Pina Colada - Coconut Fantasy

Soul of Latin

 There is drink known to be the same, which was mixed by pirates to boost their morale. The legend says that when the pineapple juice was poured into coconut with white rum, it went so far to the point of no return and inventing one of the best cocktails was inevitable. Sadly, they did not write the recipe.

 Long time passed since they re-invented the cocktail. A bartender in Buenos Aires told the world how to make pina colada, he mixed coconut cream, pineapple juice, rum and crushed ice in a blender. The result was trustworthy compared with the legend known about the forgotten cocktail.

 I do not say you have to blend it. It is matter of choice or , in my view, reliability. Go with the technique you are comfortable with, or leave the final word to your drinkers. So which one you choose?

Recipe of Pina Colada

1 and 1/2 oz - White Rum
3 oz - Coconut Cream
6 oz - Pineapple Juice

Mixing the ingredients

Fill with ice a Poco Grande glass and leave aside. Make decision, is it the shaker or you go with the blender. Fill a shaker with ice and crush it with the muddler. Drop it in the blender or if you will shake pour as follows. Pour the coconut cream first, then the pineapple juice and rum. Shake hard until reaching smooth mixture. Strain into the glass and garnish it with Maraschino cherry and Pineapple piece by decision. Now boost your crew morale and teach them how to make Pina Colada cocktail.

White Russian - the Defibrilator

Beware of the White Bear

 It dates back to 1949, when it first appeared. By this time they called it Black Russian, but later they added cream to the recipe, which made the drink White. Its origin is unclear, but it surely didn't come from Russia. It is called Russian, because the main ingredient is the Vodka, which comes from there.

 The first recipe of how to make White Russian was published at 21th November, 1965 in a newspaper, somewhere in California. This is the classic recipe of the cocktail and it calls for: "Equal parts of Coffe Southern, Vodka and Cream", where Southern is trademark of Coffee liqueur.

 The way you mix the ingredients depends on your style, but as long as this cocktail has no juices, all you have to do is stir. Maybe you can shake the cream, so it gets thin, but this is not necessary. Nowadays it is thought that White Russian is one of the best cocktails for dudes. Is this better than Old Fashioned, when it comes to young people's taste?

Recipe of White Russian

1 and 2/3 oz - Vodka
2/3 oz - Coffee Liqueur
1 oz - Fresh Cream


Mixing the ingredients

Fill old fashioned glass with ice and stir to chill faster. Then pour vodka and liqueur over the ice, stir briefly and top-up with cream. Stir one last time, but this time gently. It is easy to make cocktail, I know you will do it.

Pink Lady - the Notorious Beauty

Because water is lame

 It was initially mixed in the Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans. The Pink Lady recipe is invented by Armond Schroeder. He initially named the drink Pink Shimmy, but later the cocktaail was given new name, because of its creamy and girly nature. It is said the drink was made to compensate the low-quality of the gins in the past. This led the cocktail in the Top 10 Worst Cocktails of Esquire's Handbook.

 It seemed that only women, who do not understand much, drank it. But later, things changed so the cocktail became more desired, thanks to the celebrities, who loved it. With the years, drinker's taste changed the things even further, so now the Pink Lady cocktail is seen as top notch, when it comes to cocktails for women. 

 It is simple mix of gin, grenadine and egg white. There are many variations, most of which include lemon juice, but this is the most authentic one, which the mixed at first. On ladies focus, do you find this cocktail as one of the best cocktails for women?

Recipe of Pink Lady

1/2 oz - Gin
4 dashes Grenadine
An egg white


Mixing the ingredients

Fill martini glass and leave aside. Shake vigorously the ingredients without ice for half a minute, then fill the shaker with ice and go again for 15 seconds. Remove the ice and the excess water of the glass and pour the mixture. Garnish with Maraschino cherry. This is how to make Pink Lady dear ladies.

Sazerac - the Forbidden Sip

The drink of the sages

 Now the best of New Orleans history is being highlighted as known as Sazerac. It is behalf the whiskey it is made with - Sazerac Rye. This cocktail is not just legendary, it is thought to be even older than the Old Fashioned. In other words, 'the First Official Cocktail', which, unfortunately, is not confirmed, because the word cocktail was not official by the time this was mixed ..

 The most interesting part of it is the way it is mixed. No shaking for this cocktail, but we need 2 Old Fashioned glasses. There comes the issue - why we use OF-glass, if is older? - It was not as popular as the Old Fashioned ... . Back to the topic, we will use the first glass for absinthe container, and then we will mix the rest of the cocktail in the other glass. We will stir it and pour into the 'container', from which we will drink the cocktail.

 As I said, the cockail is named on Alcohol Brand - it is 'Sazerac-et-Forge and Fils'. Initially they used Sazerac Cognac, which they mixed with sort of Bitters they had in the local, which was made from - Antoine Amedie Peychaud - Did you get it? - the Bitters was unofficial by this time. Later they substituted the cognac with Sazerac Rye, which remained unchanged till now. It happened that after few decades absinthe was banned, so they replaced it with Herbsaint.

 The interest in the Sazerac-like cocktails were lost and so its popularity. That was the time of the Old Fashioned and it took a century, therefore several generations, to look back to the Sazerac, which had its peak in the late 19th century. Its recipe was almost lost, because it was practically forgotten and useless. Not sure how, this cocktail survived and is present today.

 Nowadays, the Sazerac is the official cocktail of New Orleans. It is the most shiny symbol of the city as well. But one question is still un-answered. Is the Sazerac older than the Old Fashioned or Not?


Recipe of Sazerac

2 oz - Sazerac Rye or Brandy
1/3 oz - Absinthe
Dash of Peychaud's Bitters
A sugar cube

Mixing the ingredients

Do not use ice for this cocktail. Take a Old Fashioned glass and place napkin over it. Place a sugar cube over the napkin and soak it wet with Peychaud's Bitters. remove the napkin and drop the cube in the glass. Pour Sazerac Rye or Sazerac Brandy and muddle, until the cube dissolve. Take another OF-glass and pour Absinthe. Try to was the inside of the glass with and then pour the other glass over the absinthe. Take a peel of lemon and squeeze over it, rim the edge with the zest and then drop it in. Now sip from the centuries-old drink.

Tom Collins - the Gin Punch

"Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee"

 Collins are cocktails that look like Fizz ones, but they do not have the body and the foam usual for the latter. This one for example was brought to live by 'the American father of Mixology' Jerry Thomas. They popularized the cocktail with jokes, because it has name of a person.

 I mean it has two first names, so you can find it as John Collins aswell. It was invented at 1876 and had its 'Up and Down'. Unlike the other legendary cocktails, this one has no competition of authority. The only bad news are they didn't invent it balanced, so couple of adjustments were done. Fortunately, today we have fine-tasting mixed drink.

 Finest is not always hard to deliver. To be honest, all you need for this is fresh lemon and soda at hand. Before you even start making the cocktail, dissolve 2 parts sugar into 1 of water to make gomme syrup. And you are good to go. For best happenings I suggest you to use Old Tom Gin, which is designed for this mixed drink. But every Gin you choose will work in this cocktail. Just tell me which one will you use and why do you prefer it over the one from above?  Just make sure you know the ratio of the ingredients we will mix ..

Recipe of Tom Collins

1 and 1/2 oz - Gin
1 oz - Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 oz - Gomme Syrup
2 oz - Soda


Mixing the ingredients

Chill a Collins glass and leave aside. Fill shaker with the ingredients and ice, but without Soda. Shake for 10 seconds and pour over the ice. Top-up with soda and stir gently. Use peel zest of a lemon to squeeze it over the cocktail and then drop for a garnish. You can optionally drop a Maraschino cherry. Now let cool down.

Ramos Gin Fizz - the White Void

Unique antique

 In 1888, Henry C. Ramos used to drink Fizz cocktails, which were made from citrus acid and carbonated ingredient. He was gin lover, so logically he was drinking Gin Fizz, which is very close to Sour mixed drink. He had the shiny idea to make a modificiation, that is little bit more hrunchy, so he added egg white and sugar to the mix. This way he found the best known Fizz of all times.

 The issue with this cocktail is that it took 12 minutes to prepare, from a bartender that knows the recipe. Everyone that was ordered one was shaking the hell out off the ingredients - two times. First without ice, so the egg white will dissolve the sugar and will get 'cooked' from the alcohol, and then with ice, so the drink will get extremely cool, so it can be drunk at summer.

 The love toward the cocktail spread so much, that the hotels were hiring about 20 bartenders to work at the same time and doing only Ramos Gin Fizz, so it doesn't take more than 30 minutes to serve. Unbelievably they still struggled to fit in the time-frime at times. A hotel hired 32 bartenders for a private party night, so they could shake in time.

 The issue was solved by Gary Regan who had the genius idea to use Blender for this cocktail, if you do not want to tone up your arms. And this was turning point in the history, because everyone learned how to make Ramos Gin Fizz the other way. Nowadays, both options are acceptable, as long as you do it for yourself. Tell me, which one will you use and why?

Recipe of Ramos Gin Fizz

3 oz - Gin
1 oz - Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz - Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz - Simple Syrup
4 oz - Cream
An egg white
Few dashes of Orange Flower water
2 drops of Vanilla extract
Top up with soda water


Mixing the ingredients

Blend gin, lime and lemon juice and simple syrup with the egg white. Pour the hrunch mix in a shaker and add cream, Orange Flower water, little bit of Vanilla extract and ice. Shake vigorously until it is chilled down. Pour the liquid in a Collins glass without ice. Top-up with soda and garnish wih lemon wheel. Now refresh yourself.

Mai Tai - the Tiki Star

Tiki wonders last 3 days

 Rum rampage is on and hits hard, it can't miss the Mai Tai on its way. Originally inveted in Tahiti by 'Trader Vic' Bergeron, who has rival that said the recipe earlier, but it apperaed he is not the real author. He used clone of the well-known cocktail just to popularize his name and it was fail.

 But you will not be fooled, if you buy one. Best suited at the flavor-laden early spring days, welcoming the summer. This shiny cocktail survived a lot to be what we know today.

Initially they used Jamaican rum that was matured for 15 years, but it soon ran out of steam, so substitution was necessary. They decided to mix dark and white in unequal parts in favor of the dark, rich and flavored, rum.  To prevent spawning of other clones, they did change the recipe recently. So we know 11 distinct recipes of this mixed drink today. They involved pineapple juice, syrups and other citrus flavorizers. Thanks to the wannabes of Trader Vic, the original and authentic survived and it appears to be the best.

 It is double-standard with this cocktail, because it can be mixed with dark and white rum mix or matured Jamaican rum. Which do you prefer? Now here is the bitter.

Recipe of Mai Tai

2 oz - Dark Rum
1 oz - White Rum
3/4 oz - Orange Curaçao
3/4 oz - Orgeat Syrup
1/2 oz - Fresh Lime Juice

Mixing the ingredients

Chill a kind of Lowball glass and leave on the side. Fil shaker with the ingredients and ice, but pre-mix the rums. Shake vigorously for half a minute. Pour over the ice in the chilled glass. To garnish it take the rest of the lime you squeezed and scratch its skin. Drop the half of it in and place some lime-tree leaves in the glass. Use short strap to drink it.

AK-47 - the Death Banner

Hardcore Blast

 For a cocktail, it was given a name that already struck fear in the hearts. Behalf on the legendary machine-gun from the World War II, which has the honor for saving Russia. Even more, not only their name is equal. Both they are easy-to-do, or in other words, simple but effective. Because you do not have to be Mixologist to make an AK-47 cocktail. Just mixing equal parts in shaker with ice and straining. To be honest, the hardest part is to finish it up.

 Compared to the best cocktails known, this is relatively new. Comes from Russia and also finds best use there, because not every human can deal with tons of alcohol. But not only there, I have friends that will drink this with ease and will go insane for the night. So it is more to personality, if you can take the risk of losing mind, you can bottom this up.

 And this is easy-to-make cocktail, so you will not waste too much time to quench your thirstiness. All we can do is to rim and chill the glass and if we have the skills to forget for the shaker and make semi-layered mixed drink, if not perfectly layered. This requires three things. First of all, we have to know the height of every liquid we will use. Second, we need a bar-spoon. And last, we have to use the bar-spoon properly. I suggest you to learn the technique of making layered cocktails. Because I can't dive in the topic, so I will provide only the basics. Let's make one!

Recipe of AK-47

1/3 oz - Brandy
1/3 oz - Vodka
1/3 oz - Bourbon
1/3 oz - Rye Whiskey
1/3 oz - Rum
1/3 oz - Gin
1/3 oz - Triple Sec
1/3 oz - Fresh Lime Juice


Mixing the ingredients

 If you will not make it layered, just chill a Highball glass. Fill a shaker with the ingredients and ice. Shake them hard to make homogenous mix. Clean the chilled glass to make sugar-rim. If you do not know how, use piece of lime to cover the rim edge of the glass. Just make sure it do it fine, so the sugar will not be everywhere on the outside of the glass. Thereafter fill with ice the glass and pour the shaker content over. Enjoy it, if you like it more enjoyable try harder. Garnish with lime wedge, Maraschino cherry and an umbrella.

 Provided now you know how to use the bar spoon, you have to avoid chilling, because water will help the ingredients to mix better, even in low ammounts. But we can chill it a bit in a fridge and then polish it with clean wash-cloth. Now it is time to do the research. List your alcohols by their height. Pour from the highest to the lightest, following these rules. Use the spoon upside-down and pour slowly in the center, especially the initial drops. Keep the spoon deep in the glass, just to make sure the liquid doesn't fall to hard, but never touch the other. Here we go with every liquid one after the other. In my view the lime juice will dissolve even using this technique, so I suggest doing the cocktail without it.

 Making the cocktail this way requires steel nerves and a lot of undisturbed time, because even the silence matters now. I couldn't do it the first 10 times and you will understand why, but keep on trying the result is just unexplainable. It can't be bought, nor possessed, not narrated, only experienced. It feels like shifting gears of moods and emotions, but requires guts to drink at once. Just remember to not bother garnishing, nor using ice. This has to be pure alcohol pyramid. If you happen to make one, please make a picture of it with good-quality and send it to me. After you try it, tell me. What it feels like to bottom-up an AK-47?

Manhattan - The Gamechanger

Mother of Mixology bless

 All the great ideas grow with baby-steps, up and lows, but with persistent success. In the area of Mixology, the invention of Manhattan was solid jump, to be clear, kickstarter for the Art of Mixed Drinks. Unlike other great cocktails, it was never forgotten, after it was shown. This happened on private party hosted in the Manhattan club, New York. Indoors were the president and the like, one of which was the Winston Churchil's mother. The idea came from Dr. Iain Marshall. They mixed it and gave it out for a try. There is no doubt, the excitement fulfilled the air thereafter.

 Just like a snowball falling downhill, its rating and popularity was raising. This drink doesn't just hit the top on the Cocktail's scene, but it broke the ice for the rest. It is the initial approach that inspired the first mixologists ever born. The classic recipe of Manhattan calls for rye whiskey, equal ammounts of sweet and dry vermouth and bitters. But the real issue about this drink is its mixing technique that works better - Stirring or Shaking? - surely, stirring will leave neither foam, nor air bubbles in the cocktail. But to be honest, shaking will outburst stronger flavor and closer to homogenous mix. And it will be foamless and without bubbles, if your ingredients are with good-quality and you use clean bar tools. Doubtlessly, shaking wins over stirring! If you are supporter of the idea that stirring is better, then tell me why. But first I have to show you how to make Manhattan the classic way..

Recipe of Manhattan

4 oz - Rye Whiskey
1 oz - Dry Vermouth
1 oz - Sweet Vermouth
Dash of Bitters

Mixing the ingredients

The most important is maybe chilling the glass, you can choose between Martini or Old Fashioned Glass, as long as there is no Manhattan one. Pour in a shaker the ingredients, but do not forget to pre-mix the vermouths alone and then to pour the rest - this way they will add ideally to the mix.
Before you pour in the chosen glass, drop the excess water and renew the ice, but hold on one more second. We have to use trick, while pouring this mixture in the glass. Stem a Maraschino cherry over the glass and pour over it. Remove the cherry and stir hard, until the drink is completely cooled down. Bring back the cherry for garnish, but this time over the ice. Drink immediately.

Negroni - the Alcoholism's Prosperity

The Cypher of Geronimo

 Isn't Italy mother of the classics ? With its score - Negroni - next to the other inventions, Italy scores solid name assortiment of well-known Foods and Drniks. This one, in particular, was invented by customer. A well-known count in the countryside used to drink Americano in the locals. He did be-friend the bartender and once he did suggest to make a little substitute in its favorite drink. He wanted it bit stronger and the result was better than expected. Its popularity raised hand-to-hand with saying of the like "Gin is bad for your liver, but bitters is the opposite, so we found balance.", which was used only for excuse to get drunk from this strong cocktail. It's thought they named it behalf on their village or family name, but neither is confirmed. However, we do not need confirmation to try this Italiano.

Recipe of Negroni

1 oz - Dry Gin
1 oz - Campari
1 oz - Vermouth


Mixing the ingredients

Chill Old Fashioned glass and pour the ingredients on the rocks. Stir steadily for 15 seconds. Squeeze orange zest over the drink and then drop it in for garnish. Show us how many of these you can bottom-up one after the other!

Vieux Carré - the French Quatro

Trio is classic, but quatro is insane

 It was invented on Mixology open night in a hotel situated in New Orleans and it became its sign since then. The idea was to find balanced mix between four alcoholic beverages. The cocktail was supposed to not work, but they walked the fine line and succeed to find balance after several adjustments. It is unbelievable that rye whiskey and sweet vermouth in the mix can neutralize the sharpness of other liquids and make the mixture stand its name. Even more, Vieux Carré has no variations. For the finest you need to walk the fine line all the time, let's give a walk by.



Recipe of Vieux Carré

3/4 oz - Rye Whiskey
3/4 oz - Cognac
3/4 oz - Sweet Vermouth
1 tsp - Benedictine
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Dash of Peychaud's Bitters


Mixing the ingredients

Pour all the ingredients in Sturdy glass, fill with ice and stir for half a minute. Make sure you get homogenous zone and strain into chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with Maraschino cherry and bottom it up, then eat the cherry!