry it off, and put your vermouth into the glass. Swirl it around, and throw it out. Put your gin into a stirring glass with ice, and stirr it for 10 seconds, before pouring it into the glass. Place the olives, or the lemon peel into the glass, and wink to the ladies/men.

Another way to do it, is to place the vermouth in the stirring glass, stirring it, and then pouring it out, leaving some vermouth on the ice. This gives more vermouth to the drink, but I feel it also dilutes it a little more. I believe this is due to the ice being in contact with fluids for a little longer, and I compensate with less seconds while stirring the gin. This causes the gin to not get as cold, and I .. just don’t like this method.

You can keep the vermouth in either the stirring glass, or the shaker (if you are to make it for Monsieur Bond), and this has a huge effect on the drink, of course, causing it to get less dry.

The reason for James Bond wanting this to be shaken, not stirred, is because he’s a bad-ass, and he likes to break the rules. Killing people, is also breaking the rules, you know. The rule being that a martini should be stirred is based on simple reasons. Shaking it will ‘cloud’ the drink, due to the gin oxidizing, whilst stirring it will not. And, it is thought that this should be a clear drink. Not an important rule, in other words.
Also, the Vesper, or the original James Bond Dry Martini, if you want, is quite the drink. First defined by Ian Flemming in his novel Casino Royale, the recipe is like this;

3 parts Gordons Gin
1 part vodka (preferably grain vodka, as JB prefers this to potato)
1/2 parts Kina Lillet
a large lemon thin lemon peel as garnish.

Firstly, this particular kind of Martini is sweeter than the normal, as Lillet is a French aperitif, from the Bordeaux area (fortified wine from the winemakers, really), and a little sweeter than extra dry vermouth. But, other than that, it is just .. nice. It is a very good drink.

Also, getting hold of Kina Lillet is not possible anymore, as the kind has not been made since 1986. We assume that using a nice white Lillet will do the trick, though. Or, perhaps even any kind of white fortified wine, if you can’t get Lillet, which you can’t get in many countries. But, being true to the original recipe, try to use a fortified wine made from wine, not from spirits. This is just a thought, though. Might not have any particular effect, but it’s all in our heads, you know.

The vodkatini is of course made with vodka.
The aquatini is of course made with a white aquavit (the Simers Taffel, from Norway, is excellent for this purpose).
The Mexitini is of course made with white tequila (not too good, though).

Well, there you have it. The Dry Martini. For further variations, check out Wikipedia.

Daiquiri

The Daiquiri is the original summers drink.
Though it enhances every occasion.

First of all, the recipe;

2 parts white rum
2 parts limejuice
1 part gomme (or simple syrup, or 50/50 sugar diluted in water)

shake it well, and strain it into a chilled cocktailglass. A limeslice would be a fitting form of garnish.

As with many classics, there are several different stories about who invented it, and where. Of course, when alcohol is involved in any way, you should never trust a story told, but by all means, be amused by them.
But, there is a beach, near Santiago, Cuba, that’s called Daiquiri, and some other hints points to this wonderful little island being the origin of the name, and thus most likely the drink.
No matter, it’s a nice drink, and we should be talking about how to make it great, not where it came from.

Stemming from this recipe, all daiquiris base around the trio of lime, rum and sugar. So it is a sweet and sour base. You all know of the strawberry daiquiri, of course, but this version is just one of many. Though, let’s review the recipe of the strawberry kind, and then see where it takes us.

1 part rum
1 part creme de fraise (or any kind of strawberry liqueur)
2 parts limejuice
1/2 part sugar (for a really fruity drink, go for the Fraise syrup by Monin or similar)
3 – 6 parts strawberry puré (or just a handfull or two of berries, mmm tasty!)

Generally, this is all placed in a blender, and served in a Collins glass, wich is all nice and good, but I think the more observant of you can all see that this all opens up for variations.

Skip the puré, or go down on the amount (or try not to do any change at all, and see what happens), and you can shake it (vigorously!) and serve it in a margarita glass, or something else that actually looks good. Try a wine-glass.

Also, I am partial to suggesting that you disregard the original recipe, when making this variation. Instead of rum, why not try the Braastad VSOP Cognac? If you are to smell this particular kind of premium brandy, you will find a certain tint of strawberries on the nose, just adding to the drink. Also, the taste of brandy gives the drink a new dimension that the rum simply cannot give.

Also, figguring out what kind of white rum to use, is quite important, as quality varies greatly. If you can afford it, use the Ten Cane Rum, made by Hennessy. A luxury brand of rum, that really does what it promises. You will not find any other white rum, as good as this.
If you can’t afford that one, or whatnot, I suggest Metusalem, Pampero, El Dorado,  or Havana Club. Skip the last one, if you are in the US, though. The Havana Club sold in the US is made by Bacardi, and while I do not really have anything against the Bacardi company, the Blanco and Oro kinds they make, are not up to standard, in my opinion. Bacardi 8 and 15, however, are fine, fine rums. The flavored spirits they produce, I have no respect for either. There is the general rule, that either you do it right, or you don’t do it all. Bacardi, as most flavor-induced spirits, use chemicals or something weird, to create a certain taste. Whilst Cruzan, and a few others (Absolut Vodka, actually), infuse their flavored spirits with the sitrus to get the sitrus taste. I just find this a little .. less suspect.
And.. just smell the bottles, dude. You will find a huge difference.

Let’s get on with it.
With this base, you can do so much more than just the two mentioned, so I don’t feel that I can stop just yet.

One of my favourite fruits, is pear. And, this also goes for daiquiris. If all you can get ahold of is Xante, then you’re kinda up shit creek, but it can still do. Just compensate with using a little less, or a little more of something else. If you can get ahold of Belle de Brillet (a BRILLIANT liqueur from Brillet, the famous Cognac House), you are destined for greatness.
In this variation I also suggest you skip the rum, and trade it in for a specific kind of brandy, namely Brillet VSOP. It is not at all too expensive, all though not as easy to obtain in some countries. The reason for this suggestion, is the amount of pear on the nose and pallet of this particular kind of awesome brandy. It’s characteristics are 100% Petit Champagne, and aged 4 – 6 years (I believe), so you get a light, though easily recognizable brandy. A personal favorite, and something you should all try!
If you can’t get this, try to find a Calvados with a high percentage of pear (40% would be nice). Not a common thing, but if you find it, then you find it.

Well, naturally, this variation would look like this;

1 part Brillet VSOP (or rum, or calvados)
1 part Belle de Brillet (or Xante)
2 parts lime juice
1/2 part sugar
A pear, or pear most.

Prepare the pear, and put it into the blender with the rest, and serve it like that, or make it into a most and place it in the shaker, and serve it without all that crushed ice.

As you can see, in most variations, I go down on the sugar, compared to the original. This is due to the liqueurs used, and all the fruits. You do not want the drink too sweet, as too much of one taste ruins the balance. This is the most common mistake made, going berserk with the sweets.

It is also possible to combine. A banana and pear daiquiri should be possible. Melon and whatever. Just try.

If you know of any other variations yourself, let’s talk. Just invite me over!

The Old Fashioned

Well, this should really be called the New Old Fashioned, but there’s no point, really, as this classic, as all classics, come in many ways and shapes anyways.

Nowadays, teachings say that the Old Fashioned come in two fashions; the UK version, and the US version. But, unlike punk, I don’t think this is an accurate description of the differences. Though the names do function as an indication of whether the drink is dry or sweet (like the sense of humor of the two distinct countries, perhaps?) I prefer to just name it either dry or sweet.

Also, while this is not a complicated drink at all, it helps a lot to know your ingredients, and to take care while you make it. It is a method-drink, and poor handywork makes a poor drink.

But, let’s get to  it, and I will explain my remarks as we go.

First of all, the Old Fashioned go in a Old Fashioned glass.

- half a slice of orange in the glass (two would be one too many – you don’t want to kill the drink with orange)
- a sugar-cube (I prefer brown, but I admit this is an aesthetic choice, the taste-variations are hard to notice)
- a marachino cherry
- two, three drops of Angostura Bitter (the normal amount)
- a small dash of soda

Muddle all this well and good into the glass. Some will claim that just crushing the sugar a little with the backside of your barspoon is all right, but this is just lazy handy-work. You need to crush the orange, so that the oils from the cest will mix in with the rest of the flavors, and this takes about 30 – 60 seconds of slow crushing. The soda will help capture these oils, as well as help diluting the sugar.

When done, make a choice; sweet or dry.

If dry; then throw everything out, just leaving a hint of the flavors in the glass, and add half a measure of rye whisky – the driest of whiskies.

If sweet; leave everything in, and add half a measure of bourbon. I most often prefer Jim Beam in bourbon-drinks, but for this one, Makers Mark adds another level. The reason for my preference is simple, really. When making a cocktail, you want simple tastes (as in, ingredients with one, or at least just a few tastes) so that combining them is easy.
But in this fine little concoction, all the tastes go well with the makers Mark, and it can thus be used with confidence.

Anyways, with either dry or sweet, add half a measure of ice as well, and stirr. Then add the second half of whisky and ice, and stirr a little more, before you add whatever garnish you want (a cherry, a cherry-orange – I don’t really care too much about garnish), put in the sip-sticks (all drinks in old-fashioned always take two sip-sticks) and drink away.

Some old sources (old = more serious, for some reason) claim to only use whisky, gomme and angostura. This is also possible, of course, it’s just very, very dull, and doesn’t include anything to make it into something you can claim ownership of. Adding some bitterness and some sweetness to whisky, just doesn’t cut it, so we add some sweetness from the orange and cherry, and some bitterness from the oils in the orange-peel, aswell as salt, and fizz from the soda. It all fits, and it makes for a wonderful drink.

(Sweet and) Sour Mix

As the name implies, this is what you use when you want a sweet and sour drink.

Lemon juice and simple syrup has been used in so many drinks, that this cordial was created to simplify your job behind a counter. All well and good, though I personally prefer to take the long road, and keep it all in different bottles, so that I can mix with different levels of sweet and sour.

But, a standard recipe for this mixer is 4 dl’s lemon-juice, 1 dl lime-juice, 5 dl’s simple syrup (50/50) and the egg white of one egg.

If you mix equal parts of this and Jim Beam, you get a great , and oh so simple to make whisky sour. Remember to garnish with a little orange for that extra level.

Half & half

The third most used mixer for bartenders, half and half is an equal mix between whole milk (1.5% fat) and full cream (33% fat).

The reason for this rather simple mix, is that there is no good cream for drinks. Milk is too thin, and full cream is too heavy. So, you mix it, and create half and half.

It makes the white russian perfect, and the brandy alexander even more sexy.

Ofcourse, there are situations where you do want to use full cream, or even milk, but those will be specified when mentioned, or you will just have to figgure it out for yourself.

Mojito

Do it like you care.

A bartenders least-favorite, this is a nice drink if made right, and quite nasty if made poorly. Which is most often the case.

A proper Mojito is not difficult, however. Just follow these simple steps;

Ingredients;

- Half a lime in wedges
- A coffeespoon of (brown) sugar (yet again, color doesn’t matter, ye racist!)
- A good slump of mint
- 4 cl of white rum
- Crushed ice
- Soda

Equipment;

- A Highball glass
- A bar – & a coffee spoon
- A pestle.

So, ingredients and equipment at the ready, now for the method. Which really makes all the difference.
Use live mint. So, get a pot, not just leaves, and don’t pick the leaves, just do the whole thing. There is a lot of bitter taste in the stem, which gives a lot of flavor to the drink. It does make a difference.
Now, crush it all together with your pestle (or ‘muddler’, or ‘dildo’, give it whatever name you want), and put some arm strength into it, for gods sake. Lean over that glass. Get the juices flowing, and get them mixed. Sugar, Lime and mint. You should have a hard time spotting any sugar in the mix, or any stems.  Don’t take too long though, or you might look like you’re wanking. Like a lot of young bartenders like to do.

If you feel happy with your crushing, fill the glass half up with crushed ice, and pour the rum. Use the backside of your bar spoon, and churn the drink. Mix it up good. Hold a napkin over the glass, so not to cause too much spilling. Don’t be afraid to use some speed. The longer you take, the more the ice will melt, and water down the drink. Though, never use more speed then you can handle. No use for a drink all over your workspace. When happy, fill the glass with more crushed ice, and top with soda.
If you’ve chosen the right glass (a highball  between 24 – 35 cl), there should not be much room for any soda. Which is just right. It is just to add some bubbles, not to add to much taste. Soda is kinda salty, as you might know.

If you can’t see any (or at least just a little) sugar in the drink, you can feel happy.

Common mistakes you might wanna avoid, look for;

1. Using sprite (or anything sweet) instead of soda.
2. Using  cordial lime juice. Roses Lime has it’s uses, but Mojito is not one of them.
3. Wrong equipment, measures or ingredients. Crushing with your bar spoon just looks painful.

Now, go and impress your friends with a better Mojito.

And, remember, if you roll the lime across a hard surface with your hand, you release a lot more juice from the fruit then if you don’t. This goes for most fruits. But, don’t be as stupid as to try it with a pineapple or apple. That just looks more painful then crushing with your bar spoon.

Brandy Alexander

The original, ofcourse.

2 parts brandy
1 part creme de cacao
1 part cream
Nutmeg rist as garnish

shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Don’t go crazy with the nutmeg, just a hint is enough.

I prefer a heavy Armagnac in this fine little cocktail.  It just fits better with the heaviness of the other two ingredients. A sharp vs cognac, for instance, just creates a duality to the drink that I don’t find flattering. It needs that certain brandy flavour, but it also needs a little heaviness, as it is a cream drink, after all.
Another fine choice of brandy, would be a Grand Champagne Cognac, but as they tend to be on the expensive side, I suggest the cheaper Armagnac anwyays.