Cocktail No 103 Brandy Cocktail

I had overlooked this one and what a gem. There is a caramelised undertone, coming from the combination of the brandy and the rosso vermouth and whilst they have combined to give this rich, sensuous taste, but they are both very distinctive and punch through their own unique tastes.

Stirring gives a more viscous liquid than shaking, adding interest to the mouth feel.

It's simplicity itself

Recipe

1-2 ice cubes

40ml Brandy

20 ml Rosso Vermouth

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Twist of lemon peel

Add all ingregients except lemon peel to a mixing glass. Stir well to chill until the liquid takes and on a slighty oily texture. Strain into a cocktail glass and add twist of lemon peel.

Cocktail No 102 Pisco Sour

An old school friend has been cycling from the bottom of South America to the north. He had reached Chile by the time the COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and can't leave the country. He has introduced to the the local spirit and I can see why Simon is so taken with it. The spirit is Pisco.

Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco

Pisco itself has a very minor grappa taste, which makes sense as its a grape Eua de Vie, but without the pips or made from a 3rd presing, so a lot milder on that distinctly grappa taste. 

Initially I forgot the Angostura bitters. It is very pleasant - a perfect sour, smooth, well balanced between the sweet and sour, the spirit doesn't contribute much to the flavour, its somewhere between and rum and a brandy sour. That is not denigrating the Pisco. That it blends everything else together in harmony is a compliment. 

I am a fan.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes

50ml Pisco

50 ml lime juice (not lemon)

50ml Sugar syrup

1 egg white (I omitted this to save on washing. It doesn't affect the taste, but gives a froth and different mouth feel).

Dash of Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients except the bitters to a shaker and shake vigorously to incorporate the egg white. Strain into a cocktail glass and add a dash of bitters.

Cocktail No 101 Monty YTC Gold!

I have been challenged by an old school friend to make a cocktail, who is Scottish and partial to the odd wee dram of the spirit of life.I was provided the name of the cocktail so worked around it  - a quote I believe from Withnail and I.

So this is a variation on the Sidecar, using Malt Whisky instead of Brandy, but with a few twists. 

Y is an egg yolk, making this cocktail into a gold! For T, I was thinking Talisker Whisky, but consulting Charlie he would prefer Tamnavulin, if you can ever find it. The C of course is Cointreau and the ! lemon. The tasting notes on the Tamnavulin mentions chocholate mouse and extra thick cream, hence a teaspoon of Crème de Cacau. The creaminess comes from the egg yolk.

The lemon is bittingly sharp, I squeezed half a lemon instead of a measure, so perhaps too much. The whisky is prominant. The Cointreau is hidden in the background and the egg yolk, gives a silkiness and texture that is quite delightful. 

As I come to the bottom of the glass I find that I really enjoyed this one

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes

25 mls Malt Whisky (preferably Tamnavulin)

15 mls Cointreau

15 mls Lemon juice

1 teaspoon Crème de Cacau

1 egg yolk

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake really well to mix the egg yolk and create a luscious silky smooth emulsion. Pour into a cocktail glass and enjoy

Cocktail No 100 White Lady

This is the last gin cocktail in my book and it is so worth waiting for. Its a Fizz, so that delightful meringuey crema from the egg white is the first sensation. Next is the sweetness from the Cointreau, which is a real surprise, because a) there is only a splash of it and b) its usually more bitter than sweet. Then it is cut by the sour of the lemon juice. Finally the Gin makes itself known.

All the hallmarks of a great cocktail - texture with mouth feel, complex flavours that compete and change as you drink it, the perfect balance of sweet and sout and the bedrock of the gin underpinning it all. And it has a maraschino cherry - almost as good as the one picked fresh from the tree but not quite. 

Recipe

2-3 Ice cubes

1/2 egg white

2 teaspoons lemon juice

25 ml Birkdale gin

2 teaspoons Cointreau

1 cocktail cherry.

Crack ice and put in shaker with egg white, lemon juice, gin and Cointreau. Shake really well - this is more important than usual as we are are not just chilling the cocktail, but frothing the egg white into a crema. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with cherry on a stick

Cocktail No 99 Sake Special

To be honest, I wasn't expecting very much from this one and am very pleasantly surprised. In some ways it is a watered down pink gin, but the Sake does add its own distinctiveness, which I suspect would not be the case with a grape based white wine. 

The Gin and Angosture bitter are the commanding flavours and make this cocktail great. The Sake, stops it being too harsh as neat gin can be. I am struggling to describe it. It adds a mellowness, almost an earthy undertone to the drink and a lingering almost floral after taste. Despite that it is a deliciously clean and dry taste. The bitters gives a wonderful nutty brown colour to the drink - very appealing on the eye.

I had to buy a whole bottle of Sake for this, so the dilemma is do I make more of these, or warm it to go with beef teriyake?

Perhaps both.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes

50 ml Birkdale gin

25 ml Sake

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Put ice in a mixing glass with other ingredients. Stir well and strain into a cocktail glass - enjoy.

Cocktail No 98 Take Two

Very much along the lines of a Negroni, so of course I am going to like this one - a lot. The Campari is surprisingly strong considering the small volume used. The Cointreau provides the sweetness to balance the bitters and the gin just binds it all together. I used Triple Sec, so bitter orange working hand-in-hand with the Campari.

Its a really interesting mouth feel, velvety and viscous, with a slight "burn" as you swallow. The colour is wonderful as well, sort of orangy, rosé pink. I don't think I have every seen this hue before.

A lovely complex drink with many things going on - well worth a try.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes

25 ml Birkdale gin

15 ml Cointreau

2 teaspoons Campari

Add ice and ingredients to a mixing glass. Stir well until icy cold. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Cocktail No 97 Singapore Gin Sling

One of the most famous cocktails in the world. The following from Wikipedia:

The Singapore Sling is a gin-based sling cocktail from Singapore. This long drink was developed sometime before 1915^[1] by Ngiam Tong Boon (traditional Chinese: 嚴崇文; simplified Chinese: 严崇文; pinyin: Yán Chóngwén; Wade–Giles: Yen Ch'ung-wen), a Hainanese bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore. It was initially called the gin sling^[2] – a sling was originally a North American drink composed of spirit and water, sweetened and flavored.

When you look at the recipe, it was obvious it is going to be sweet, but the dilution with soda water compensates a lot and the sour of the lemon juice makes a pleasing counter. Cherry and a hint of orange is the dominant flavour. Considering how much gin is in there it is not really noticable. 

All in all quite pleasant and if you have a sweet tooth you will love it, but perhaps short without the soda water.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
50 ml Birkdale gin
25 ml Lemon juice
15 ml Cherry Brandy
15 ml Cointreau
2 teaspoons caster sugar
soda water
1 lemon slice

Put ice in tall glass with gin, lemon juice. Cherry Brandy. Cointreau and sugar. Stir and top up with soda water. Garnish with lemon slice.