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.

An original from the fertile mind of Dr. Cocktail, who showed me this recipe over Sazeracs at Arnaud’s Bar on Iberville Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Francis the Mule

2 ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce orgeat syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce cold strong coffee
2 dashes orange bitters

Shake with cracked ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The guys who are participating in CocktailDB so far have shared some nice looking recipes. One of them, who declared that he would never use that artifical “toxic” green apple Pucker schnapps to make the apple martinis his customers requested, sought and found a superior product. I’d been using Calvados, a touch of Stoli and apple juice for my versions so far, but I’d seen a product at The Wine House that I’d been curious about: Berentzen Apfel Korn Schnapps, a German product made from fresh apples. I haven’t tried it yet, but these guys said it’s quite good, and offered the following recipes:

Apple Martini

1-1/2 ounces vodka.
3/4 ounce Berentzen apple schanpps.
Splash of Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider.

Add the first two ingredients with ice to a cocktail shaker; shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with a splash of Martinelli’s, and garnish with a fresh apple slice.

Here’s another nice looking one that I’ll try tonight, but I might have to add at least a dash of bitters to it if it’s going to have “Manhattan” in the name:

Big Apple Manhattan
(Created by Dale DeGroff and Audrey Saunders)

2 ounces Maker’s Mark Bourbon.
1/2 ounce Berentzen Apple Schnapps.
Slice of fresh apple.

Stir well with ice; strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the slice of apple. Don’t omit the apple slice; it’s really important. (Thanks to Martin Doudoroff for the recipe.)

UPDATE: Because I can’t help messing with things … either of these would be excellent with a dash of Fee’s Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters, too.

A tip from Wes and a little dig into a heretofore unnoticed DrinkBoy link revealed a “new” (to me, but undoubtedly old) cocktail that has been a favorite of mine for the last couple of weeks …

The Fancy-Free

2 ounces Bourbon whisky
1/2 ounce Maraschino liqueur (I use Luxardo)
1 – 2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 – 2 dashes orange bitters

Shake with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry. Yum.

Wes came across another old cocktail recipe recently, gave it a shake, and now he’s quite fond of it. Since neither of us like vermouth, we’ve reduced the amount the original recipe calls for (and at half of that, it gives the drink just enough tang without having a too-assertive vermouth flavor), but vermouth lovers may feel free to follow the original recipe. This drink was named after the Algonquin Hotel in New York.

Algonquin

2 ounces rye whiskey
1 ounce dry vermouth
1 ounce unsweetened pineapple juice

Same drill as above … shake, strain, chilled, cherry. Sip. Aaaah.

(Okay … after two drinks, now I’m ready for all this election crap to follow.)