Because what the world needs now is more rye cocktails. Because what the world needs now is more Liberals. Because I don’t think a “Conservative Cocktail” would taste good. (I don’t stock vitriol in my bar, anyway.)

Liberal Cocktail

1-1/2 ounces rye whiskey.
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth.
1/4 ounce Amer Picon (Torani Amer).
1 dash orange bitters.
Lemon twist.

Combine with cracked ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Stir for no less than 30 seconds, then strain into a cocktail glass.

Express the oil from a lemon twist onto the surface of the drink and garnish with the twist.

This is a really good drink.

If you’re serious about cocktails, I once again highly recommend picking up a bottle or two of Torani Amer. It’s a wonderful product, and in its recent reformulation works well in cocktails that call for Amer Picon. It’s not exactly the same as the Picon of old was, but it’s close enough (and it it’s close enough for all those California Basques for their Picon Punch, it’s close enough for me).

Yesterday was Wes’ turn, and once again he came up with a classic that neither of us had ever gotten around to trying. This is a wonderful old chestnut, and back in the day it even called for its own glass, the Delmonico glass. They’re rare as dodo’s teeth nowadays, but a whiskey sour glass is pretty much the same thing. We didn’t have either, actually … a cocktail glass had to suffice.

The combination of the two main base spirits might sound unlikely at first, but it was really delightful. Make sure you get a nice lemon twist with lots of oil in the skin, and express that oil onto the surface of the drink when you twist — that flavor component is important.

Delmonico

1 ounce gin.
1/2 ounce brandy.
1/2 ounce dry vermouth.
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth.
1 dash orange bitters.

Combine with cracked ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Stir for no less than 30 seconds, then strain into a cocktail glass.

Express the oil from a lemon twist onto the surface of the drink and garnish with the twist.

As it’s April 15, I expect a lot of us might need one of these tonight. Or six. If it seems familiar, it is — it’s basically a Bronx Cocktail with bitters added.

Income Tax Cocktail

1-1/4 ounces gin.
3/4 ounce orange juice.
1/4 ounce dry vermouth.
1/4 ounce sweet vermouth.
1 dash Angostura bitters or other aromatic bitters.

Shake & strain, serve in a cocktail glass. No garnish.

Pour me another one …

My new issue of Saveur just arrived, the April ’04 one. In it you’ll find a nice little article about single barrel and high-end bourbons (with a tasting guide), plus another about the island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles, which lends its name to the orange-flavored liqueur also known as triple sec (Cointreau being perhaps the best, and certainly the most expensive, example). Curaçao suffers in reputation a bit from many brands being cloyingly oversweet, but now the island has its own line of liqueur. “Senior & Company is the only producer making curaçao from real Curaçao-grown [bitter] orange peels, and its version of the liqueur is now available in the United States for the first time.”

Dale DeGroff provided the editors with a recipe suggestion for showing off this liqueur, a mid-20th Century concoction named after the grandsire of the famous racehorse Seabiscuit. It’s tasty but a bit sweet for me; next time I’ll take the curaçao down to 3/4 ounce.

Man O’War

1-1/2 ounces Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon whiskey.
1 ounce orange curaçao.
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth.
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice.
1 orange slice.
1 lemon slice.

Place the orange and lemon slices in a cocktail shaker and add cracked ice to fill. Add the other ingredients and shake vigorously for at least 10 seconds, until very cold. Add a couple of ice cubes to a cocktail glass, and strain the drink into the glass. Garnish with a cherry and a fresh orange slice.

Senior & Co.’s line of curaçaos appear to come in a rainbow of colors, including orange, red, green and two shades of the ubiquitous blue. There’s also apparently a really nummy-looking chocolate curaçao as well. For more information, visit their distributor, Preiss Imports.

I first came across this one in Stanley Clisby Arthur’s Famous New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix ‘Em (1937); it’s a close relative of Walter Bergeron’s fabulous Vieux Carré cocktail, created at the Monteleone Hotel in the 1930s. We really liked it and added it to our in-house cocktail menu but for some strange reason forgot about it and haven’t been going out of our way to offer it to guests.

Fortunately, Robert Hess reminded me of this one in email, having had one himself recently and being struck by how damn good it is. It’s also barely two ounces, a quite civilized size and perfect for an apéritif, and will fit beautifully in your spiffy Riedel cocktail glasses.

Stanley says, “This is the special cocktail served at Restaurant de la Louisiane, one of the famous French restaurants of New Orleans, long the rendezvous of those who appreciate the best in Creole cuisine. La Louisiane cocktail is as out-of-the-ordinary as the many distinctive dishes that grace its menu.” That restaurant is, sadly, long gone, but fortunately we can still quaff its signature drink.

Cocktail à la Louisiane

3/4 ounce rye whiskey.
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth.
3/4 ounce Bénédictine.
3 dashes Herbsaint, pastis or absinthe.
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters.

Mix in barglass with lumps of ice. Strain into a cocktail glass
in which has been placed a maraschino cherry. Savor.

By the way, those Riedel “Martini” glasses are the most perfect, elegant cocktail glasses I’ve ever had. You can usually find them for arond $11 each if you look hard enough, and they’re just superb — perfect weight and balance, thin but strong, no lip and they’re small. Three-ounce cocktails, max. That way you can finish your cocktail while it’s still ice-cold and, as Harry Craddock said, “while it’s still laughing at you.” (Thanks, Robert!)