The Modernista

Another rare Scotch-based cocktail, The Modernista:

• 2.0 ounces Scotch
• 0.5 ounce dark Jamaican rum
• 1 teaspoon absinthe or pastis (Pernod, Herbsaint and Ricard all work.)
• 0.5 ounce Swedish Punsch
• 0.5 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 2 dashes orange bitters

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

This is Dr. Cocktail’s name for The Modern cocktail, and the references I’ve found in the intertoobz all have Scotch, pastis or absinthe, and orange bitters in common, but in vastly different proportions. A couple include sloe gin. The drink is supposed to have originated just after the turn of the century (1900, not 2000), hence the name.

The Ford Cocktail

Famous before Henry was, here is The Ford Cocktail:

• 1 ounce Old Tom Gin (Hayman’s Old Tom Gin recommended)
• 1 ounce dry vermouth
• 3 dashes Bénédictine
• 3 dashes orange bitters

Stir well with finely cracked ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Okay, to be honest, I wasn’t in the mood for a gin drink when I made this, but I have a small amount of OCD and I wanted to remove the last place in the index where I had three untried recipes in a row.

The Communist

Here’s another politically named cocktail, The Communist:

• 1.00 ounce gin
• 1.00 ounce orange juice
• 0.50 ounce cherry brandy (Cherry Heering)
• 0.75 ounce fresh lemon juice

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

This is another drink recipe saved from obscurity by Dr. Cocktail. The only history he provides is that it came from a 1933 pamphlet titled Cocktail Parade, and all the references I can find to this recipe point right back to Ted Haigh.

The Algonquin Cocktail

It’s back to the “A’s” with The Algonquin Cocktail:

• 1.50 ounces rye
• 0.75 ounce dry vermouth
• 0.75 ounce pineapple juice

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

I really thought I’d like this cocktail. I like rye and I thought it would go well with pineapple juice, and I really like the name.

The Algonquin is a hotel in New York City that is best known as the site of the “Algonquin Round Table“, a daily gathering of literary, entertainment and art figures that met for lunch there for nearly ten years. In my life I’ve experienced a couple of occasions where friends and acquaintances of mine have gathered for an experience I imagine to be similar to what the Vicious Circle was like, and I wouldn’t mind more of those in my life.

Drove My Chevy to the Levee

Speaking of whiskey and rye, here’s Drove My Chevy to the Levee:

• 1.50 ounces rye (Redemption Recommended)
• 0.50 ounce peach juice
• 0.50 “brown” sugar simple syrup
• 0.25 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Stir vigorously in an iced glass, and strain into a cocktail glass over ice. Garnish with sliced peaches.

This is another guest cocktail from Justin Peregoy, cocktail chef at the Oakleaf restaurant.

I live in a small town, and we are lucky to have such a great restaurant as the Oakleaf (we have our priorities right, we had a microbrewery three years before we had a McDonalds). One thing that makes it great, at least for me, is Justin. He deserves the word “chef” in his title for a couple of reasons, but mainly because he was trained as a chef and he brings those skills to the cocktail glass.

Barnum (Was Right) Cocktail

I hate the name, but I love the Barnum (Was Right) Cocktail:

• 2.0 ounces gin
• 1.0 ounce apricot-flavored brandy (the best is Marie Brizard’s Apry)
• 0.5 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

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

Okay, so let’s get the name out of the way. It supposedly references the quote “There is a sucker born every minute” which is usually attributed to P.T. Barnum. It is meant to refer the fact that many cocktails with different names are very similar, and Dr. Cocktail states that this drink “appears to be a variation of the Pegu Club” which implies you are a “sucker” for thinking this is a different drink.

Pegu Club Cocktail

Gin and citrus go well together, like in the Pegu Club Cocktail:

• 1.50 ounces gin
• 0.50 ounce Cointreau
• 0.75 ounce fresh lime juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

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

I decided to make this cocktail simply because it is referenced in another recipe that I plan to make next. It’s hot here at the moment so anything cold with “gin and juice” is welcome.