Keet's Cocktails Blog

Bourbon / Daily Mix / Gin / Rum / Scotch / Seasonal Sunday / Vodka

Father’s Day Cocktails

Recommendations for Father’s Day cocktails (pictured above) are mostly well-known, tried & true. Two or three are less known. But, they’re all delicious, depending on dad’s preferences, and deliver enough punch to make it count. Categorized by spirit, they are:...

Commentary / Daily Mix

Keet’s Choice

As I go through the maze of cocktails which have been created either incidentally or methodically across the globe, it makes me think some people had too much time on their hands. The ingredients used are sometimes perfect, other times...

Commentary / Vodka

Smith’s Union Bar, December 6, 1941

Saturday Evening, December 6, 1941, 9:30 PM, Honolulu: Strolling into Honolulu’s Smith’s Union Bar, just a few miles away from the military docks and ports of Pearl Harbor, one is greeted by a calmer, more open-area bar than the other...

Aperol/Campari/Cynar / Daily Mix / Grenadine / Scotch / Whiskey (blended)

Cave Creek

The CAVE CREEK cocktail has a similar theme as the Boulevardier, but balances the Campari with grenadine, and substitutes rye and Scotch whisky for bourbon. Nate Dumas, at the Shanty (NY Distilling Co., Brooklyn, NY), originally mixed it to be...

Bitters / Daily Mix / Grapefruit Juice / Grenadine / Whiskey (blended)

Blinker

The BLINKER is one of the few cocktails that uses grapefruit juice. It’s a medium-strength alternative to having a Boulevardier if you have no Campari. It’s simple to make, easy to remember, and a very nice way to use rye...

Cointreau (orange liqueur) / Daily Mix / Seasonal Sunday / Whiskey (blended)

Irish Sidecar

IRISH SIDECAR: Instead of mixing your Sidecar cocktail with cognac or brandy, celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day or any day by substituting with Irish Whiskey. Irish whiskey is noted for being light and smooth because it’s triple distilled and is made...

Daily Mix / Rum / Vodka

Kahlua (and its possibilities)

Kahlua has so many useful drink variations that everyone should have a bottle in their household. Its arabica coffee and rum combination can be a perfect dessert substitute, a tasty compliment to a cigar, or an anytime coffee-flavored refresher. It’s...

Bourbon / Daily Mix / Seasonal Sunday / Shots on Saturday / Whiskey (blended)

New York Sour – Shots

I’ve always tested new mixes with shot-equivalent portions . Truthfully, I sometimes enjoy these “shots” more than drinking out of the correct glassware, maybe because I know it’s freshly shaken and I can go back to another fresh portion whenever....

Bourbon / Daily Mix / Throwback Thursday / Whiskey (blended)

Old-Fashioned

The OLD FASHIONED is still a favorite 200 years after being introduced. It’s one of the simplest to make, but might have been the first step into the world of mixed drinks.  It props up your favorite whiskey-rocks drink with...

Daily Mix / Gin / Orange Juice / Pernod / Rum / Throwback Thursday / Vermouth (sweet & dry)

Quarantine

The QUARANTINE is a nine-ingredient cocktail that I admit is worth the gathering of ingredients. Aside from separating egg-white in order to add into the drink, it really only takes ten minutes to prepare. And what better drink for our...