Drink Creations

Blinker

Straight from the 12BB book, another IBA official cocktail:

• 3 parts rye whiskey (used Old Overholt)
• 2 parts grapefruit juice (used ones marked as Ruby Star from H-mart)
• 1 part grenadine

Shaken with ice, strained into a martini glass.

This one is nicely balanced, but we couldn't really taste the grapefruit. Maybe the grapefruit we got wasn't too flavorful? Either way, we'll try this one again.

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.

Buck Night

We picked up some Reed's Extra Ginger Beer at Trader Joe's this afternoon so that we could mix up some bucks. Using the 12BB recipe, we made both the gin and the rye variants

• 2 oz rye or gin (used Old Overholt and Gordons, respectively)
• 1/2 a lemon or lime
• ginger beer

Squeeze the citrus into the glass then toss in the rind. Add the booze and the ginger beer and stir gently.

"So easy to drink. Like a soft drink."

Hot Toddy

Mixed up a hot toddy mostly according to the recipe in the 12BB book.

• 3 oz hot water
• 1 1/2 oz rye
• 1 oz lemon juice (used a mix of orange and lemon leftover from the Ward 8's)
• 1 heaping teaspoon of sugar

Mixed in a mug and served with a piece of expressed orange rind.

Ward 8

This was the first drink we made after picking up a proper bottle of rye. Old Overholt gets great marks, especially for cocktails, while being priced at less than $18 a bottle here in Boston.

• 1 1/2 oz rye (used Old Overholt)
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz orange juice (used freshly squeezed Valencia oranges from Florida)
• 1 tsp grenadine

Shaken. Served in a Martini glass with with a lemon garnish.

Good drink. The 12BB book says that the key to this drink is to only use just enough grenadine to take away the sharp sourness of the lemon juice, but that it is supposed to remain tart.