Category Archives: Cocktail Recipes

  • Bonus Cocktail: The “Classic” Champagne Cocktail

    June 5, 2012

    3 Comments

    Classic Champagne Cocktail.

    This recipe is another example of how building one successful cocktail often helps you discover (or rediscover) many more great drinks along the way. In this case, we were playing with cocktails using French Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac) and found the May Daisy. But as we did our research (reading books, cruising the web and trying drinks- a tough gig) we also found a note on the Champagne cocktail that piqued our interest.

    Now almost all Champagne cocktail recipes include Champagne (or good sparking wine), sugar, Angostura bitters and a lemon twist. But it turns out that many recipes for the Champagne cocktail include anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4 of an ounce of brandy, usually Cognac. These recipes also note that while you can use “OK” Champagne, you need good brandy to make a successful drink. And since we had a good, but affordable, Napoleon Armagnac, we were in business.

    And while we already like a basic Champagne cocktail, this version with good brandy was something altogether different, and very much better. The aroma, with the combination of citrus from the twist, the tart yeasty note of the champagne, spice from the bitters and sweet floral / fruity notes of the Armagnac is outstanding. You will be happy simply smelling this drink. And magically, as the Champagne bubbles keep the drink “active”, the aroma persists from beginning to end. This cocktail is a reminder that adding a twist to a drink can be very, very important to the result. As for flavor, the Champagne still rules the drink, but with much more depth of flavor and just a touch of pleasant heat from the brandy. We love this drink, it is good anytime / anywhere.

    As for the ingredients, as we noted earlier, good brandy (VSOP or XO) is the way to go, but you can be more flexible on the Champagne or sparking wine. We use California sparkling wine in cocktails, our favorite brand is Gloria Ferrer, who makes great wine in the $15 – $20 per bottle range that is available in most liquor and grocery stores. Both the Brut and Brut Rose are worth seeking out.  But if you have a bottle that you like, and it’s not too expensive, use it. The amount of brandy in the recipes varied, but we found 1/2 ounce to supply good flavor without drowning out the other players or being to boozy. For the bitters we use Angostura, some recipes suggest adding orange bitters, but we found this added more sweetness than we needed (but by all means try it if you like orange bitters). For sugar, most recipes suggest soaking a sugar cube in 3 dashes of the bitters and adding it to the drink. This will add some sweetness and extra bubbles. But if you don’t have sugar cubes (most of us don’t anymore), 1/4 of an ounce of simple syrup can replace the sugar cube. Lastly, a big, fresh lemon twist is essential to this cocktail. Many photos show long thin twists in the drink, but you need the oil from the twist in the drink. We cut a half-dollar size piece of the lemon zest and give it a good working-over above the drink and then add it in. You will pick up the aroma of the drink immediately, and it will be good.

    Classic Champagne Cocktail and Ingredients.

    Continue reading →

  • Weekly Cocktail #14: The May Daisy

    June 1, 2012

    15 Comments

    May Daisy Cocktail.

    One of the promises we made when we started blogging was to keep ourselves challenged and use the opportunity to try new things. For Carolyn this means new baking techniques, for me it means new tools and ingredients for cooking and cocktails. As for cooking, we always enjoy trying new recipes and the garden is a constant source of inspiration and challenges. But for cocktails, we sometimes find it easy to get “comfortable”. We generally prefer gin, rum and tequila over whiskeys and darker spirits (although we do like our Applejack). And since there are so many cocktail recipes,  it is easy to stay in our comfort zone.

    But Carolyn’s recent success with a new baking technique in her Mocha Cake reminded us to try new things and we went right for a big challenge, Cognac-based (or really brandy-based) cocktails. Even more so, a summer cocktail with brandy. For those of you less familiar with brandy, it is simply liquor made with distilled wine rather than sugar or grain. The wine used as the base for brandy can be from any fruit, but is most famously from grapes. Good brandies are made all over the world, pretty much wherever grapes or fruit are grown. But the most famous grape brandies are Cognac and Armagnac from France, and the best bottles are considered some of the greatest spirits in the world.

    May Daisy and ingredients.

    Most of the best Cognacs and Armagnacs should be enjoyed on their own, but there are many varieties that are good for cocktails. In fact, Cognac was the spirit of choice for many early American cocktails, including the Mint Julep. But outbreaks of Phylloxera in France during the 1800’s limited Cognac supplies and Americans turned more to their native whiskey. But quality Cognac / brandy has good fruit, floral and spice flavors that make it a worthy addition to many drinks.

    Cognacs and Armagnacs are both distilled grape wine that’s aged in oak barrels. The main difference in production is their region / appelation and that Cognac is distilled twice, while Armagnac just once. The other difference is price, with Cognac usually 2x the price of Armagnac. While many will argue the relative merits of Cognac vs. Armagnac, the real variables in brandy are aging and blending. To keep it brief (and trust us the French can get into great, laborious detail on these matters) VS is the youngest designation with 2 years of aging, VSOP with 4 years and XO with at least 6 years, but often many more. “Napoleon” is another common designation usually meaning somewhere between VSOP and XO. Simple, huh?

    In any event, we can generalize a lot bit and say that most VS Cognac can be harsh, hot and not all that tasty. VSOP bottles are often very good on their own or in cocktails. And XO is usually best on its own.  When buying Cognac or Armagnac, or any brandy, the best path is to ask someone you trust at your Liquor store for a good bottle, give them the likely use and your price range. This is how we were steered to Armagnac, particularly for cocktails. At roughly 1/2 the price of Cognac, you can get a high quality bottle for less money. We got a great Napoleon Armagnac for about $30 and it is very tasty and smooth with good spice and herbal notes.

    Armagnac, good stuff and better price.

    Continue reading →