Tonight's Cocktail: The Liberal

I forgot to get raspberries so not doing the syrup thing tonight. Instead, I am enjoying the bottle of Torani Amer that arrived in the mail today with another old classic.

Amer Picon is a bittersweet French apertif with a unique orange flavor. It is also made with quinine,cinchona, and genetian. Despite being included in a good deal of classic cocktail recipes, it has been unavailable outside of Europe for quite some time. There are a few suitable substitutes, Torani Amer being one. Although just as obscure, it is made in the US and, with a bit of work, not that difficult to secure.

Ted Haigh (aka "Doctor Cocktail"), author of the must-have "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails", prefers Torani Amer to Amer Picon. So there you have it.

UPDATE MAY 2014: NO WAY JOSE. I finally have Amer Picon and Torani Amer doesn't even come close. I would recommend Amaro Cio Ciaro or Bittermans Amer Nouvelle as a substitute instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 1/4 oz Amer Picon (or substitute)
• 2 dashes orange bitters

Add all ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with lemon twist. 
This is SUPER tasty.

(excuse the torn-up kitchen in the background)

A word about syrups.

I am currently reading "Imbibe!" by David Wondrich and I keep coming across an ingredient that was a bar staple in pre-Prohibition days, Raspberry Syrup. It is used in numerous cocktails as a sweetener, and, much like simple syrup seems easy enough to make. Sugar, water, raspberries. I'm guessing Grenadine has become the across-the-board bar syrup, and the flavored syrups for coffee would probably be ok. I began searching and there are cocktail-geared syrups out there (Royal Rose looks nice), but in the meantime, I'm going to make a batch and try out some of these recipes.
Stay tuned...

Drink Of The Month: Sidecar

As the story goes, The Sidecar was the result of an American Army captain living in Paris during the first world war who was driven to the same bistro every night in a motorcycle sidecar. "On those wintery Paris nights, having been chilled to the bone by his ride in the sidecar, the captain found nothing more warming and rejuvenating than the combination of Cognac Brandy, Cointreau, and lemon juice mixed in equal parts."
All but forgotten for decades, this classic cocktail has been enjoying a regained popularity for a few years now. The first recipes appear in 1922, and although the measurements vary slightly, this one is my favorite.
Note: Do not cut corners on this drink. Using cheap brandy and sour mix will not give you a very nice result, which is surely why this drink fell out of favor in the dark ages of the 70s 80s and 90s.

Some people enjoy this cocktail with a sugared rim. I am not one of those people.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz VS or VSOP Cognac
• 1 oz Cointreau (or a good Triple Sec- I use Luxardo Triplum)
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake with ice and serve up. Classic!