Drink Creations

The Monticello Cocktail, Shaken

We recently had to make a new batch of grenadine and ended up having some extra pomegranate juice on hand. The 12BB book has an original receipt for what they call the Monticello Cocktail. It's rye, Cointreau, grenadine and orange bitters served over pomegranate ice cubes. They turned out pretty good but the drink starts out really strong as you wait for the pomegranate cubes to melt into the booze. A few days later, we made them again but I decided to shake it to break up the cubes:

• 1-1/2 oz rye whiskey (used Old Overholt)
• 1 tsp grenadine
• 1/4 tsp Cointreau
• dash of orange bitters
• 3 pomegranate ice cubes

Combine with three pomegranate ice cubes and shake until you can't hear the cubes clanking around. Pour it all in a martini glass - no straining!

This is a fantastic drink. Probably the best drink I've made since I started fiddling with cocktail making. It consistently comes out with a white foam on top which lasts until you are done with the drink. I'd love to know what causes the foam to form.

Marvel Cocktail

We picked up some new coupes at the thrift shop this week. Tonight I went looking for a new recipe and came across the Marvel Cocktail over at the 12BB blog (apparently it was a blog first, then they wrote a book!) that looked pretty good.

• 2 1/2 oz amber rum (used Brugal)
• 1/2 oz Sirop de Citron (didn't have 3-5 days to make some, so used lemon juice)
• 1/2 oz grenadine (homemade, see earlier post)

Shaken, then served in a martini glass.

This one really shows off the rum. I neglected to garnish with a lemon peel though and I think that would have brightened it up quite a bit. Next time!

Bijou (Ritz Version)

This is the Bijou recipe given in the "12 Bottle Bar" book. It's in the "strong" section under gin drinks for good reason!

• 4 parts dry gin (used Gordon's)
• 1 part orange liqueur (Cointreau)
• 1 part dry vemouth
• dash orange bitters
• cherry

Smells great. Pretty well balanced for a pure-spirits drink. Most online recipes show garnishing with an orange twist. I think this would work better than the cherry suggested in the book.