Drink Recipes

Inspired by Mae West, I created a cocktail containing ample aphrodisiacs: goji, pomegranate, cayenne and cocoa. Mae supposedly was not a big drinker, but you can find her lapping it up in the movie Night After Night. With this in mind, I decided to make a fizz. A fizz always includes something bubbly, and when that bubbly is Champagne, it becomes a "diamond fizz."

The common ingredients in a fizz are citrus juice, a sweetener, a sparkling ingredient (like soda or Champagne) and a spirit. Fizzes often contain egg, but they don't have to. A "silver fizz" includes egg white. A "gold fizz" includes the yolk. I decided to make a "royal fizz," with the addition of the whole egg.

For a touch of sweetness, I added Pama pomegranate liqueur, since pomegranates were the fruit of Aphrodite. Either pink or yellow grapefruit work, as long as the juice is freshly squeezed. Besides being one of my favorites, Four Roses Single Barrel 100-proof bourbon seemed fortified enough for a strong-willed woman like Mae, while maintaining a touch of romance with its rose emblem.

I chose a saucer for this cocktail instead of a tall glass or a flute. The many legends of the Champagne saucer being fashioned after various women's breasts add to the romance of this drink. To go along with the diamond reference, I added a sugared rim for a little sparkle and tingle. Like Mae, I'm no angel.

Find the recipe for this romantic cocktail after the jump.

Sure, it may be cider season, but the yen for one glass can lead to a large leftover jug in the fridge.

I'm still having a blast with Crosby Gaige's "Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion." Now that I'm all in love and treated like a queen by a most amazing man, my single girlfriends won't let me gripe about anything. No matter what I say, I hear, "Well, at least you've got a great guy." This is usually followed by how they wish they could find one. In essence, their hearts are weary from men who "love 'em and leave 'em."

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I figured I wouldn't get too sappy with cocktails topped with rose petals and Champagne; Gaige's Lovum and Leavum cocktail can be found on page 93 in the chapter "The Old Gin Mill." This chapter also includes classics such as the Pegu Club cocktail made with lime juice, gin, curaçao, orange and Angostura bitters that Ms. Audrey Saunders and company named their bar after.

Happy Brandy Alexander Day!

This classic dessert drink spikes brandy with a chocolate flavor with the addition of dark crème de cacao in a silky blend often likened to an alcoholic milk shake. Though brandy is the most popular modern-day base, as the cocktail's name suggests, earlier versions of the quaff actually used gin instead.

The drink is typically served cold in a cocktail glass, but can also be served crushed over ice, as a frappé. For an extra indulgent adult treat, eschew the ice and cream for some vanilla ice cream to heighten the silky texture.

We suggest you decide your preferred rendition yourself -- photographer Chuckumentary's libation pictured above mixes equal parts brandy, creme de cacao and cream with a "splash of Kahlua and a dash of cinnamon" for some added flavor.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured on the site.

Ever been bitten by the bug that has you up at 3 a.m. bidding on random books and ephemera on auction websites? Once I bid on a copy of Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion published in 1941 that a friend had listed on e-bay, only to get a message scolding me that he already had a copy set aside for me. This addiction to collecting old books and cocktail gear can be particularly dangerous when you have friends who share the collection illness with you.

Not only did my friend give me this book, he came over with a dinner menu inspired by Mr. Gaige and made cocktails all night. I love the names of the drinks in the Ladies Companion, including "Euthanasia," "Quickie Cocktail," "Psychopathia Sexualis," and "Let's Slide Downstairs" just to name a few. He even includes a few simple canapé recipes to keep you going, such as "Virginia": ground ham, chutney, and grated melted cheese on toast.