Classic Cocktail of The Month: Tipperary Cocktail

It's Saint Patrick's Day, that means two things for certain: drinking copious amount of Guinness, and a nuesiatiang amount of "Kiss me, I'm Irish" t-shirts.  Unfortunately, like most holidays, St. Patrick's Day is nothing more than reason to get black-out drunk.  If you haven't noticed yet, my stance on drinking is always quality over quantity, so I will be staying as far away from the Guinness, Bailey's, and creme de menthe this March 17th.  Instead, I'll be enjoying an Irish whiskey cocktail that is nearly 100 years old.

This month's Classic cocktail of the month is another classic from The Savoy Cocktail book.  The Tipperaray Cocktail is an Irish cocktail free of an creme de menthe, Bailey's or Guinness; the perfect candidate for a Saint Patrick's Day cocktail that can also be enjoyed any other day of the year.

The recipe from the Savoy calls for equal parts Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth, and green chartreuse.  Like most other bartenders, I'll agree that adjusting the proportions does result in a more balanced cocktail.  Feel free to change the proportions to your liking, but this is the recipe I prefer.

Tipperaray Cocktail
- 1.5 oz Irish Whiskey
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.25 oz Green Chartreuse

- Add all ingredients to mixing glass
- Add ice and stir
- Strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with an orange zest

Tipperaray Cocktail

If the Tipperaray Cocktail is a twist on the Manhattan, then this month's variation is a twist of the Martini.


Dublin Dreaming
- 1.5 oz Irish Whiskey
- 0.75 oz Dry Vermouth
- 0.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse

- Add all ingredients to mixing glass

- Add ice and stir

- Strain into chilled cocktail glass

- Garnish with a lemon twist

Dublin Dreaming

Classic Cockctail of The Month: Vancouver Cocktail

Tales of The Cocktail Vancouver has officially started, and while I maybe stuck in Victoria studying for midterms, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a taste of Vancouver.  While many people think of the Caesar as the quintessential Canadian cocktail, there is another, lesser known, Canadian cocktail that may be a bit more akin to the style of imbibing currently overtaking the city of Vancouver.

First conceived at The Sylvia Hotel, Vancouver's first cocktail bar, in the mid 1950s, the Vancouver cocktail certainly does justice to Vancouver's cocktail scene.   A bold mixture of gin, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, and orange bitters, the Vancouver is a cocktail that receives only a fraction of attention compared to other libations named after large cities.

Vancouver 
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth

- 0.25 oz Benedictine 

- 2 Dashes Orange Bitters

- Add all ingredients to mixing glass
- Add ice and stir
- Strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with an orange zest

This month's variation on the classic is a bit of a dramatic twist.  The only things left intact from the original recipe is the gin, and the proportions. 

Westshore

- 1.5 oz Gin

- 0.75 oz Late Bottled Vintage Port

- 0.25 oz Fernet Branca

- 2 Dashes Chocolate Bitters

- Add all ingredients to mixing glass

- Add ice and stir

- Strain into chilled cocktail glass

- Garnish with an orange zest

Pre-Whisky Fest Fun: Day 4

Whisky Cocktails.  I could not think of two words that would make most whisky "aficionados" (AKA: Snobs) cringe more.  Even adding a cube of ice to a nice whisky is enough to raise the blood pressure of said "aficionados".  So it would come as no surprise if this following blog post gave a few people heart attacks, because this blog post is all about whisky cocktails!

Now before I begin, I do have one rules when making a cocktail with any spirit, not just whisky.  I'll never mix a spirit that I have to pay more than $80 dollars for.  To give you a good example of the ridiculous taxation on alcohol here in British Columbia, here are some very common bottles (750ml) and their prices:

• Ballantine's Finest - $25.99
• Glenfiddich 12 Year Old - $48.99
• Highland Park 12 Year Old - $66.95
• Laphroaig 10 Year Old - $84.99
• Lagavulin 16 Year Old - $124.99
• Macallan 18 - $249.99

Flower of Scotland

- 1 oz Glenfiddich 12 Year Old
- 1 oz Giffard's Ginger of the Indies
- 1 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
- 2 Dashes of Angostrua Bitters

- Add all ingredients to mixing glass
- Add ice and stir
- Strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with a flamed lemon zest

The idea behind this cocktail was to deconstruct the flavours present in Glenfiddich 12 year old (ginger, christmas spices, citrus), and highlight those particular flavours.

Blood and Sand
- 1 oz Blened Scotch
- 0.75 oz Cherry Herring
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1 oz Orange Juice

- Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker
- Add ice and shake
- Double Strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with flamed orange zest

Blood and Sand

A favorite cocktail of mine, the Blood and Sand is a classic cocktail named after the equally classic 1922 movie of the same name.  

For this particular cocktail I like to use a blend with a pronounced smokiness, like Black Grouse.  I find that lightly smoky blends tend to get lost amounts all the other ingredients. 

One note about cherry herring, if you're like me and live in B.C. you probably know we can't get cherry herring here.  The best alternative is the cherry liqueur from Okanagan Spirits.

1806 Whisky & Cola
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 0.33 oz Kola Tonic
- 2 Dashes Chocolate Bitters
- 2 Dashes Fernet Branca

- At the bottom of a mixing glass muddle one large orange zest
- Add all remaining ingredients to mixing glass
- Add ice and stir
- Strain into chilled rocks glass with one large ice cube
- Garnish with flamed orange zest

1806 Whisky & Cola

An obvious twist on the Old-Fashioned, the 1806 Whisky & Cola is named after the year in which the word "Cocktail" was first defined in print.  If you are wondering what the hell kola tonic is, it is basically concerted cola syrup.  A quick google search of "Cola Syrup" will reveal various sites that carry the product.  If you are a B.C. resident, I suggest outofafricatrading.com. They are B.C. based so your product will arrive in no time. 

The Scofflaw
- 1.5 oz Rye Whisky
- 1 oz Dry Vermouth
- 0.75 oz Lemon Juice
- 0.75 oz Real Pomegranate Grenadine

- Add all ingredient to cocktail shaker
- Add ice and Shake
- Double Strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with a long thin lemon twist

Another classic prohibition era cocktail from Harry's New York Bar in Paris, The Scofflaw is a reference to the 20s term of the same name.  A "Scofflaw" was a term coined by the media to describe someone who enjoyed visiting his/her local speak-easy.

Classic Cocktail of The Month: Boulevardier

If you were to go into any reputable cocktail lounge, no problems would occur if you were to order a Negroni.  Every bartender knows how to make one -or at least should know- and most bartenders would even recite to you the story of the origin of the Negroni.  So the story goes in short, in 1919, Count Camilo Luigi Manfredo Maria Negroni travels to Italy where he demands the bartender of Cafe Casoni, Fosco Scarselli, to prepare his Americano with gin in lieu of club soda: thus the Negroni is born.  A close relative of the Negroni, the Boulevardier, sees only a fraction of the limelight in comparison to the Negroni.  While a recipe of the Negroni does not see print until more then a decade after its inception, the Boulevardier appears in the 1927 Barflies and Cocktails, by Harry McElhone.

Now, if you were to order a Boulevardier in most bars, chances are you would only get a confused look in exchange.  The Boulevardier is a cocktail that has only recently seen a revival.  Once again, due to Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, another prohibition cocktail now lives again.

Boulevardier
- 1.5 oz Bourbon
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz Sweet Vermouth


- Add all ingredients to mixing glass
- Add ice and stir
- Strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with a orange zest

Unfortunately, due to BC liquor laws, cocktails must not exceed 3 ounces of liquor (regardless of the ABV),  So we have to opt for the equal parts approach; a great cocktail non the less.




Sticking to the DNA of the Boulevardier (whisk(e)y, bitter aperitif, and fortified wine), I've utilized an Islay Single Malt, Tawny Port, and every bartender's favorite, Fernet Branca in this month's variation.   Just a warning anyone who is wanting to try this drink, this is one of those drinks that you really have to like Fernet Branca to enjoy.


Gaelic Medicine
- 1 oz Laphroaig Quarter Cask
- 1 oz Fernet Branca
- 1 oz Late Bottled Vintage Port

- Add all ingredients to mixing glass

- Add ice and stir

- Strain into chilled cocktail glass

- Garnish with a orange zest