Calvados Cocktail

Rich in aromas and flavours from fermenting, ripe apples, the brandy from Normandy is the right base spirit for a cocktail in a cold season. The strong taste of apples is lighthened slightly by the fresh, mildly tart taste of fresh orange juice. Dashes of orange bitters unify the flavours in a pleasing way.

4,5 cl Calvados

4,5 cl orange juice

2 cl Cointreau

2 dashes of orange bitters

 

Shake the ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass.

The Calvados Cocktail dates back to the 1920s and the recipe here is taken from Harry Craddock's The Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930.

San Antonio Margarita

This take on a classic Margarita works well as a before-dinner drink or a late-afternoon reviver.

3 cl tequila


3 cl Cointreau


3 cl lime juice

Shake the ingredients with ice, and strain into a glass of your preference.

A classic Margarita uses a 2:1:1 formula with tequila playing the leading role. In the San Antonio version the equal parts give the drink a sweet edge by adding more Cointreau and a tarter punch with the increase in lime juice. You can serve it straight up, as here, or on the rocks. For the ladies, the first option is probably preferable. But you never know.

Source: Adapted from a recipe by Josie Davidson, San Antonio, Texas. Seen in the New York Times, 2015.

Louis XIV Cocktail

If you're looking for sophistication in your choice of cocktails for Saint Valentine's Day, try this one. Chambord is a delicious black raspberry liqueur from France, and adding a good gin and orange bitters gives you a sweet and slightly spicy cocktail that is a superb after-dinner drink, especially if you want to skip the dessert.

6 cl Chambord

3 cl gin

1 or 2 dashes orange bitters

Stir ingredients with ice in a mxing glass and strain into a small wine glass.

Chambord is believed to originate from a liqueur served to the Sun King, Louis XIV, during his visits to Château de Chambord. Until 1685 the King used the château as a hunting lodge.

Fernet-Ginger

Turning an intensely bitter digestif into an engagingly cool highball is fairly unconventional. In this drink the bitter is the Italian Fernet-Branca, and by diluting it with soda water the whole register of herbal and spicy notes unfolds. Sweet ginger syrup and tart lemon juice gives this long drink a neat balance.

4 cl Fernet-Branca

2 cl ginger syrup

1 cl lemon juice

Sparkling water

Shake the ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and top up with sparkling water. Add a lemon twist if you like.

Lucille Buck

If you enjoy ginger beer and you want a relaxing drink to supplement the spicy taste of ginger, then this is it.

4 cl bourbon whiskey

2 cl Drambuie

2 cl lemon juice

Ginger beer

Shake the first three ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice, and top up with ginger beer. Add a lemon twist.

You may wonder why this drink uses American whiskey and not Scotch whisky to match Drambuie, a Scottish liqueur. The answer is in the drink's name. Lucille is Lucille Ball, the star of an extremely popular sitcom from the 1950s, and her father was Scottish-American. The drink captures the essence of the adorable actor - fiery, honey sweet and absolutely charming. 

A buck, by the way, is a drink that involves ginger beer or ginger ale and citrus fruit.

The Widow's Kiss

Ted Haigh in his wonderful book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, 2009, calls Widow's Kiss "the most evocative drink ever." Taste it, and you'll get the point. Mentioned for the first time in a cocktail book from 1895, the drink takes you back to the Golden Era of classy cocktails and proud, elegant women. It works awfully well as an after-dinner drink or a night cap, especially this time of year.

4.5 cl Calvados

1.5 cl yellow Chartreuse

1.5 cl Bénédictine

2 dashes of Angostura

Stir in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a coupe glass.

Yellow Chartreuse is green Chartreuse's younger sister, carrying a modest 40% of alcohol compared to the elder brother's 55%. She is coloured with saffron and sweetened with honey. So is Bénédictine. Both liqueurs also have their pedigrees in common: Bénédictine was originally made by monks, and Chartreuse still is.

The Bitter Elder

Winter is the right time for cocktails with a bitter touch. Add to this a hint of summer and you've got the Bitter Elder. The delicate taste of elderflower liqueur mingles well with brash, bitter Campari and together with the dryness of the gin and tangy lemon juice it all adds up to an excellent late afternoon drink that goes well with both sexes.

3 cl gin

1 cl Campari

1 cl St-Germain

1 cl lemon juice

Shake ingredients with ice, and strain into a coupe glass.

Although the bottle signals Art Deco, the French elderflower liqueur St-Germain was created as late as 2007. Its delicate yet distinct taste mixes well with dry white wine and all types of dry sparkling wine.