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the recipes
To
Measure Cocktails
In the
following recipes, the flavouring ingredients added to the basic
spirits are for one drink, e.g. 1 dash of Angostura bitters, juice
of 1/2 lemon, etc. Always be prepared, however, to put in more or
less flavouring to suit your own taste.
Use a tot or similar measure to judge the amounts of the basic ingredients
themselves. The 'parts' or proportions of these ingredients which
you use for one drink should nearly (but not quite) fill a 3-Ounce
cocktail glass, after adding juices or flavourings and allowing
for a little iced water from the cocktail shaker. You can make several
glassfuls at once, but never fill a glass (or a shaker) more than
four—fifths full.
Tot and similar measures for cocktails are available in most department
stores, and most are marked at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 tot or 'ounce'
level. Some measures give 5 tots to a gill (26 2/3 per bottle),
others give 6 tots (32 per bottle).
To
Mix Cocktails
Cocktails
are mixed either in a shaker or mixing glass.
The procedure for the making of these two types of cocktail is as
follows:
SHAKER: Put ice into cocktail shaker, pour in the necessary
ingredients, shake briefly and sharply unless a particular recipe
states otherwise. Then strain into a suitable glass. Except where
indicated, this is the method used for all the cocktail recipes
in the following pages
MIXING GLASS:
Put ice into mixing glass, pour in the necessary ingredients, stir
until cold,
then strain into a suitable glass.
Vodka
Vodka's a perfectly
acceptable digestif, and an excellent accompaniment to meals of
caviar, smoked salmon, and black bread.
When it comes to cocktails,
though, vodka is an anathema.
In the early sixties a trend toward extremely stiff drinks was exaggerated
by an intense promotional campaign by Smirnoff, and before long
the whole country was drinking screwdrivers and other highly intoxicating
and relatively pointless vodka concoctions.
The problem with vodka
is that it has little flavor.
You can have a couple of typical vodka drinks before dinner and
still enjoy your meal, and the overwhelming neutrality of vodka
discourages bartenders from perfecting their skills.
This flavorless,
colorless liquor is a great mixer, since it blends unobtrusively
with other ingredients.
Some prefer to drink it straight, poured from bottles they store
in the freezer.
Since vodka is virtually flavorless, the differences between the
brands are all but imperceptible to the mortal tongue.
Buy the cheapest brand if you're using the vodka in mixed drinks.
Flavored vodkas also are available; here the differences in quality
may be more noticeable.
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