#jollybartender

Grasshopper

A standard Grasshopper (of which there are many variations that I have yet to do for the blog) is an all liqueur dessert drink. That doesn't mean it is weak. All that sugar, though, is pretty dangerous for your brain and your waist size. I forget how good these things are and manage to go years between making them for myself or guests. They are addictive, however. Proceed with caution.

2 oz. green creme de menthe

2 oz. white creme de cacao

2 oz. half-and-half

Black Magic

This drink, basically a Black Russian, can go two ways. It can be sweet and juicy or dry and bitter. I went for the latter as a contrast to the Black Russian. You can't do this if you use Kahlua or your sugary coffee liqueurs, though. MurLarkey distillery gave me a bottle of coffee whiskey to use and I felt that this dry spirit was needed here.

This whiskey is basically cold brew coffee infused white whiskey. So now the drink comes across as a cup of cold espresso with a touch of lemon. Add sugar to taste, just like espresso, but you won't miss Kahlua if you are a real coffee and vodka drinker. Here's to having both at once.

2 oz. vodka

1 oz. coffee liqueur (MurLarkey coffee whiskey used)

sugar to taste

1-2 dashes lemon juice

Yodel

Frenet Branca is so bitter and rooty that you don't find it in many cocktails. People either love it or hate it, and there's not much a cocktail can do to change that. The Yodel, however is the best Frenet Branca cocktail I've tried. It has some of the "just brushed my teeth and drank orange juice feel," but with soda, it's not unpleasant. And it might even turn people on to this fernet.

3 oz. Fernet Branca

4 oz. orange juice

sparkling water

September Morn

I can see waking up to this rosy drink on a cool morning, as the name suggests. There's egg white, rum, lime juice and grenadine. Not too original except for the time of day that you consume it.

3 oz. light rum

1 oz. lime juice

1 tsp. grenadine

egg white

Little Princess

This is basically a Sweet Rum Martini. It has all the Martini characteristics right down to the glassware. So the trick to this drink is using an interesting sweet vermouth like Cocchi di Torino and a boring rum like Bacardi Superior. It is basically a vermouth drink that is made stronger by the addition of twice as many measures of rum.

2 oz. light rum

1 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)

Orange Buck

We should recognize by now the origin of this cocktail series, The Buck. This is a gin, lime juice and ginger ale drink. Add orange juice and you have the Orange Buck. Here I went with Sunset Hills gin because of its softness and citrus notes.

2 oz. gin (Sunset Hills used)

1 oz. lime juice

2 oz. orange juice

ginger ale

lime wedge

Rum Martini

The standard Rum Martini with 3 oz. of dry light rum and 1/2 oz. dry vermouth is very much like a vodka Martini. If you want your Rum Martini to taste more like a gin Martini, use 1/2 oz. of Cotton & Reed Dry Spiced Rum. This rum has a lot of botanicals similar to those found in craft gins like orris root, angelica root, and fenugreek. It also has clove, cumin, ginger, peppercorn, and nutmeg--a lot like the ingredients in orange bitters that is also called for in the original recipe. This is the first cocktail I've used Cotton & Reed Dry Spiced Rum for, mostly because it is so unusual that it doesn't fit in typical boat drink cocktails or tropical recipes you find in old bar books. Use it as an amaro, though to spice up a Manhattan or Martini, and you have the right idea.