LIQUIDS

by Dale DeGroff

In every issue of Slammed and in his book The Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff writes about the traditions of bartending. One of those traditions is constant experimentation and refinement of original recipes, using new or tried-and-true, exotic or commonplace-but always fresh-ingredients. He shares some of the recipes that have brought him to be known as the King of Cocktails.

Photos by george erml

Millennium Cocktail
1 1/2 oz. Courvoisier Millennium Cognac
1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. Orange Curacao
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a twist of orange and dust with freshly grated nutmeg.

Singapore Sling
Raffles Hotel , Singapore circa 1935.
1 1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
1/4 oz. Cointreau
1/4 oz. Benedictine
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 dash of Angostura Bitters
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a highball glass. Garnish with orange slice and cherry. Top with soda.


Tanqueray Orange Breeze
1 1/2 oz. Tanqueray Classic Gin
1 oz. triple sec
3 oz. fresh orange juice
1 1/2 oz. cranberry juice

Build all the ingredients over ice in a highball glass and garnish with a squeeze of lime wedge.

Adelita
1 1/2 oz. Centenario Plata
1/4 oz. Velvet Falernum
3/4 oz. simple syrup
2 strawberries
1 lichee

1 slice of ginger the size of a quarter
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice

Mash the lichee, ginger, and strawberries in the bottom of a mixing glass with Velvet Falernum. Add tequila, syrup and lemon juice and shake with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Cat's Eye
1 1/2 oz. Centenario Reposado
1 oz. sweetened passion fruit purée
1 oz. fresh orange juice

Shake all ingredients well with ice and serve in a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.

Ruby Margarita
1 1/2 oz. Centenario Reposado
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. Pom Wonderful Pomegranate juice

Shake all ingredients well with ice ands strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a thin lime wheel.

California Gin & Tonic
1 1/2 oz. Tanqueray Classic Gin
3/4 oz. apricot brandy
(Marie Brizard Apry preferred)
4 oz. Tonic

Build all the ingredients over ice in a highball glass. Stir and garnish with a lemon wedge squeezed into the drink.

Pisco Punch
Pitcher drink, yields six servings
6 oz. Aba Pisco
8 oz. pineapple marinade (recipe below)
12 orange slices
12 marinated pineapple wedges
6 unmarinated pineapple wedges for garnish 18 oz. Champagne

Muddle 6 orange slices and the marinated pineapple wedges in the pitcher with the syrup from the marinade. Add Pisco and stir. Pour 2 to 3 oz. of the mixture into a goblet with ice and top with 3 oz. of Champagne . Garnish with orange slice and pineapple wedge.

Pineapple Marinade (for one liter)
Core and remove the rind from 1 ripe pineapple. Cut the pineapple into rings and then into wedges. Put 2 tablespoons of whole clove into a cheesecloth purse. Prepare 1 liter of simple syrup at 50 brix and marinate the pineapple and clove for a minimum of 24 hours.

Photos by george erml

Cosmopolitan
1 1/2 oz. Citron Vodka
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/4 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. cranberry juice

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel.