Friday Happy Hour: Sazarac

The Sazarac, hailing from New Orleans, is said to be the original cocktail. In honor of Mardi Gras, we're pleased to suggest this venerable drink to you! Its components are whiskey (bourbon or rye), sugar, bitters (Peychaud), absinthe (now that it's legal, at last!), and twists of orange and lemon. Beyond the mere ingredients, a big part of this drink's mystique is the method in which it's made. In the recipe above, they call for just 1 cube of ice. In the recipe below, they offer a slightly different, albeit quite precise, technique:

In classic New Orleans fashion, it's all about the style with which you do it. Here's another charming recipe from our Repeal-era Mohawk recipe booklet that we wanted to share with you:

Generally the same ingredients and procedure. We love the irregular spelling and vintage feel. Happy Mardi Gras -- and cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: Ward 8

We won't lie to you about this one: we really struggled with the Ward 8. Truly. There was practically a brawl at the editorial board meeting when this week's Friday Happy Hour post came up. Let's put it this way: not everyone agreed that we should go ahead with this post. Why? Well, not because the Ward 8 isn't a classic cocktail, and not because it isn't an old favorite of many. The problem was that some of us think the drink (put bluntly) sucks. Someone mumbled something about it being a "whiskey mai tai." Well! We ended up getting a green light from our Editor in Chief to run the story, so let's get started. Here's a recipe from Fleishmann's to begin with:

Maybe not a Mai Tai, but it does look a little fruity. It's kind of like a sour, maybe. Compare this with a recipe from Oscar Haimo:

A little more whiskey, a little less lemon and grenadine (that's about a teaspoon, there). A little more tart. He adds some soda. Here's another version from Old Crow:

Well, maybe now we are kind of getting into Carmen Miranda territory on this one. It's almost a fruit basket upset. This might be the drink to get your Cosmo-sipping gal pal introduced to whiskey. Maybe. Here's something along the same lines:

Obviously, no one completely agrees with the ingredients. Some include orange juice, others don't, and that makes a pretty big difference in the drink. As far as proportions go, it's all over the map. So, you can tart it up as much as you want -- and slop as much sugar as you want. One point where they're all agreed is that this a drink served on the rocks. Oh, and go ahead and garnish with your fruit basket.

Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: It's a Wonderful Life

Happy Christmas Eve! From this classic Christmas movie, enjoy this scene where George and Clarence visit Martini's bar. Truth be told, Clarence has some interesting ideas for his order. Instead of getting his order, he's merely derided. At least, in the end (spoiler alert!), he gets his wings. Merry Christmas!

Friday Happy Hour: Old Fashioned

Unlike last week's Happy Hour post on the Pink Lady, this week's post features a drink strictly for the gentlemen. Well, ladies are invited, but few accept. The name for the drink comes from the supposed "old fashioned" way of preparing a cocktail. Here's a recipe from Old Forester's 1950s-era "Favorite Recipes":

As we observe, this drink was created at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, now more than 100 years ago. It's a simple combination of some sugar, bitters, and whiskey (usually bourbon), with some soda added, if desired. By way of comparison, here's a recipe from Old Crow:

So, the amount of sugar and bitters -- and even the whiskey -- can vary, according to taste. Some recipes omit the soda and add water instead, as we see in the following recipe from Fleishmanns:

So, the precise combination of water, soda, bitters, sugar, and whiskey isn't precise. Basically, whiskey, with a little flavor from bitters and a little sweet, and some sparkle from the soda if you're in the mood. A man's drink. However, maybe you're picking up on the baroque garnishments that accompany this otherwise simple drink. There's practically a Carmen Miranda fruit basket hat in this drink! Lemons, oranges, pineapples, cherries -- no worry about getting your daily vitamins with this one.

Gee, we thought we were just having a whiskey. And they go and make it pretty. Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: for the advanced bartender

If you're like us, you read about the latest drinks that they're hyping at the trendy clubs and your head spins. How could the hobbyist bartender possibly keep up with it?

Well, like they say, practice makes perfect.

And, sometimes you have to start at the very beginning. Here's a drink to start with, and once you have mastered this, you can move on to more advanced drinks:

Okay, so ice and scotch. Got it!

Here's something a little different:


Actually, this one is a little easier to follow. The twist is optional!

But, what happens if your guests don't like scotch or gin? Try this:

Did you get that? Here's another variation on this theme:

You're probably getting the hang of it by now.

Here's a secret: you can make a drink like this out of any kind of liquor.

Now you're ready to graduate to the next step: follow these recipes with whatever liquor you prefer. Then add soda or tonic or water -- voila! Suddenly you have some drinks that everyone enjoys: gin and tonic, vodka tonic, scotch and soda, bourbon and branch. Or, add cola to get rum and coke!

Now you're pouring 'em! Go knock them dead!

Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: A Perfect Manhattan

What was the first drink you ever ordered?

If you said "a Manhattan" then we have something in common.

Once upon a time, each of the boroughs of New York City had a famous drink named after it (except Staten Island). The only one left that people still order is the Manhattan -- although if you scratch the surface a little, you'll uncover how popular the Bronx was not too long ago into the past.

Maybe the Manhattan remains popular -- although a little grandfatherly -- because of its classic ingredients: bourbon and sweet vermouth. It can also be made with rye. Both bourbon and rye are venerable American spirits. Bourbon is a whisky made from at least 51% corn, a native North American crop. Rye, as you might suspect, is whiskey based on rye. George Washington, the father of our country, was a rye distiller.

The Manhattan is thus associated by its ingredients with Americana, by its name with sophistication and urbanity, and by its taste with clubby masculinity.

A Manhattan is 3 parts bourbon (or rye), 1 part sweet vermouth (a/k/a "Italian" vermouth), and a dash of bitters. It's garnished with a maraschino cherry.

Now let's talk about a "Perfect" Manhattan. A friend of ours tells a funny story about this: a lady at a restaurant orders a Perfect Manhattan. The waitress hustles back to the bar and orders "a Manhattan, and it has to be really good!"

The name Perfect Manhattan is misleading because it isn't a commentary on its quality, although it is really good. In a Perfect Manhattan, the 1 part sweet vermouth is substituted with half sweet vermouth and half dry vermouth. That's it -- that's the big secret behind a Perfect Manhattan. Maybe it's called "Perfect" because it's not too sweet, and not too dry -- maybe it's called "Perfect" because it is.

Perfect Manhattan

3 oz bourbon or rye
.5 oz sweet vermouth
.5 oz dry vermouth
dash of bitters

Stir (or shake) and serve with a maraschino cherry.