Category: Spirits

Dirty Martini

DIRTY MARTINI (vodka) – Olive lovers enjoy splashing olive juice or brine into the martini mix, making the vodka “dirty”. If you’re on calorie watch, it adds only about 25 calories more to a dry vodka martini’s 125 calories. The...

Upper Cut

The UPPER CUT mixes Cointreau, grapefruit and lemon juice into the Brazilian spirit, cachaca. In this rare cocktail occurrence, Cointreau takes the lead instead of just a supporting role, measuring twice that of cachaca. Tones of orange, lemon and grapefruit...

Paloma

The PALOMA is a popular tequila highball cocktail in Mexico. It’s less known outside its borders. Grapefruit soda is added to tequila and lime juice with a pinch of salt to create a delightfully refreshing drink. It’s simple, easy to...

Income Tax

The INCOME TAX cocktail and its twin, the Bronx cocktail, are both in Harry Craddock’s 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book. The only difference in the two cocktails is the Angostura Bitters added to the Income Tax. Otherwise, both concoctions require...

Amaretto Sour

The AMARETTO SOUR is as simple as Amaretto liqueur and lemon juice. But the best recipe is the one originated by Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, which props up Amaretto with strong bourbon and adds frothy light texture with egg white....

Emerald

It’s an Irish-whiskey Manhattan — the EMERALD. But it more closely resembles the Scottish Highlander in that it infuses the orange flavors from orange bitters and orange peel into an Irish whiskey instead of maraschino cherry into bourbon or rye....

Blue Train

The BLUE TRAIN is a tasty and exotic-looking gin cocktail served martini-style. Its blue color is from the small amount of blue curacao added to a combination of gin, orange liqueur and lemon juice. It’s a quick and simple mix...

Pomegranate Margarita

The POMEGRANATE MARGARITA adds the sweet-tart flavor of pomegranate juice to the usual suspects of a standard margarita and yields a delicious variation. One can also argue that the anti-oxidants in pomegranate juice is a healthy addition to the margarita....