#boozelander

Well it’s been a long minute! Here’s a list of the character cocktails I have posted so far, with a link to the recipe:

MistressPandora’s Writer’s Block Breaker Martini (okay I’m not actually a character; vodka)

Tom Byrd (Tom Collins, gin)

Benedicta Grey (sangria, red wine/brandy)

Minnie Grey (el guapo, tequila)

Brian Randall (gender-swapped Brianna; peanut butter cup, whiskey)

Lord John (bourbon and beer cocktail, bourbon/lager)

Stephan von Namtzen (St Stephen’s Sour, brandy)

Hal Grey (sazerac, rye whiskey)

Jamie Roy (rob roy, Scotch whisky)

Handsome Harry Quarry (billionaire, bourbon)

La Dame Blanche (white lady, gin)

Fergus Fraser (blackberry malt riff, bourbon + St Germain)

Brianna MacKenzie (applejack mule)

Next up! 

I’m taking requests!

I'm celebrating my two-year fandomversary with a cocktail tribute to Claire! This is a riff on a White Lady, but I substituted the triple sec for Cointreau (ooh fancy) and omitted the egg white.

I'm going to give you the real measurements because when I made this one I thought I was using my small jigger.

...I was not.

(And no, that's not actually a full sized wine glass in the pic below, I'm not on an accidental one-drink bender 😂)

Ingredients:

2 oz gin (I like Bombay Sapphire for the strong herbal notes)

.75 oz Cointreau (you can substitute this for triple sec)

.5 oz simple syrup (or to taste)

.5 oz fresh lemon juice, strained

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Be gentle! You just want to mix and chill here, don't go nuts. Strain into a stemmed glass and garnish with a twist of lemon, expressing the oils over the cocktail for an extra burst of citrus.

Cheers!

The prisoners at Ardsmuir nicknamed Harry Quarry “Handsome Harry” while he was governor of the prison. This cocktail is about as over-the-top as I can handle without it being overly complicated. It’s based on a billionaire cocktail, with a little modification.

Also, he’s strong, gents.

And pink!

Ingredients:

2oz bourbon whiskey (I used Elijah Craig)

.25 oz absinthe (kudos to you if you have the “real” stuff)

1 oz lemon juice

.5 oz grenadine syrup

.5 oz brandy

Add all ingredients except for the brandy into a cocktail shaker with ice (pro tip: put your syrups in first so you can rinse your jigger with your other ingredients) and give it good shake for about 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass with a stem (I have brandy glasses, but a coupe or martini glass would work great). Float the brandy on top. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Cheers!

@levisqueaks requested a cocktail for his beloved Fergus, so this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

2 oz bourbon (I used Larceny today, but rye is also good for this)

.5 oz St Germain elderflower liquour

.75 oz lime juice (fresh squeezed does make a difference)

.75 oz simple syrup*

4 fresh blackberries (plus 2 for garnish)

Club soda, seltzer, or tonic to top

*I'm out of simple syrup and too lazy to make it myself, so I used half an ounce of agave syrup which also worked very well.

Muddle 4 blackberries in an empty cocktail shaker, then add remaining liquid ingredients (except for the club soda), plus ice. Shake hard, you need to finish busting up the berries. Double strain into a collins glass (or a little larger if you want it lighter and fizzier) with fresh ice. Top with the fizz of your choice and gently mix with a spoon. Garnish with a twist of lemon and two more blackberries.

Enjoy responsibly and don't do crimes maybe.

Lord John’s 292nd birthday is Monday 14 June 2021, and to celebrate, I’ve found a surprisingly delicious cocktail inspired by Lord John “Of Course I’m Drinking Beer for Breakfast” Grey.

The original recipe I’ve used is here (this recipe makes TWO cocktails, I’m scaling to a... kinda strong... single) but I’ll share it without my life’s story. 😉

Ingredients

1 oz (plus a splash, because it’s currently Sunday in Virginia) of Kentucky bourbon (I used that Elijah Craig you see in the pic below)

0.25 oz (up to a half ounce if you like a little zing) fresh lemon juice

A dash of orange bitters

.5-.75 teaspoon (about 1 mL) honey

1 bottle of lager (I used Devil’s Backbone Vienna Lager - one of my favorite beers and brewed in Lexington, VA, a stone’s throw from Lord John’s home in Lynchburg)

Combine all ingredients except for the beer into a cocktail shaker of ice and shake until the honey dissolves (about 45 seconds). Strain into a glass big enough to hold a bottle of beer, top with beer, and garnish with a lemon wheel.

Cheers! 

Unless you’re a purist (that ain’t me by any definition), what really makes the sazerac is the method rather than the ingredients: sugar muddled with bitters and whiskey (no ice), chilled glass that’s been rinsed with absinthe. It’s not the most technically simple cocktail out there, but then again...

Hal Grey is difficult. 😏

I’ve adjusted a few things to better reflect my feelings about Harold Grey... which is to say, it’s a bit intense and kinda complicated. Also strong enough to get through the best F U Hal moments in canon and fic.

Disclaimer: I’m not pulling the punch on this one. Please drink responsibly and don’t do crimes maybe.

Ingredients

3 oz rye whiskey (I’m from Tennessee - I like Jack)

1 bar spoon* brown sugar

4 or 5 heavy dashes of bitters

Small amount of absinthe (I’ll explain - and yes, that’s the stuff you can get in America)

Twist of lemon (literally a bit of the peel)

*a bar spoon yields about half a teaspoon, based on my totally scientific eyeball.

Fill your glass of choice (lowball or a snifter works well) with ice and let it chill. In a(n empty) mixing glass, spoon in your brown sugar and add your bitters, muddle it with the spoon to get the sugar wet. Add your whiskey and stir well, until the sugar dissolves. Now bear with me...

Dump the ice from your glass.

Pour a small shot of absinthe (in a shot glass). Use a pipette or a straw to add several drops to the chilled glass. (I poured a standard shot, stuck a regular drinking straw in there to the bottom, and used my finger on top of the straw to get out a tiny amount). You should have JUST enough to coat the bottom of the glass.

Add your rye mixture to the absinthe glass.

For the lemon: Use a vegetable peeler to get a thin strip of the peel. Twist this over your drink to express the oils. You should see it disturb the surface of the whiskey.

Cheers!

If I had to pick a favorite of Lord John’s canon lovers, it would be Stephan von Namtzen, so of course he needed his own cocktail. This is based rather loosely on a St Stephen’s Sour, with some substitutions to better suit the character. The result is a cocktail that’s a little bit sweet and surprisingly gentle (brandy doesn’t usually have a high alcohol content), but of course... The taste of oranges.

Ingredients

2 oz brandy (or cognac if brandy is hard to find)

.75 oz amaretto (like Disarono; it’s easier to find than orgeat)

1 oz orange juice

.25 oz lemon juice (I’m just guessing, I just sorted of squeezed half a lemon over the shaker for a second)

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain over a glass of crushed ice, and garnish with a twist of lemon.

Cheers!

Brian Randall is a gender-swapped Brianna, as envisioned by the wildly talented @iihappydaysii​ in what a wonderful world (this would be). This is a SWEET one, y’all!

Ingredients

2 oz Skrewball peanut butter whiskey (It’s a thing and it’s delish)

1 oz Creme de Cacao

1 oz Kentucky bourbon or rye whiskey (optional - I used Elijah Craig because I need something to cut the sweet and wanted into increase the alcohol content)

Cherries for garnish (maraschino or moonshine-soaked, like I used because it’s what I had)

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and gently annoy it into submission. Strain into a vessel of your choosing (stemware would be good for this one to keep it cold). If you add the bourbon or rye, it’s sneaky strong, so be safe and don’t do crimes maybe.

Cheers!