The Dorothy Parker
PLUS
Blind Tiger Potato Rounds with Pea Puree and Shaved Fennel
The Dorothy Parker
(Makes 2 cocktails.)
The Dorothy Parker is an updated twist on the Mary Pickford, a white rum cocktail that was invented in Cuba and made popular by wealthy traveling Americans during the 1920s. Re-imagined using gin instead of rum and dry vermouth instead of maraschino cherry juice, this recipe helps enhance the earthier elements of the gin, such as orris root and angelica.
The Dorothy Parker and Blind Tiger Potato Rounds
Ingredients:
1-1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
1 oz fresh pineapple juice
1 tsp grenadine
2 tsp dry vermouth (In this case: Martini & Rossi Bianco OR substitute with Martini Extra Dry and a teaspoon of sugar.)
Preparation:
Add all ingredients to a shaker with plenty of ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a pineapple leaf and a lime twist.
Sapphire French Highball
PLUS
Speakeasy Baked Clams
Sapphire French Highball
(Makes 3 cocktails.)
A variation on the French 75 cocktail that was standardized during the prohibition era, the Sapphire French Highball reflects the passion for cocktails that was taken up internationally and by Americans during the times of temperance. The classic French 75 has been re-imagined with the addition of pear nectar to add a rich, fresh flavor that helps to combat the acidity of the lemon and champagne.
Sapphire French Highball and Speakeasy Baked Clams
Ingredients:
1 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup (2 parts sugar and 1 part boiling water; stir until dissolved and chill)
1 oz pear nectar/juice
Top with champagne or sparkling wine
Preparation:
Add the first 4 ingredients to a highball glass and stir. Fill the glass with cracked ice (lightly smash some ice cubes).
Top slowly with champagne and stir once more. Garnish with a long “shoestring” lemon twist and edible gold flakes for pizzazz.
Thanks to the kind people repping Bombay Sapphire gin for sharing a few modern takes on some classic gin cocktails, along with some delicious recipes to pair with those drinks. This is the first of three posts, each featuring a gin cocktail paired with a tasty side dish.
Bring the speakeasy style home and impress your guests with re-imagined cocktail and cuisine pairings that put a modern twist on timeless classics. The following recipes are courtesy of Bombay Sapphire gin and Corbin Tomaszeski, host of Canada’s favourite food shows Dinner Party Wars and Restaurant Makeover.
From the press release:
Inspired by the botanicals in Bombay Sapphire, each dish is rich in worldly, exotic tastes, and is perfectly complimented by the mixable and tantalizing flavours of the gin cocktails. There is a pairing for every palate and these new recipes will inspire Canadians to recreate cocktails at home in their own exclusive clubs to experience classic sophistication and style with a modern twist.
Sapphire & Sin
PLUS
Prohibition Turkey Bites
Sapphire & Sin
(Makes 2 cocktails.)
The Sapphire & Sin is a twist on the classic Gin Fix – a traditional cocktail that was developed during the prohibition era – re-imagined by replacing grenadine with ginger syrup.
Sapphire & Sin and Prohibition Turkey Bites
Ingredients:
1-1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 oz fresh orange juice
1/2 oz fresh ginger syrup (recipe follows)
How to make ginger syrup:
1 cup of powdered white sugar
3/4 cup of boiling water
5 thick slices peeled ginger root.
Add all to a saucepan over a medium heat for 10 minutes, leave to cool for 30 minutes and strain into clean bottle and refrigerate.
Drink preparation:
Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or on the rocks in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with ginger slices and coriander/cilantro leaves.
In this recent video, Robert Hess shows us how to make a cocktail that predates 1900! It's called the Fourth Regiment Cocktail and I'm enjoying one right now. Featuring rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, plus the ingredients that really got my eye: a trio of bitters (orange, creole and celery).
As Hess mentions in the video, fans of the Manhattan are likely to enjoy this drink. I particularly liked the flavour imparted by the celery bitters, it really comes out in the final result, without being too overpowering. I've been trying to use my celery bitters, which I love, as an ingredient in something other than my Bloody Mary.
Give it a go and let me know what you think.
Fourth Regiment Cocktail
I can't say enough about the great videos and knowledgeable individuals featured on the Small Screen Network. If you're a big fan of cocktails and enjoy visual lessons, this website is simply fantastic.
What did you think of the Fourth Regiment Cocktail?
Everybody occasionally loves a funny or inspirational quote. I also particularly like champagne. Or Champagne if you prefer. Sparkling wine is enjoyable as well. With that in mind, here is a list of 40 quotations about champagne that I've collected over the last little while. I hope they, along with a tall, slender flute of perfectly chilled champagne, make your day.
40 quotations about champagne
How much champagne is enough? I think Mark Twain (#9) got it right.
1. "Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!"
~DOM PERIGNON, upon his first taste of champagne
2. "One glass of champagne and I smile, two and I grin, but three I'm ever so ready to sin."
~ANASTASIA MILLER
3. "One holds a bottle of red wine by the neck, a woman by the waist, and a bottle of champagne by the derriere."
~MARK TWAIN
4. "Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully."
~GRAHAM GREENE
5. "There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne."
~BETTE DAVIS
6. "My only regret in life is that I did not drink more champagne."
~JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES
7. "I only drink champagne when I'm happy, and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty."
~LILY BOLLINGER
8. "Why do I drink champagne for breakfast? Doesn't everyone?"
~NOEL COWARD
9. "Too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right."
~MARK TWAIN
10. "Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne."
~DOROTHY PARKER
During WWII, Sir Winston Churchill fought for honour, country and... champagne? (See #19 and #29.)