The Bebbo Cocktail

Named funny and made with honey, it’s The Bebbo Cocktail:

• 1.5 ounces gin
• 1.0 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 0.5 ounce honey
• 2.0 teaspoons orange juice

Stir all the ingredients (except ice) together in a cocktail shaker until the honey dissolves. Add ice, shake, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

This drink is supposedly similar to the Bee’s Knees cocktail, but instead of the Bebbo they should have called it the Cat’s Pajamas – it’s that good.

The Blue Moon

Having scored some real Creme de Violette, I made The Blue Moon:

• 2.0 ounces gin
• 0.5 ounce Crème Yvette or crème de violette
• 0.5 ounce lemon juice

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

I managed to find some Crème Yvette earlier in this experiment, and I used it in the Aviation. While the taste was fine, I didn’t care for the color. It’s “purple” as in “has a lot of red in it”, versus violet. So when my friend Justin managed to find a source for crème de violette, I was in.

Barbara West Cocktail

Want a sherry-based martini? Try the Barbara West Cocktail:

• 2.0 ounces gin
• 1.0 ounce sherry
• 0.5 ounce lemon juice
• 1 small dash Angostura bitters

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass.

I have no idea why this drink is named what it is. There was a famous Titanic survivor named Barbara West as well as a TV news anchor, but I think the latter Babs would be too young to have inspired a vintage cocktail.

The Alamagoozlum Cocktail

The first cocktail recipe in the book is the Alamagoozlum Cocktail:

• 0.5 egg white
• 2.0 ounces genever gin
• 2.0 ounces water
• 1.5 ounces Jamaican rum
• 1.5 ounces yellow or green Chartreuse
• 1.5 ounces gomme syrup
• 0.5 ounce orange curaçao
• 0.5 ounce Angostura bitters

Shake very, very hard and long in a large iced cocktail shaker and serve tremulously into several previously chilled cocktail glasses.

This is an odd one, and I find it ironic that this cocktail managed to come first in the book, as it perfectly illustrates what a vintage and forgotten cocktail should be. It contains a number of obscure ingredients, which took me some time to assemble. Then I had to wait until I had two other friends around who wanted to try it, ’cause the recipe makes enough for three glasses.

The Mother-In-Law Cocktail

Like bourbon? Have friends who like bourbon? Try the Mother-in-Law Cocktail:

• 1.0 teaspoon Peychaud’s Bitters
• 1.0 teaspoon Angostura Bitters
• 1.0 teaspoon Amer Picon (subsitute Torani Amer)
• 0.5 ounce orange curaçao
• 0.5 maraschino liqueur
• 0.5 ounce simple syrup
• 0.5 ounce maraschino liqueur
• 9.0 ounces bourbon

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into three cocktail glasses.

This is a great drink, but at over three ounces of spirit in each drink, you need friends (real ones, not imaginary) and it helps if they like bourbon.

Crimean Cup à la Marmora

A big punch with a big name is the Crimean Cup à la Marmora:

• 2.0 broad slices of lemon peel
• 1.0 teaspoon sugar
• 0.5 ounce dark Jamaican rum (Myers’s works well)
• 1.0 ounce brandy
• 0.5 maraschino liqueur
• 0.5 ounce Jamaican rum
• 2.0 ounces orgeat syrup
• 0.5 lemon juice
• 4.0 ounces soda water
• 3.0 ounces chilled champagne

In a mixing glass, muddle the lemon peel with the sugar and the dark rum. Add remaining ingredients except the champagne, stir vigorously, and pour into 2 goblets with 2 or 3 large lumps of ice. Divide the champagne between the goblets.

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French 95

The nicest thing to happen between France and the US since the Statue of Liberty – the French 95:

• 2.00 ounces Buffalo Trace bourbon
• 0.75 ounce lemon juice
• 0.50 ounce cane sugar syrup
• Dry champagne

Short shake all the ingredients (except the champagne) with three ice cubes, then strain into a fizz glass with two ice cubes. Top with champagne. No garnish.

I came across this recipe in the Death & Co. book when I was making the French 75 for a New Year’s party. I have a friend who really likes bourbon so I decided to make this for him.