Here is the second of the Thanksgiving drinking queries I tackled for the New York Times. The reader asked for suggestions on how to make a wealth of different cocktails from a poverty of bottles. I was happy to point out that you don't need to buy out the liquor store to attain a liquid variety at home. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to this article from the cocktail industry reaffirmed my belief that many in the industry favor the simplicity of the classics over the increasingly ornate drinks being produced today.
Can You Recommend a Few Nice Cocktails That Use the Same Spirits?
By ROBERT SIMONSON
Q. Can you recommend a few nice cocktails to serve before dinner? We don’t own a lot of liquor. So, ideally, we’d have the option of three to four cocktails that use the same liquors (so that we can get away with only buying a bottle or two). — TLD, Boston
A. The rococo, nine-ingredient inventions of today’s mixologists notwithstanding, you can do surprisingly well, variety-wise, with just a few elixirs. Get yourself a bottle of quality London dry gin and some dry vermouth, then pick up a dozen lemons and limes each (fresh squeezed juice is always best), and you’re set for successive rounds of martinis, gimlets, rickeys, fizzes and Collinses.
It you’re brown spirits people, buy a good rye or bourbon (depending on your tastes) and some sweet vermouth, plus a bottle of Angostura bitters, as well the aforementioned citrus (add an orange or two), and you’re in for an evening of manhattans, old fashioneds, whiskey sours and, yes, Collinses. And, don’t forget, that vermouth makes a great pre-dinner cocktail on its own and is nothing to be scared of.
Furthermore, if somewhere in the back of your bar or kitchen cupboard you find a bottle of Scotch your brother gave you a few years back, and some stray, neglected standbys like Cherry Heering, Cointreau, Bénédictine and grenadine, you’re good to go for a few other less famous, but no-less-classic, cocktails, like the ward eight, blood and sand, Bobby Burns and white lady. Enough possibilities? Get mixing!
Martini (Gin-vermouth ratios in martinis are highly personal. I prefer 3 or 4 to 1. You may like it drier or wetter. Adjust accordingly.)
3 ounces gin
1 ounce dry vermouth.
Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive or lemon twist. Or both. (It’s Thanksgiving!) For a Gibson, garnish with one or two cocktail onions.
Gin Gimlet5 ounces gin
1 ounce lime juice
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into two chilled cocktail glasses.
Note: Some say this is the one cocktail in which Rose’s lime juice must be used. Let your taste be your judge. For a gin rickey, strain into a highball glass full of ice and top with soda water.
Gin Fizz3 ounces gin
1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
2 ounces simple syrup.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into two rocks glasses. Top with soda water.
Note: Shake this with an egg white and you’ve got a silver gin fizz; with an egg yolk, and it’s a golden gin fizz.
Collins3 ounces gin, rye, bourbon or (if you must) vodka
1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
2 ounces simple syrup
Club soda.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into two highball glasses filled with ice. Top with club soda.
Manhattan
2 ounces rye or bourbon
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry.
Stir the ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cherry.
Old Fashioned1 teaspoon simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 ounces rye or bourbon
Twist of orange peel.
Place the simple syrup and bitters into the bottom of a rocks glass. (Crushing a sugar cube with the bitters will do as well.) Pour in the whiskey. Add ice and stir. Garnish with thick twist of orange.
Whiskey Sour4 ounces rye or bourbon
2 ounces simple syrup
1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
Orange slice and maraschino cherry for garnish.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into two chilled rocks glasses. Garnish with orange slice and cherry.
Vermouth Cocktail3 ounces dry vermouth
3 ounces sweet vermouth
4 dashes of Angostura bitters
1 teaspoon of simple syrup.
Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into two chilled cocktail glasses.
Blood and Sand1 1/2 ounces blended Scotch
1 1/2 ounces Cherry Heering
1 1/2 ounces sweet vermouth
1 1/2 ounces orange juice
Maraschino cherry.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into two chilled cocktail glasses. Garnish with cherry.
Ward Eight4 ounces rye or bourbon
1 1/2 ounces orange juice
1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
1 ounce grenadine.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into two chilled cocktail glasses. Garnish with cherry.
White Lady3 ounces gin
1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
2 ounces Cointreau.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into two chilled cocktail glasses.
Bobby Burns2 ounces blended Scotch
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce Bénédictine.
Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Simple Syrup1 cup sugar
Mix sugar with a cup of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Cool and refrigerate.
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