Mamie Taylor
If you’ve played with the ingredients in a Moscow Mule, you’ll notice a few similarities with this drink, a favourite during the early 1900s. It is said to have been created by a bartender in Rochester, New York State, and named after an opera singer, although earlier accounts of the drink under a different name prompt some debate. highball
60ml/2fl oz whisky 25ml/1fl oz lime juice ice cubes ginger ale to top
Whiz-Bang
To grenadine or not to grenadine – in his 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them, Robert Vermeire went without. This version with is taken from the 1930 reprint of Cocktails by Jimmy Late of Ciro’s. Ciro’s was a hip London hangout in the 1920s.
A genuine medicinal offering, just ask your doctor – assuming you have travelled back to the 1890s, that is, when this fizz-style drink was prescribed as a tonic. It appears in George J Kappeler’s 1895 book Modern American Drinks but has been shaped and shifted over the last 100 years.
martini or coupe
50ml/1¾fl oz Scotch whisky 25ml/1fl oz dry vermouth 2 dashes absinthe 2 dashes orange bitters 1 tsp grenadine ice cubes orange zest twist
Fill a glass with ice, stir in the whisky and lime juice, and top with ginger ale.
Morning Glory Fizz
Stir all the ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange zest twist.
fizz or highball
45ml/1½fl oz whisky 5 dashes absinthe 30ml/1fl oz lemon juice 2 tsp sugar syrup see page 288 3 tsp egg white ice cubes soda water to top Shake all the ingredients, except the soda water, hard with ice, strain into a glass and top with soda water.
Rusty Nail
A classic that has widely promoted the use of Drambuie, an aged whisky liqueur containing herbs, spices and heather honey. The more Drambuie with your dram the sweeter the taste. rocks
60ml/2fl oz Drambuie 3 tsp Scotch whisky ice cubes lemon zest twist
Stir all the ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a lemon zest twist.
Irish Coffee
You may have noted the absence of an Irish whiskey in my recommendations. Feel free to slap my wrist, but the truth is the Irish have struggled in the face of Scottish whisky dominance. This is unfortunate, since the Irish are widely regarded as the inventors of the stuff. They had a booming industry in the 18th century and while, like the Scots, they suffered with the imposition of new laws and taxes in the early 19th century, they surfed that particular wave and by the 20th century brands such as Jameson were the most popular in Europe and Britain. What really did for the Irish was the dispute with the British. When the Irish achieved independence the markets of the British Empire were closed to them, killing the industry so that by the 1960s only four distilleries remained. A recent renaissance has sparked interest – the buyout last year of Cooley Distillery at Kilbeggan, in operation since 1757, by spirit bigwigs Beam, is evidence of renewed affection for the Irish version of the spirit. This classic cocktail embraces the Irish whiskey world and has had many claims on its origins. Most credit Joseph Sheridan, chef at the restaurant run by Brendan O’Regan in the Foynes flying boat terminal building at Shannon airport. The story goes that a trans-Atlantic flight departing one night in 1943 was forced to turn back in bad weather. To console the passengers on their return, Joe prepared a coffee with a little extra something, a shot of warming Irish whiskey. toddy
25ml/1fl oz Irish whiskey 1 tsp brown sugar 150ml/5fl oz hot filter coffee 50ml/1¾fl oz whipped cream 3 coffee beans
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scotc h classic cocktails
scotc h classic cocktails
Pour the whiskey, sugar and coffee in order into the glass. Stir, top with the whipped cream and garnish with the coffee beans.
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