Writing about three drinks with a common element of French quinquinas may be leaping deep into cocktail geek territory, but hey — here, I’m among my people. I’ve written in depth about the class of aperitif wines known as quinquinas a couple of times — here’s a piece from Imbibe, and another from the San… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Spirits
60/30, #23-25: Three rounds with apple brandy
There’s something irrepressibly alluring about apple brandy. Cocktails made with Calvados or American apple brandy have been among my favorites ever since I first dabbled in the drinks world, and every autumn and early winter for the past five or so years, I’ve found myself besmitten with these drinks all over again. Here are a… Continue Reading
60/30, #21-22: Brown Derby & Honey Fitz
Two nearly identical drinks, born decades apart, both worth visiting (or revisiting) for their simple deliciousness. I’ll make this quick. First, the classic: the Brown Derby. Vendome Club, Hollywood, 1930s; Douglas Fairbanks at the bar. We don’t even know what class is anymore. Brown Derby 2 ounces bourbon 1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice 1/2 ounce… Continue Reading
60/30, #19-20: breaking out the Batavia arrack
If there was a predominant recurring theme in this blog, and in my drinking life, back when it first started in 2005, it was the search for, or re-creation of, vintage cocktail ingredients that were no longer obtainable. I don’t do that much anymore, for good reason: primarily because, thanks to folks like Eric Seed… Continue Reading
60/30, #17-18: Two not-too-scary drinks from Jim Romdall
Before I even asked Jim Romdall from Vessel if he’d let me rip off a couple of his recipes for this month-long blog frenzy, I knew whatever drinks he prepared would have some ingredient guaranteed to freak out about 90 percent of the drinking public. I mean, look at the facts: the man’s Twitter handle… Continue Reading
