The Widow’s Kiss

An odd name for a Valentine’s Day drink, it’s The Widow’s Kiss:

• 1.50 ounces Calvados
• 0.75 ounce Chartreuse (Green was meant, but yellow mellows the drink a bit)
• 0.75 ounce Benedictine
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

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

There is a little story behind my choosing the make this drink just now. My friend Justin is the cocktail chef at the Oakleaf restaurant. He’s started this new theme night called “Throwback Thursdays” which features $8 vintage cocktails. He tends to have five recipes that have some sort of theme, be it “gin” or “election year”, etc.

The Coffee Cocktail

No coffee, but you will find port in The Coffee Cocktail:

• 1 ounce brandy (Martell works well)
• 1 egg
• 2 to 3 ounces ruby port
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Pour brandy into an iced cocktail shaker. Add the egg. Pour in the port and sugar. Shake and strain into a small goblet. Grate or shake some nutmeg on top.

This is the second cocktail in the book to feature port (the other being the Chatham Hotel Special). I was kind of dreading this one, as it doesn’t contain the things I look for in a cocktail, which tend to be gin or bourbon, fruit juice and bitters. But I did have the perfect glass for it.

The Brandy Crusta

A precursor to the Margarita is The Brandy Crusta:

• 1 lemon
• 0.5 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Bar or table sugar
• 2.0 ounces cognac (Hennessy specified)
• 1 teaspoon orange curaçao (Marie Brizard specified)
• 1 dash Boker’s Bitters (or substitute Angostura

Cut the lemon in half. Pare the full peel off half, and squeeze the juice from the lemon. Moisten the glass rim with the lemon juice, and dip it in bar or table sugar. Insert a lemon peel into the glass, Mix the liquors in a cocktail shaker of crushed ice. Shake, and strain into the prepared glass. Add 1 small lump of ice, and serve.

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Curaçao Punch

A old one from 1882, it’s Curaçao Punch:

• 0.5 tablespoon sugar (alter to taste)
• 2 or 3 dashes of fresh lemon juice
• 1.0 ounce soda water
• 1.0 ounce brandy (Martell cognac specified)
• 2.0 ounces orange curaçao
• 1.0 ounce Jamaican rum (full-bodied specified)

In a bar glass or goblet, combine the sugar, lemon juice, and soda water. Dissolve the sugar, and fill a glass with finely shaved or thoroughly crushed ice. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir well, and ornament as Liberace might with all the fruit at your disposal.

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Chatham Hotel Special

Another cocktail featuring dairy, it’s the Chatham Hotel Special:

• 1.5 ounces brandy
• 0.5 ounce ruby port
• 0.5 cream
• 1 dash dark creme de cacao

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

I like the name of this cocktail because I live in Chatham County, North Carolina, and you don’t see the word “Chatham” all that often (I always have to add it to my spell checkers). It was named after a now gone hotel in New York City.

Three to One Cocktail

Got some high proof gin? Make the Three to One Cocktail:

• 1.50 ounces 100-proof gin
• 0.75 ounce Marie Brizard Apry
• Juice of 1/2 lime

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge

I’m a firm believer in the concept of karma and of serendipity. So when my friends gave me spirits as birthday presents, I have not been surprised to see how easily they fit into my cocktail menu.

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail

A rum drink with a long name, it’s the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail:

• 2.00 ounces Barbados Rum
• 0.75 ounce lime juice
• 2 dashes Cointreau
• 2 teaspoons Falernum

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

Just like gin and lemon are meant for each other, a similar thing can be said for rum and lime.

The big addition to the Royal Bermuda is Falernum. Falernum is a sweet syrup that has a slightly spicy flavor, but nothing like the Allspice Dram in drinks like the Lion’s Tail. It’s named after a British club established in 1844.