It’s cocktail time!

“Cocktails: because no great story ever started with someone eating a salad.” – Unknown

I’m a self-avowed cocktail snob. Really, I am. There are a number of factors that play into this flaw in my psyche, and, if I may say so, they make perfect sense.

First, if I’m going to go out to a fine dining establishment or cocktail bar then I expect them to know their way around a shaker and a stir stick. This is especially true when one is paying $14 to $20 plus for a fine mixed drink nowadays. Second, I’m a man of a certain age who knows what I like, what I don’t like, and how a drink should be. Experience is everything, and that experience demands perfection.

For example, you go to a bar and order an Old Fashioned. Old Fashioneds are simple cocktails to make, yet they always seem to get mucked up. If your Old Fashioned comes out with fruit salad in it, send it back. Same if it comes out looking like water. This cocktail is based on whiskey. Whiskey isn’t a clear liquid, so send it back. Same way with a Manhattan. The usual mistake here is too much Vermouth – yuck. I know, I’m an old man. Get off of my lawn!

Alright, enough griping. Let’s look at how to make some great classic cocktails, and some new spins that you might not know about. Because a great cocktail made with bourbon or rye is just as important as enjoying them straight.

Oh, a couple of things:

Every great cocktail should begin with two ounces of booze. If not, why waste our time? And, if serving these “up” make sure to shake or stir them until ice cold, or, my preferred method, on the rock with a large ice cube or ball. Never crushed ice or small cubes – we’re not drinking at a college bar.

Told you I was a snob.

The Manhattan

• 2 ounces of bourbon or rye
• ¾ ounce of a nice vermouth
• 2 dashes of classic bitters, like Angostura or Peychaud’s
• 2 dishes of a complimentary bitter, like cherry bark or orange
• Do your shake or stir thing
• Garnish with 1 or 2 high-end (not the bright red syrupy ones) cherries

Black Manhattan

• 2 ounces bourbon or rye
• Replace the Vermouth with Amaro
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 2 dashes black walnut bitters
• hoity-toity cherries

Dead Rabbit Tipperary (Manhattan variation)

• 2 ounces Jameson (if you want to keep it somewhat Irish)
• 1 ounce sweet vermouth
• ½ ounce Chartreuse
• 2 dashes bitters

Old Fashioned

• 2 ounces of bourbon or rye (ryes are nice with this one because it balances the sweetness)
• ¾ (less sweet) or 1 (more sweet) ounce simple syrup (demerara or brown sugar are nice here)
• Again, mix and match your dashes of bitters to your taste.
• There are literally dozens of different types of bitters out there.
• Fancy cherries

There are many, many, variations on this classic cocktail. They usually involve a change in the sweet component. A few examples would be replacing the simple syrup with maple syrup, blueberry syrup or for an out West riff, huckleberry syrup. Want to really kick it up a notch? Shake a couple of dashes of your favorite hot sauce in there – yum!

Alright, let’s move on to a few grad school level cocktails that are really nice. When you’re out on the town, ask your bartender to make you one of these. Any mixologist worthy of the title should know how.

The Boulevardier

• 2 ounces bourbon/rye
• ¾ ounce Campari or Aperol (a little sweeter) Fancy it up with Cochi Dopi Teatro.
• ¾ ounce sweet vermouth. Fancy it up with Solerno Liqueur.
• Orange twist

Vieux Carre

• ¾ ounce rye or bourbon (I know, this violates my 2 ounce rule, but it has other booze)
• ¾ ounce cognac
• ¾ ounce sweet vermouth
• ½ ounce Benedictine
• 4 dashes of hoity-toity bitters, mix and match, it’s up to you.
• Cherry or lemon twist

One more. One of my favorites.

The Paper Plane

• 2 ounces bourbon or rye
• ¾ ounces Aperol
• ¾ ounces Amoro
• ¾ ounces fresh lemon juice

Obviously, books could be written on this topic. I wanted to share with you some of my favorites. Remember, life is too short to drink bad cocktails. Until next time, cheers!

Jon Smyrnis is a lifelong Indianapolis area resident. He enjoys traveling, hiking, biking, kayaking, dining out, and, of course, fine cocktails and great bourbons.