Today’s weigh-in came in at 176 (whoo, 22 pounds down!); I seem to have settled in comfortably to the two-pounds-per-week safe weight loss rate. Tonight my points reset, and I want a drink when I get home. I want a nice, big, pungent, spicy rye, but I do want it tempered with a little bit of sweetness.

As ever, CocktailDB came to my rescue with an interesting idea. I like cocktails with a good apricot brandy (I use Marie Brizard Apry), and instead of curaçao I’ll use Cointreau, as it’s somewhat drier. It tasted good in my head when I did a mental mix; tonight we’ll see how it really tastes.

Evans Cocktail

2 ounces rye whiskey.
1/4 ounce apricot brandy.
1/4 ounce orange curaçao or Cointreau.

Stir and strain, garnish with a stemless cherry.

This drink is good, but it cries out for a a dash of bitters of some kind. Regans’ orange did the trick for me.

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!)

In the course of our researches for the origins of the Mother-in-Law Cocktail, Dr. Cocktail reminded me of this classic and how it’s part of the Mother-in-Law’s extended family. It’s also been one of my favorite cocktails ever since.

Brooklyn Cocktail
1-1/2 oz rye or Bourbon
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz Amer Picon (Torani Amer or Amer Boudreau)
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur

Stir in mixing glass with ice & strain into a cocktail glass.

I prefer this one with rye, of course.

Hello kids! It’s time for “Playing with CocktailDB“.

Doc and Martin and been doing an amazing job with CocktailDB, and the rewritten and revamped version of what’s up is only a hint as to what it’ll finally become. I decided to do a little playing, entering an ingredient and seeing what cocktails come up from the database.

I entered “Cherry Heering”, the lovely Danish cherry liqueur that seems to be currently unavailable in the States due to lack of a distributor (UPDATE: That was cleared up by the end of ’03). I was lucky enough to find a dusty old bottle at Dorignac’s in Metairie and snapped it up. It’s not just for before- or after-dinner sipping, or for Singapore Slings and pousse cafés … I punched it in, 27 recipes came up, and this one sounded the most interesting. I have no idea what it’ll taste like, but it looks intriguing, so I’ll try it tonight and let you know tomorrow if it’s any good (try it yourself first, if you’re adventurous and if you’ve got a bottle of Heering in the back of your bar). Besides, what the world needs now is more rye cocktails.

If you don’t have Heering, I suppose a “cherry-flavored brandy” or other sweet cherry liqueur could be substituted, but not a clear eau-de-vie. Hmm … but kirschwasser would make this cocktail quite bone-dry. Would it be too dry? (Yes, it would. Use Heering, it’s easy to find now.)

The High Hat Cocktail

1-1/2 ounces rye whiskey. (6/10)
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice. (2/10)
1/2 ounce Cherry Heering. (2/10)

Shake in iced cocktail shaker and strain.
Garnish with a cherry.

Wes found this one on Robert’s site yesterday — I don’t know how I missed it — and decided that “what the world needs now is more rye cocktails.” Amen. This drink was fabulous.

The Old Pal

1 ounce rye whiskey.
3/4 ounce dry vermouth.
3/4 ounce Campari.

Stir the ingredients with cracked ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a curly twist of lemon.

Of course, I was not told what drink he’d be making, and I was not allowed to watch as he mixed. As we often do when we make new-to-us drinks, I had to guess what was in it. I successfully guessed the Campari (which was easy) and the rye, and cheated ’cause I saw him take the dry vermouth out of the fridge.

Unfortunately, as I was tasting and smelling the drink, I got my nose a little too close to the surface of the drink and ended up inadvertently snorting some of it. I do not recommend this technique for evaluating a cocktail.