Summer Drinks



Amber Nectar

Created at the American Bar in London's Savoy Hotel, this Thanksgiving cocktail will go over well with family and friends - before the turkey, with the pumpkin pie, or at any point in between.   Macallan Amber, a maple-syrup-and-pecan-flavored eau de vie with the twist of a whisky finish, is the dominant taste in the drink (without overwhelming the champagne):

  • 1 brown sugar cube soaked with Angostura and peach bitters
  • 1 oz. Archers Peach Schnapps
  • 1 oz. Macallan Amber Liqueur
  • Top up with Champagne

(If you can't find Macallan Amber you can substitute any maple syrup liqueur.)


Whiskey Mac

This is the perfect drink for the entire season.  It can be served hot (add 6 oz. hot water) or cold and combines the bite of ginger with the burn of whisky.  There are recipes for homemade ginger wine, made by overzealous Christmas gifters, but it's better to buy a bottle of Stone's or Crabbies:

  • 1½ oz. Scotch whisky
  • 1½ oz. ginger wine

(Whisky and ginger-ale is one of the first drinks ordered in a movie with sound - by Greta Garbo in Anna Christie.)


Cider Cup

The modern-day non-alcoholic version most people think of serves as a sad reminder of America's great hard-cider brewing past:

  • ¾ oz. maraschino
  • ¾ oz. orange Curacao
  • 1½ oz. brandy
  • 1 pint cider

(Alcoholic cider was so popular at one time that William Henry Harrison, a Virginia plantation owner, won the presidency in 1840 by reinventing his image as a man who lived in a log cabin and drank hard cider.  Unfortunately, he died after just 30 days in office - and the demise of hard cider followed before the century was over.  But the microbrewery revolution of the '90s brought the traditional drink back - now even supermarkets will regularly stock a couple of brands.)


The Vermont

This is another Scotch whiskey drink, coming from the Oloroso restaurant in Edinburgh:

  • 3 oz. Glenfiddich Solera
  • Fresh ginger muddled with maple syrup
  • Stir with bitters and ice

(The Glenfiddich Solera Reserve is finished in new American oak casks, giving it a sweet finish which complements the maple syrup in this drink.  The ginger and bitters make sure this drink is not too sweet.)


Amaretto Sour

Amaretto is Italian for "a little bitter", and the bitter-sour combination works really well:

  • 1½ oz. Amaretto
  • 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
  • ½ oz. simple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon of egg white

(Don't buy sour mix - make your own.  Although the pre-made mix tastes okay, fresh ingredients turn this cocktail into a completely different drink; and the egg white - added to the other ingredients and shaken, as with any sour - keeps the foam there until the last sip.)


The Corpse Reviver II

The name of this drink and the sinister mythology surrounding Absinthe make this the perfect Halloween libation:

  • ¾ oz. gin
  • ¾ oz. Cointreau
  • ¾ oz. Lillet Blanc
  • ¾ oz. lemon juice
  • 1 drop absinthe (or absinthe substitute, such as Pernod)

(The combination of orange and anise is deceptively smooth to drink, while the Lillet Blanc works as a digestif.)


The Sandbagger

One way to make this drink is like an Old Fashioned stirred in a tumbler.  Muddle the plums first and then drop some ice into the glass; add the sugar and bitters and stir until the ice starts to melt slightly.  Add the Cointreau and the sake slowly, still stirring:

  • 1 very ripe plum (skin on)
  • ½ oz. Cointreau
  • 3 oz. dry Sake
  • 2 dashes Fee Brothers' Peach bitters
  • ½ spoon sugar

(The combination of ripe plums, Cointreau, and peach bitters mellows the dry taste of the sake.  You can also serve it shaken and up in a martini glass, plums still muddled, although if you like pulp, you should make it the Old Fashioned way.)