The Mint Julep

This Cooling Cocktail is Traditional for Kentucky Derby Day

The Kentucky Derby is among the most famous horse races in the US (and part of the Triple Crown Series that also includes the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes).  Traditionally held the first Saturday in May, it’s the first big US race of the season.  Although the horses run for only a few minutes (the course measures 1¼ miles), most of those who attend make an all-day party of the event. 

While all sorts of beverages typically are on offer, the Mint Julep is “the” drink at the Kentucky Derby.  This ice-cold cocktail traditionally is served in a silver cup — which the imbiber holds by the bottom and top edges in order not to disturb the frosty coating of condensation that develops on the outside.  I’ve never felt the need to invest in silver cups just to serve a Mint Julep, so I generally use an Old-Fashioned (rocks) glass instead.  A Collins (tall) glass also works well.

Even if you aren’t traveling to Churchill Downs this weekend to attend the Kentucky Derby, you can still relax and enjoy this cool and refreshing drink.  In the northern hemisphere, warm weather has finally arrived, so we can celebrate it with this cooler.  In the southern hemisphere, you may be enjoying the last warm days before winter arrives, so what better way to say goodbye to summer than with this refreshing drink? 

And you don’t need a silver cup.  Really.

The Old-Fashioned Cocktail

What to Drink if You're a Whiskey Lover

The Old-Fashioned (often spelled without the hyphen) is one of the oldest cocktails around. Indeed, it’s a pretty good example of how the original cocktails were made way back in the early 1800s (more about that later). In its day, it was the king of cocktails.

Today? Not many people drink it, or have even tasted it. In fact, the only thing many people know about it is that it’s the elixir of choice of Don Draper, of Mad Men fame.

Too bad. If you crave whiskey, no other mixed drink better showcases the deep, rich flavor of good old American bourbon or rye. And few drinks are easier to make: You need only whiskey, bitters, and sugar.

With the weather turning chilly, now is the perfect time to enjoy this bracing piece of Americana. So why not try the drink that your great-great-great-great-great grandfather used to enjoy? Nothing is more old fashioned than that.

Mojito Cocktail

Fresh Mint and Lime Add Sparkle to This Tall Cuban Cooler

The Mojito is one of the trendiest drinks of the past decade.  And no wonder.  This refreshing cocktail packs a lot of flavor and pleasure into each tall, cool glass. 

The Mojito is a volume drink that takes a while to consume.  And sparkling water helps dilute the alcohol quotient.  So it makes an excellent thirst quencher for a long, hot summer afternoon.  You can have two — and still keep your wits about you.

It’s also exceptionally easy to make. 

Been a while since you’ve had one?  Well, now you know what you’re drinking this weekend!

What To Drink on Income Tax Day?

Why, The Income Tax Cocktail, Of Course! 

Tax day falls on Tuesday, April 17th this year. We get a couple extra days to file because the 15th is a Sunday and the 16th is Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts and Maine. (We’re catching a break, because the IRS doesn’t always grant the Patriot’s Day extension; Wikipedia has an explanation).

So why am I discussing this? Mainly as a shameless way of promoting one of my all-time most popular posts, The Income Tax Cocktail. This post was originally published about a year ago, at a time when readership of Kitchen Riffs was much less than it is today. I’m also pleased to announce that gojee is featuring the Income Tax Cocktail as one of their Gojee Drinks Top 3 this weekend.

So if you missed it last year, now’s a great time to learn about this classic cocktail. And if you read the post when it first appeared (or subsequently found it), now is the perfect time to revisit it. The Income Tax Cocktail is a great drink for celebrating — or consoling yourself  — when your taxes are finally finished.

I’ll be back to my regular programming with a new post this Sunday, about a way to use that leftover Easter ham bone.

Read about the Income Tax Cocktail here.

Negroni Cocktail

The Perfect Springtime Apéritif

Looking for a nice, perky drink to serve before your Easter dinner?  Something with a flavor that says zip, but without over-the-top alcoholic content?  And most of all, something that would be refreshing during the unseasonably warm (heck, hot) weather we’ve been experiencing in much of the US this spring?

Then I’d suggest a Negroni.
 
Never had one?  Or even heard of it?  Well, prepare your taste buds for a sunburst of refreshing flavor.

Whiskey Sour

This Lemony Cocktail Once Was America’s Favorite

For over 100 years, the Whiskey Sour was the most popular cocktail in the United States.  It’s easy to understand why.  The drink has great flavor, a lovely bouquet, and looks mighty attractive.

Getting thirsty?  Let’s make one!

Dry Martini Cocktail

Splash an Olive into this Classic Concoction — and Enjoy

Everybody knows the Martini, right?  Well, sort of.

Everybody knows the name, but not everybody has sipped the classic version recently – if ever. 

Say “Martini” today, and your listener will probably imagine one of those “something-tinis” that just happen to be served in a martini glass.  You know what I mean — drinks whose predominant flavor is apple or raspberry or chocolate or expresso.  Even when people want to drink the “real” thing, they may order a vodka Martini.

All those drinks may be good in their own way.  But they aren’t the Martini.

Pegu Club Cocktail

A Smooth-Tasting Drink from Exotic Rangoon

Back in the days when the sun never set on the British Empire, its soldiers and civil servants could face any crisis with equanimity as long as they had a gentlemen’s club to retreat to at day’s end — and something to drink therein. That “something” usually contained gin.

In Rangoon, Burma — today known as Yangon, Myanmar, but once a tough corner of the Empire — the  Pegu Club Cocktail was the house drink of The Pegu Club, a meeting place for British military officers and civilian administrators (visitors welcome). The club got its name from the Pegu (Bago) river, which flows through the city.

This is the perfect drink for late summer/early autumn. We’ve still got our share of hot days ahead of us, so something citrusy-cool appeals. But Labor Day has come and gone, and we know the chill temperatures will soon start to descend. We’ll want a beverage that stiffens our spines against cold weather ahead.

The Pegu Club delivers. It’s a drink with authority, but its hint-of-grapefruit tang is mighty soothing.

And you won’t have to go to Rangoon to sample it.

Classic Daiquiri Cocktail

JFK and Hemingway Didn’t Do Girly Drinks

When you say “daiquiri,” most people think of a frozen blender drink — frequently strawberry-flavored, and with the reputation of being a “girly” cocktail.  Hence, a drink that real men eschew (if we’re allowed to say “eschew” and “real men” in the same sentence).

Yet the daiquiri was a favorite drink of both President John F. Kennedy and writer Ernest Hemingway.  Nobody would have dared question the macho credentials of either man (try it with Hemingway, and he’d probably have dragged you into the boxing ring).

Those guys were drinking the classic daiquiri, which is nothing like the frou-frou concoction commonly served today.

Pimm’s Cup – The Perfect Summer Cocktail

The Best Drink You’ve Probably Never Had

Most people in the United States have never had a Pimm’s Cup.  Many have never heard of it.

But Pimm’s Cup is very popular as a summer drink in England (along with champagne, it’s the official drink of Wimbledon).  It has a relatively low alcohol content, so you can enjoy a couple of tall cool ones at a picnic or sitting out on your patio — and still remain clear-headed.

Best yet, it’s a snap to mix.  With Memorial Day a couple of weekends away, you’ve got plenty of time to lay in a supply of Pimm’s and learn how to make this great-tasting drink.

The Income Tax Cocktail

A Classic Cocktail as April 15 Approaches

“April is the cruellest month” — that’s what poet T. S. Eliot wrote.  Anyone who’s struggling with a tax return will be tempted to agree.

It’s a shame that a month like April — when the weather is finally beginning to turn pleasant — finds so many of us indoors working on taxes.  Cruel indeed.

So when you’re finally finished with this yearly burden, why not celebrate (or console yourself) with a cocktail?  And what could be more appropriate than the Income Tax?

The Sazerac Cocktail

The Mardi Gras Drink

Next week is Mardi Gras (or Carnival) and people around the world will celebrate.

There are several popular customs associated with Mardi Gras — a/k/a Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. One tradition involves emptying the larder of fats and rich foods by gorging on them in preparation for the lenten fast (hence “Fat Tuesday,” the literal English translation of Mardi Gras). When I was growing up, pancakes were traditional on Shrove Tuesday. Some cultures favor doughnuts.

Parades and festivals are another widespread tradition, often featuring people dressed in costume (or sometimes undressed). In the United States, my own St. Louis celebrates Mardi Gras (Naughty Gras) with particular vigor and enthusiasm. But no city the US is as synonymous with Mardi Gras as New Orleans. They do Mardi Gras proud.

Many of us will imbibe a few alcoholic beverages while enjoying the Mardi Gras festivities. And what could be better to sip than a Sazerac, the official drink of New Orleans?

Let's mix one!

Simple Syrup

Sugar has a split personality.

On the up side, it tastes good — really good.  A small amount can enhance and highlight flavors in many foods, making them sparkle.  It can also mute the harshness in foods that are too acidic (some tomato sauces, for example).  And in baking it has a myriad of uses, including tenderizing (it often replaces fat in “low fat” foods for just this reason).

On the down side, sugar’s detriments are only too well understood.  It’s highly caloric and of minimal nutritional value.  Some think it’s addictive.  And — oh, heck, if you aren’t already mentally listing a dozen “problems” with sugar, you aren’t half trying.

So should we embrace sugar for its positives or banish it for its negatives?

Well, the Kitchen Riffs household believes in moderation.  We don’t always practice that philosophy, mind you, but we believe in it.  So we use sugar, at least sometimes.  When it comes to sweetening cold drinks — especially lemonade or the stray cocktail — we like to use Simple Syrup, which is basically just sugar and water.

Simply Syrup has great natural flavor and it dissolves instantly in a drink.  It’s also one of the easiest recipes around.  I’m sure there will be no divided opinions on that issue.

The Corpse Reviver

Hangover Cure or Cocktail?

New Year’s Eve is an occasion when people may have a little tipple.  Some tipple a lot.  And an unfortunate few tipple way too much.

New Year’s Day?  That’s when some of those poor over-tippled souls desperately search for a remedy to soothe their aching beings.

Some swear by “hair of the dog” remedies.  The idea is that drinking more booze can cancel out a hangover — or at least dull its pain.  There is a longstanding tradition of such potions.  “The cocktail canon is lousy with bracers, glom-lifters, eye-openers and corpse-revivers” wrote Eric Felten in his December 27, 2008 Wall Street Journal column, “How’s Your Drink?” (subscription may be required to access link). He’s referring to entire classes of mixed drinks (most dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) that were concocted solely to relieve overindulgence.

The “corpse-reviver” was one such class, so named because it could — figuratively speaking — bring a drinker back from the “dead.” Today the most commonly known example from that school is the Corpse Reviver #2, a drink that essentially was forgotten after Prohibition, but has become popular again as interest in classic cocktails has exploded.