Classic Cocktail Recipes

The Smith and Kearns  tastes like a boozy chocolate egg cream which makes it perfect for a dessert or late night cocktail.  You can use Kahlua, more coffee taste, or Cream de Cacao, more chocolate taste, your preference, both make for a smooth silky cocktail.
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The Sloe Gin Fizz is an off shoot of a series of drinks called Fizzes: Gin Fizz, Silver Fizz — addition of egg white, Golden Fizz — addition of egg yolk, Royal Fizz — addition of whole egg, Diamond Fizz — sparkling wine instead of carbonated water. More commonly known as a French 75, Green Fizz — addition of a dash of green crème de menthe. These drinks originated in New Orleans in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s and became very popular in the 1940’s. While the Sloe Gin Fizz is very sweet it does pack a kick. 
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Singapore Sling is a South-East Asian cocktail that was invented in the early 1900’s by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel Singapore. Originally made with Gin, Cherry Heering, Bénédictine, and fresh pineapple juice, primarily from regional pineapples which have a different flavor and when shaken create a foamy top on the drink. While you don’t need fresh pineapple juice using 100% juice that is not canned gives this drink a much better taste. If you want to go all out the flavor of fresh pineapple is easy to make if you have a juicer. Most readily available pineapples are from Dole from Hawaii and are still very good but if you are a purist you can look for Sarawak pineapples which may be available at specialty produce houses or grocery stores like Fresh Market or Whole Foods.
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There are few things that say summer and beaches like Margaritas. Margaritas have morphed much like “martinis” into a collection of cocktails that are based on the basic Margarita.  Since …
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The Ritz Hotel in Paris claims origin of the Side Car. The first recipes for the Sidecar appear in 1922, in Harry MacElhone’s Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails and Robert Vermeire’s Cocktails and How to Mix Them. It is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948).
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Many drinks are an offshoot of the Gin and Vodka drinks out of the 20’s and 30’s that are part of the Cap Codder family which is Vodka and Cranberry. There are many variations on this drink like the Bay Breeze, Sea Breeze, (Vodka, Grapefruit and Cranberry), Greyhound… Any way you look at it these drinks remind you of summer by the sea! 
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The Screwdriver reportedly got its name because American petroleum engineers in Saudi Arabia secretly added vodka to small cans of orange juice and stirred the mixture with their screwdrivers in the late 40’s. It gained prominent in the 50’s and has remained a popular drink since. It is usually one of the first drinks many people try since all you can really taste is the orange juice. It is an easy addition to your party list with only 2 ingredients, Vodka and OJ. 
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In 1838, Antoine Amedie Peychaud, owner of a New Orleans apothecary, treated his friends to brandy toddies of his own recipe, including his “Peychaud’s Bitters,” made from a secret family recipe. The toddies were made using a double-ended egg cup as a measuring cup or jigger, then known as a “coquetier” (pronounced “ko-k-tay”), from which the word “cocktail” was derived. Thus, the world’s first cocktail was born!
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The Salty Dog is the vodka version of the Greyhound. Most of these drinks are a riff on the drinks of the 1930’s when fruit juices were used to mask the taste of sub-par alcohol due to prohibition. A great summer drink with a salted rim and tang of grapefruit juice it is a drink for those of you who prefer salty over sweet.
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While no one seems to know when the Rusty Nail came across the bar I would suspect that it was in the late 30’s early 40’s. It would have been difficult to get Drambuie during prohibition. There is a brief history on the Drambuie  http://drambuie.com/us/#origins”  Made from honey and secret blends http://drambuie.com/us/#secret-recipe the Rusty Nail is equal parts Scotch and Drambuie. A smooth drink that gets better as the Scotch gets better, we tried Johnny Walker Red but Cutty Sark would also be a good starting point.
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