Bijou Cocktail

With equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and green Chartreuse, accompanied by a dash of orange bitters, the Bijou is bombastically herbaceous.

Vermouth Cocktail

The Vermouth Cocktail illustrates the flavorful beauty of good vermouth, with just a little adornment. If you're prone to dismiss this drink out of hand because it's based on vermouth, then you're denying yourself the opportunity to see what the original fuss from the nineteenth century was all about.

The Vancouver

Every great city should share its name with a great cocktail—but with the notable exception of the Manhattan (and some of its borough and neighborhood-named relations), few actually do. Here's a drink that may not qualify as "great" but still does pretty well for itself in the glass: the Vancouver.

Manhattan Cocktail

The stiff, smooth union of whiskey and vermouth is a classic of the cocktail canon.

Irish Cocktail

This classic drink is similar to the Improved Holland Gin Cocktail, but uses Irish whiskey instead of malty genever.

Martinez Cocktail

The Martinez starts with equal parts gin and sweet vermouth, and this alone distinguishes it from the modern martini. You then add a teaspoon of maraschino liqueur and either Angostura or orange bitters.

The Pan American Clipper

Originally from Charles H. Baker's The Gentleman's Companion and adapted by Erik Adkins from Heaven's Dog in San Francisco for the new book, A Taste for Absinthe, the Pan American Clipper is rich with the flavors of apple brandy and pomegranate syrup. A perfect drink for an autumn weekend.

The Brooklyn Cocktail

A spirited riff on the better-known Manhattan.

Apple Brandy Old-Fashioned

An Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail is a simple mixture of whiskey, sugar, bitters and a citrus peel. It is a sublimely simple and delicious preparation for a wide range of spirits besides just whiskey—rum, tequila, brandy—and a fine apple brandy is no exception. Showcasing the earthy flavor of fermented apples with just a bit of sugar and bitters is a perfect preparation to enjoy classic holiday flavors in a new way.

Modern Cocktail No. 2

The Modern Cocktail No. 2 shows how wonderfully blended scotch can work in a cocktail. As written in the Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930, the Modern #2 matches the smooth richness of blended scotch with the sharp tang of sloe gin, with dashes of absinthe, grenadine and bitters lending additional complexity.