Sometimes nature is the best, most consistent architect of all. Consider the rose: its perfect multilayered construction is as unique and flawless as the swirl of the Guggenheim Museum on New York’s Fifth Avenue. And as it so happens, Mother Nature is the inspiration behind the creation of this complex sipper, named for the pink-petaled rose. The combination of amber-hued brandy, yellowish dry vermouth, orange juice, vibrant grenadine, and white crème de menthe mix up a perfect blush of a cocktail, with a dribbled float of rich ruby port on top to add extra color saturation to this sippable eye candy.
THE NOTES
Place 6 or 7 square ice cubes into a cocktail shaker. Combine ¾ fluid ounce (22ml) of brandy, ¾ fluid ounce (22ml) of dry vermouth, and ¾ fluid ounce (22ml) of fresh orange juice in the shaker with 1 teaspoon (5ml) of grenadine and 1 teaspoon (5ml) of white crème de menthe. Shake in a vertical motion for 30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. Using a wide-mouthed spoon or small pitcher, slowly float ½ fluid ounce (15ml) of ruby port on top. Garnish with a rose petal.
Originally called the Milan-Torino at Gaspare Campari’s Turin-based bar, so many post-Prohibition-era American tourists appeared to order it by the bucketful, it became known as the Americano.
THE NOTES
Place 5 or 6 square ice cubes into a highball glass. Pour in 1½ fluid ounces (45ml) of Campari and 1½ fluid ounces (45ml) of sweet vermouth, allowing the two to mingle with the ice for a moment. Fill with 3 fluid ounces (90ml) of soda water and stir well with a long bar spoon, until all of the ingredients are fully mixed. Using a channel knife or standard vegetable peeler, gently slice only the skin (avoiding the bitter pith) of an orange above the drink and drop the peel into the glass.
The beauty of this pre-Prohibition-era drink lies not in its delightfully romantic name, nor the notion that it is a perfect after-dinner indulgence if you have a sweet tooth—it’s in the layering.
THE NOTES
Pour ¾ fluid ounce (22ml) of heavy cream into a bowl and whip until frothy (but not until the cream becomes stiff). With the stem in your hand, flip over a teaspoon so that the rounded bottom is now pointing up. Hold the spoon just below the rim against the inside of a port glass and slowly pour ¾ fluid ounce (22ml) of dark crème de cacao (or your favorite chocolate liqueur) into the glass. Repeat this same technique with ¾ fluid ounce (22ml) of brandy and then the cream, making sure you just drizzle the last layer in order to achieve the trilayering needed for the final appearance. Pierce a brandied cherry with a long toothpick and place it so that each end is on one side of the glass, balanced over the cocktail.
Can a cocktail take flight? The resurgence in wild popularity of this pre-Prohibition-era tipple certainly makes a good case for it. Find any cool cocktail bar that doesn’t have this sipper on its list, and I can only surmise that they ran out of gin. Why did it fall from grace for so many dark decades? Blame the difficulty of bartenders in getting their hands on once-available ingredients like crème de violette and maraschino liqueur, the keys to its pretty hue and subtle undertones of sweetness. Bright, refreshing, and a little bit complex, this classic cocktail makes a great impression on houseguests who were expecting no more titillation than mere tonic.
THE NOTES
Drop a brandied cherry into the bottom of a cocktail glass. Set aside. Place 6 or 7 square ice cubes into a cocktail shaker. Pour in 2 fluid ounces (60ml) of gin, coating the ice. Add ¾ fluid ounce (22ml) of maraschino liqueur, ½ fluid ounce (15ml) of crème de violette, and ½ fluid ounce (15ml) of fresh lemon juice. Shake in a vertical motion for 30 seconds. Strain into the cocktail glass.
This drink was appropriately invented in the floating city of Venice at Harry’s Bar by Giuseppe Cipriani, and while finding a vacant stool at Harry’s to enjoy this Italian original may prove far more difficult than sipping such an easygoing classic, as long as you can open a bottle of sparkling wine, it is perhaps the simplest of cocktails to prepare at home.
THE NOTES
Pour 2 fluid ounces (60ml) of peach purée into a champagne flute. Slowly pour in 3 fluid ounces (90ml) of prosecco, allowing the two ingredients to mix. Use a long bar spoon to carefully stir any purée that appears trapped at the bottom of the glass.
Bijou means “jewel” in French, and the interesting addition of green Chartreuse in this drink—combined with sweet red vermouth—creates a gem of an amber-hued sipper.
THE NOTES
Drop a brandied cherry into the bottom of a coupe glass. Set aside. Place 6 or 7 square ice cubes into a cocktail shaker. Pour in 1 fluid ounce (30ml) of gin, coating the ice. Add 1 fluid ounce (30ml) of green Chartreuse and 1 fluid ounce (30ml) of sweet vermouth. Shake in a vertical motion for 30 seconds. Strain into the coupe glass.
Often good structure requires being open-minded—the ability to mingle myriad ideas, taking the best parts of them and bringing them into one glorious result. That’s the Blackthorn. With the absinthe wash of a Sazerac, the inarguably perfect ingredients of a Manhattan (with sweet vermouth swapped for dry), plus the switch of soft and pleasing Irish whiskey for rye, this tipple makes for the sophisticated love child of all three. You may see some Blackthorn recipes that are entirely different from this, using sloe gin as the main ingredient, but I love the genius construction of this one.
THE NOTES
Pour 2 dashes of absinthe into a cocktail glass. Gently tip the glass and rotate, allowing the absinthe to coat the inside. Set aside. Place 6 or 7 square ice cubes into a cocktail shaker. Pour in 1½ fluid ounces (45ml) of Irish whiskey, coating the ice. Add 1 fluid ounce (30ml) of dry vermouth and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters. Using a long bar spoon, quickly stir the cocktail’s ingredients for 30 seconds. Strain slowly into the cocktail glass. Using a channel knife or standard vegetable peeler, gently slice only the skin (avoiding the bitter pith) of a lemon above the drink and drop the peel into the glass.
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