Can you identify the ingredients in a martini, cosmopolitan, Manhattan, Mai Tai, Long Island Iced Tea, Harvey Wallbager and more? See how well you know your cocktails.
Cocktail Ingredients Quiz
Crazy for Cosmopolitans? You'll need vodka, Cointreau or triple sec, lime juice, and one other ingredient to shake 'em up at home.
Grenadine
Orange juice
Cranberry juice
Pink grapefruit juice
Some folks get fancy with the recipe, but a traditionally-made Mai Tai gets its signature flavor from lime juice, dark rum, grenadine (or simple syrup), curacao and what other key ingredient?
Almond syrup
Mango juice
Coconut milk
Orange juice
Shaking up vodka, cream, and this variety of liqueur results in a White Russian.
Coffee
White chocolate
Vanilla
Peppermint
The rim of a Sidecar glass is coated in what tasty substance?
Sugar
Salt
Cocoa
Honey
The non-alcoholic classic Shirley Temple contains ginger ale (or lemon-lime soda), orange juice and a sweet splash of what?
Fruit punch
Cranberry juice
Grenadine
Pineapple juice
Vodka or gin would need just this ingredient to be shaken or stirred into a gimlet.
Roses Lime Juice Cordial
Olive juice
Fresh lime juice
Pickle juice
Rye (or bourbon), vermouth, bitters and a cherry are the components of which classic cocktail?
Negroni
Old Fashioned
Manhattan
Rob Roy
Mix up rum, lime and Coca-Cola to make this drink.
Cuba Libre
El Presidente
Bronx
Corpse Reviver
Mint, sugar, lime, soda water and this liquor come together to be muddled into a mojito.
Cachaca
Tequila
Rum
Pisco
Standard ingredients in a Negroni include gin, vermouth and what other liquid?
Lemon juice
Egg whites
Angostura bitters
Campari
It's not just a punchline -- the Harvey Wallbanger is a fern bar staple featuring vodka, orange juice, and this odd liqueur.
Goldschlager
Rumplemintz
Galliano
Peach Schnaaps
When this is popped into a Martini in lieu of an olive, it becomes a Gibson.
Jalapeno pepper
Lime wedge
Gherkin
Cocktail onion
James Bond may be more commonly associated with the Martini, but writer Ian Fleming also had him slugging down Vespers, which are concocted from Lillet Blanc and which two liquors?
Brandy & Scotch
Gin & Vodka
Vodka & Bourbon
Bourbon & Brandy
Mix orange juice and this spirit for a hard-hitting Screwdriver.
Rum
Vodka
Champagne
Whiskey
Sure, you could ask for a vodka & cranberry with a lime wedge, but it's much more festive to order it this way:
Greyhound
Salty Dog
Cape Cod
Madras
If you've got bourbon, mint, and a splash of soda, you're on the right track to make the Derby Day classic, a Mint Julep. What's still missing?
Lime
Sugar
Bitters
Nothing
The Bloody Mary is a brunch standard, but this addition transforms it into a hearty Bloody Bull.
Beef broth
Red Bull
A whole hot pepper
Pepper vodka
Creme de menthe and cream are terribly tasty together, but if you want a Grasshopper, hop to the store for a bottle of:
Vanilla vodka
Creme de Cacao
Green food coloring
Mint extract
A Greyhound gets its distinctive flavor from vodka and this mixer:
Sweetened lime juice
Pineapple juice
Cranberry and orange juice
Grapefruit juice
We all know that a Long Island Iced Tea has no tea in the mix, but what liquor isn't part of the standard recipe?
When it comes to assembling the bar for your holiday party, there's a certain list of basics you must have on hand--vodka, gin, whiskey, cola, tonic, etc. Such a bar will certainly serve to make a decent drink and satisfy most customers, but won't add anything special to the festivities. The easiest--and cheapest--way to add a little magic is with unusual mixers. Here's five that will add a twist to your cocktail menu.
1. Canada Dry Sparkling Green Tea Ginger Ale It mixes equally well with bourbon, vodka and light rum and works nicely in a punch. The antioxidants listed on the bottle may come in handy when battling the holidays' excesses, but the large amount of sugar won't help with that Christmas waistline.
2. Sence Rose Petal Nectar If you wish to offer chick drinks that are more Deneuve/Dietrich than Carrie Bradshaw, rose petal nectar can come in handy. Try the elegant American Beauty--not the brandy version, but one made with vanilla vodka, lemon juice and rose petal nectar.
The Louisiana legislature (don't they have better things to do?) yesterday named the Sazerac - a mix of bitters, rye whiskey, and absinthe - as the city's official cocktail.
As NPRreports, the drink is found in bars across the city, and its bitters are what makes it unique and deeply beloved by brown drink lovers all across the country.
Want a taste of New Orleans, but don't feel like hopping on a plane? Whip up your own, slightly modernized version of Sazerac.
Tiny oyster growing operations are feeding New York's massive shellfish habit.
At "flavor tripping" parties, guests nibble miracle fruit, which turns sour flavors sweet. Vinegar becomes, for an hour or so, as sweet as apple juice; unadorned chevre turns into cheesecake.
Once considered bland, ricotta is taking center stage.
Eric Asimov, our wine and liquor critic, considers bitters.
No bar can be complete without them (heck, for my money, no bartender can be complete without them). Every bar has at least one bottle stashed somewhere, and more and more, the hallmark of great bars and bartenders proudly displays at least a half-dozen, not including ones they've made themselves. Each variety lends a complexity impossible to find anywhere else and almost always elevate each cocktail into something special.
So what, exactly, are bitters, and why are they so important? Well, first, there are two kinds, potable and nonpotable. Potable bitters generally double as digestifs, something you drink after dinner. Fernet-Branca and Campari are two famous examples of potable bitters. The ones we're talking about here are nonpotable (which means they're not meant to be consumed on their own). Bitters are, in general, made from a witches-brew combination of herbs and citrus blended with alcohol, and were intended as remedies for all sorts of ailments, particularly those involving the stomach. Why are they important? A friend of mine and master bartender, Jamie Boudreau, likens bitters to how a chef utilizes salt, as essential an ingredient as there is in any kitchen. Each type of bitters available lends it's own unique characteristics to a cocktail.
For the sake of introduction of these products, we're going to limit the flavor wheel to the three most common.
Can you help me name a cocktail? I'm looking for suggestions for a cocktail that was created recently. In many ways it is similar to several other recipes, but as far as I can tell it is unique enough to need a name.
A few weeks ago I was sitting at the bar at Bookmarks, the rooftop bar/patio/lounge in the Library Hotel near Grand Central Station in NYC. I was chatting to The Cocktail Guru, Jonathan Pogash as he ran back and forth mixing around a dozen of more drinks a minute for the eager crowds of Friday post-work partiers. Jonathan Pogash is a VIP in the cocktail world where he consults, is the Director of Cocktail Development for Hospitality Holdings, who own and operate some of the most prestigious cocktail bars in NYC, such as The Campbell Apartment, The Carnegie Club, Bookmarks Lounge, and The World Bar. He also assists Gary Regan of Ardent Spirits, the famed writer and cocktailian. Several days a week Jonathan can be found behind the bar at The World Bar and Bookmarks where he makes a mean cocktail; either classic / traditional or new ones he personally designs.
I had tried some of each of his new cocktail creations; and his versions of the old, traditional drinks; when I had a whim to ask for something to be custom made for me. I wanted something traditional in taste, but with a tasty twist. I wanted the flavor of whiskey deep and complex; with hints of sweet, bitter, and fruit. A drink I could sip on for a long time where each one was better than the last.
With the holidays upon us I want to look at some libations that can be used to stimulate your appetite, perk up holiday cocktails, and settle down your stomach after a little overindulgence at the groaning banquet boards.
Bitters, Digestifs, and Apéritifs (BD&A's) are similar to Liqueurs, but much bitterer in taste and usually without the extra sweetness to them. Like Liqueurs, BD&A's were originally created as medicines made from herbs, roots, twigs, vegetables, fruits, and berries. To lessen the harsh taste they were sweetened, just not as much as their cousins, liqueurs. There is not always a hard and fine line between Bitters, Digestifs, Apéritifs, and Liqueurs, and some can be classified in one, two, three, or all four categories.
Bitters come in several styles and many were formerly sold as patent medicines. There are the ones like Angostura Bitters from Trinidad, and New Orleans's Regan's Orange Bitters and Peychaud's Bitters which are used in small amounts, added to a cocktail to bring together the flavors and cut the sweetness. Then you have ones that are sold in tiny, 2/3 oz bottles such as Underberg from Germany, which you knock back in a quick gulp after a meal to settle your quaking belly. Many others I also classify under apéritifs and digestifs when you cut them with seltzer and ice.
Now that tax day - April 15th - is safely behind us, it's time to celebrate a little. Even if you
don't feel like celebrating, at least have a drink and allow yourself to remember that you won't have to do this again
for another year. Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, here's a recipe thats perfect for
the occasion:
Income Tax Cocktail 1 oz. gin 3/4 oz. fresh orange juice 1/4 oz. dry vermouth 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth dash of bitters
Combine and shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and
serve with an orange wedge (or a cherry) and a sigh of relief.
[Image Liquor World, where there
is a slightly different recipe]
bar has at least one bottle stashed somewhere, and more and more, the hallmark of great bars and bartenders proudly displays at least a half-dozen, not including ones they've made themselves. Each variety lends a complexity impossible to find anywhere else and almost always elevate each cocktail into something special.
Can you help me name a cocktail? I'm looking for suggestions for a cocktail that was created recently. In many ways it is similar to several other recipes, but as far as I can tell it is unique enough to need a name.
With the holidays upon us I want to look at some libations that can be used to stimulate your appetite, perk up holiday cocktails, and settle down your stomach after a little overindulgence at the groaning banquet boards.
Now that tax day - April 15th - is safely behind us, it's time to celebrate a little. Even if you
don't feel like celebrating, at least have a drink and allow yourself to remember that you won't have to do this again
for another year. Courtesy of the 
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