Blackthorn (or Blackthorne)

One of the great things about the "Anvil 100" cocktail list I have been following is that in addition to naming the cocktail, it lists the principal ingredients. While it doesn't give proportions, I figured that it was just a good way of knowing what kind of drink I was going to be having (gin, vodka, etc) before trying to make it. However, it became very clear how important this was when concocting a Blackthorne - or Blackthorn. Or Blackthorne/Blackthorn. Allow me to explain.

The Anvil 100 lists the ingredients of a "The Blackthorn" as Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters, and absinthe. Now, these are the ingredients in the recipe which appears in Gary Regan's version of the "The Blackthorne" (emphasis mine) in his The Joy of Mixology book from 2003. This is the version I made - and it's terrible. Just bad - nothing good I can say about it. The whiskey and vermouth carry no weight in the cocktail, and the absinthe and bitters dominate the flavor (and not in any sort of pleasing way). So I thought "What the hell? Why would this make it on a list of supposedly unforgettable cocktails?"

Doing some research on line, I noticed that there were at least two other recipes for "The Blackthorn", neither of which has any of those ingredients in the recipe (well, one has rosso vermouth and the other has Dubonnet (an herbaceous wine-based spirit), so there is a common thread). The one I saw more often than not consisted of gin, kirsch, and Dubonnet. Unlike the first version I made, that actually SOUNDS like it would be good. So I chose to revisit this cocktail using the gin-based recipe.

The results were, as expected, the polar opposite from the first experience. This version was clean, crisp, and with just the right balance of sweet and herby so as to be complex without being "difficult." I emailed the website for the Anvil to clarify if they had mixed up the cocktail they wanted to highlight on their list. They didn't respond, so I will just give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they meant to feature the much more pleasant gin variation.

UPDATE: Recently I noted that one of the many cocktail folks I follow on Twitter, @drinkswmindy, tends bar at Anvil, so I shot her a tweet asking whether their version of this cocktail was gin or whiskey based. She was kind enough to respond that they make the whiskey version (which coincides with the List), and added they use Irish whiskey. So, that part was consistent. Turns out what I screwed up was the vermouth - I had used sweet vermouth in my original attempt based on what appeared in The Joy of Mixology by the great Gary Regan. In fact, I believe it should have been dry vermouth, per this recipe from The Wormwood Society's web site. I remade this cocktail the other day with the whiskey and dry vermouth components, and it was a huge improvement. The whiskey, dry vermouth, and absinthe all complemented each other, allowing each ingredient to play a part - the absinthe didn't dominate, which it can often do if not used in proper proportion with other ingredients. Not the best cocktail I have ever had, but it was pleasant, and was light years from the abomination I had initially created. There may be a way to make the sweet vermouth work in this, but I'll leave that to much more skilled people than me to work out.

The Blackthorn

3 dashes Angostura bitters

3 dashes absinthe (I used Lucid)

1.5oz Irish whiskey (Jameson)

1.5oz french dry vermouth

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Blood and Sand

Cocktail naming conventions are funny. I read somewhere that you can tell the difference between a European cocktail and an American one by how their named. Example: In Europe, what's the name for a mix of gin and tonic? Gin and Tonic. In America, what's the name for mix of rye, creme de noyeau, and lemon juice? A Maryland Squirrel. You get the picture.

Drinks can be named for all kinds of things - historic events, famous (or not so famous) individuals, great works of fiction, etc. The Blood and Sand was named after a 1922 film about a bullfighter (Rudolph Valentino) involved in a love triangle - get it, blood of the bull, sand of the bullfighting ring? Whatever - given that origin, not sure why scotch would be the base spirit, and given that it is, you might think this is going to end up being a pretty sketchy cocktail taste-wise. Happily, you would be incorrect.

The recipe for this was originally (via the Savoy book) equal parts (3/4 oz) of all of the ingredients. The version I used bumps up the scotch to a full ounce while keeping the other at 3/4, and that works very, very well. Using a blended scotch (in my case, Johnny Walker Black) also works well - a highly peated single malt would throw off the balance of the other ingredients, for instance. Overall, a great, sweet yet refreshing cocktail. Doesn't make me feel any more like Rudy Valentino, but it also doesn't make me feel like sticking a bull with a sword as part of some arcane bloodsport, so all things considered, I'm fine with that.

Blood and Sand

1 oz blended scotch
3/4 oz orange juice
3/4 oz rosso vermouth
3/4 oz Cherry Heering

Combine ingedients in cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

The Bijou

Evidently this recipe is a more modern-day friendly version of a cocktail first recorded in 1900 in Harry Johnson's Bartender's Manual , which called for equal parts of the spirits - certainly would have made this a more herb-forward drink. But the proportions I used produced a smooth, flavorful and enjoyable cocktail with that special something that green chartreuse always brings to the party. And I also saw recipes which further muted the herbaceous nature of the cocktail by substituting dry vermouth for sweet - being that I was making this cocktail for Suz as well (not a fan of sweet vermouth), I followed that path, which I thought still produced a well balanced cocktail. My choice of gin was Plymouth since its milder flavor helped bring out the remaining herbal tastes in the other spirits.

The Bijou

3 oz gin
1 oz green chartreuse
1 oz dry vermouth
dash of orange bitters

Stir in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Aperol Spritz

Aperol is an orange flavored, slightly bitter liquor, very much like Campari. Italian in origin, it differs from Campari in it's more muted color (pink-orange, not bright red like Campari) and in its much less bitter taste compared to that other famous Italian spirit. Where as Campari comes on strong and then lingers on the palette for a good long time, Aperol gives you a quick, sweet hit and then finishes with a subtle bitterness which fades relatively quickly.


Spritzes as a drink type are typically just spirits that are combined with sparkling wine (traditionally, given its Italian origins, the Aperol Spritz uses Prosecco) and soda. There are other variations (adding water to stronger wines are sometimes known as straight spritzes), but this is the most common. I used Spanish cava as the sparkling wine - mainly because I had some left over from the Redskins game last week. It actually went very well, adding a slight sweetness to the whole drink which made it really refreshing and easy to drink.

Aperol Spritz

2 oz sparkling wine (prosecco or cava)
1.5 oz Aperol
splash of soda

Fill a cocktail glass with ice. Pour sparking wine first and then Aperol into the glass (add the Aperol second so it doesn't sink to the bottom), and then finish with splash of soda. Garnish with an orange slice.

The Americano

I like really like bitter spirits. They aren't something I think of every time I sit down to have a cocktail, but some of the best cocktails I have had have had a bitter ingredient as one of the anchor flavors in it. And since I started experimenting with cocktails in May, I have acquired quite a few of the better known varieties - Cynar, Fernet Branca, Aperol, to name a few. And of course I have had my fair share of Jaegermeister shots (but we won't speak of that). But the one bitter liqueur I have had in my bar the longest, and is nearest to my heart, is Campari.

A bright, gorgeous red, Campari has a sweetness up front which is somewhat misleading, not really preparing you for the lovely bitterness that trails behind it and lingers on your palette for a long, long time. To me, the Americano is the perfect vehicle for this experience. Campari can be a little cloying and thick on the taste buds, so the addition of the sweet vermouth, and especially the club soda, keeps things light without masking that great bitteness Campari is known for. It's refreshing as you drink it, but the orange-tinged aftertaste that lingers in your mouth is the real attraction for any cocktail which includes Campari.

The Americano

1oz Campari
1oz sweet vermouth
2 oz club soda

Build in an ice filled collins glass. Add a twist of orange as garnish.

The Algonquin

This is one of the 30+ cocktails on the Anvil 100 Cocktails to Drink Before You Die list that I had made before starting this project, and, being that it's a rye based cocktail, it's one I liked quite a bit. Typically when I make a cocktail, I'll make either just one for myself, or one for myself and for my wife, Suz, based on the base spirit. Suz doesn't really like gin (especially if it is a strong flavor in a drink), is so-so on whiskey, is neutral on vodka (appropriately), and really likes rum - so sometimes I'll make two of something if I think she might like it. This was one I thought she might like, since the rye is cut with vermouth and pineapple juice, which I thought might take enough of the edge off of the rye for her tastes.

After preparing the cocktail, we taste tested, and she asked me some really interesting questions. She didn't dislike the Algonquin, although she admitted it was a little too boozy for her tastes. But she wondered why the other ingredients (pineapple juice and vermouth) were in there at all? There was no hint of the vermouth at all in the flavor, and the pineapple was barely detectable. So what persuaded someone at the Algonquin Hotel in New York to use exactly these ingredients, and for it to become popular enough to warrant it becoming a signature cocktail?

Why cocktails are made the way they are is sometimes a well known story (like the Moscow Mule), very much in dispute (like the Martini), or there just isn't a lot known about them except maybe their place of origin (like the Algonquin). So why the bartender who made this drink did what they did is open to interpretation. But I like rye enough to not dwell too much on that - regardless of their reasons, they created a perfumey rye cocktail with a hint of fruit and a nice kick to it - that's about all I ask of my cocktails, really. And Suz ended up drinking the whole thing, so, philosophical differences aside, we evidently weren't too far apart on what the intended motivation of the Algonquin's originator must have been - a drained glass on the bar.

The Algonquin

1 1/2oz rye whiskey (Rittenhouse 100)
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 pineapple juice

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add ice, and shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Brandy Alexander

I'll admit that I had been confused about the relationship between brandy, cognac, and armagnac until very recently (like about 20 minutes ago). Looking for brandy in the local liquor stores, bottles I thought were brandy (like Hennessey or Courvoisier) said "cognac" on the bottle. It was actually tough to find just plain "brandy" that wasn't a fruit flavor (like blackberry). Turns out the relationship is pretty easy to understand. Brandy is distilled from wine (grapes) or other fruits. Cognac, from the Cognac region in France, is distilled from white wine and aged in oak barrels made from timber from the Limousin or Troncais forests in France. Armagnac differs from cognac in the distillation process, as well as the type of wood the aging barrels are made of (black oak from the Monzelun forest), but it is also distilled from white wine. So Cognac and Armagnac are specialized styles of brandy with very strict production criteria.

Given that, rather than searching around for just "brandy" for this cocktail, I chose to use a cognac - specifically a Kelt V.S.O.P. (Very Superior Old Pale) champagne cognac. Kelt actually puts their cognac barrels on a ship and sends them on a three month sea voyage (Tour du Monde) which is supposed to increase the complexity of the spirit. The subtleties of the cognac are probably lost adding it to heavy cream and creme de cacao, but using the Kelt also makes sense since it's what I had on hand.

This is not a drink to start your evening off - this is a drink to elegantly and sweetly wrap up a long day, sipped by a fire, or while wrapped in a warm Snuggie (or Slanket, if you're one of THOSE types of people). It's creamy yet not thick, with a not-quite-sweet finish, the nutmeg adding a bit of that chilly fall evening feel to it. This cocktail is an ideal nightcap.

Brandy Alexander

2 oz Kelt V.S.O.P champagne cognac
1/2 oz creme de cacao
1/2 oz heavy cream
fresh nutmeg

Shake cognac, creme de cacao, and cream with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Grate nutmeg over top to taste