The hearth
Pull up a chair. These are the drinks from my Recipe Book for a cold night, and the stories from my Library that go with them.
Built hot and served hot. The exact measures and the method are on each recipe page.
These carry the warming tag in the Recipe Book. Each page has the measures, the method and where the drink comes from.
Bourbon, Campari and sweet vermouth: the Negroni's Paris cousin
A stirred bitter-sweet whiskey cocktail from 1920s Paris: bourbon, Campari and sweet vermouth, served over a large cube or up with an orange twist.
Rye and sweet vermouth, stirred to a dark gloss
The classic New York whiskey cocktail: rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters, stirred with ice and served up with a brandied cherry.
Rye, sugar, Peychaud's and an absinthe-rinsed glass: New Orleans in one pour
The official cocktail of New Orleans: rye whiskey, a sugar cube, Peychaud's bitters, stirred and served neat in a chilled glass rinsed with absinthe, with a lemon peel expressed over the top.
The history behind these drinks, from the Library.
The age of punch · 1632 to 1850
Two centuries before anyone wrote down the word cocktail, sailors of the English East India trade were sharing a bowl of spirit, citrus, sugar and water. This is where mixed drinks begin.
5 min read · 4 sources
From elixir to cocktail · 1690 to 1880
In 1806 a New York newspaper defined the cocktail as spirits, sugar, water and bitters. The bitters came from the apothecary, and three bottles from three continents still sit on every serious bar.
5 min read · 5 sources
The vermouth age · 1860 to 1910
When Italian and French vermouth reached American bars in the decades after the Civil War, the cocktail changed shape. The Manhattan came first, the Martinez followed, and the Martini spent fifty years getting drier.
5 min read · 5 sources
Goes with Manhattan, Boulevardier.
For more, browse the Recipe Book or the Library.