Grapefruit Au Cointreau

It is my intention to not only post cocktails I'm exploring, but comestibles as well. When those two categories are combined, better and better.  The following is an example of both and makes for a marvelous breakfast dish.

 

Slice one cocktail grapefruit in half. Pour 1 Tablespoon Cointreau over each side and adorn with maraschino cherries, if desired. The grapefruit halves can be refrigerated for several hours, or overnight. Serves two.

Adapted from The Gourmet's Guide to Dining and Drinking, a Cointreau advertisement recipe booklet from the 1950s.

Blood Orange French 75s

Blood Orange French 75s are an exquisite, temporal concoction, as blood oranges are only available in the winter months (as in, January and February). To make them: extract the juice from one or several blood oranges, and create a mixture that is half blood orange juice, half dry gin. Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker. Pour into champagne flutes, filling one-third to half full. Top off glasses with champagne. Imbibe and enjoy.

This is a wonderful solution for all sorts of social gatherings, from dinners to improvised birthday parties.

Corpse Reviver No. 2

Whenever you feel lifeless and find your corpse in need of revival, I highly recommend trying out the following concoction: the Corpse Reviver No.2 from the 1930 Savoy cocktail book.

1/4 Wine Glass Lemon Juice

1/4 Wine Glass Kina Lillet (lillet blanc, for those mixing in the 21st century)

1/4 Wine Glass Cointreau

1/4 Wine Glass Dry Gin

1 Dash Absinthe

Place in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously; strain into a cocktail glass.

According to Harry Craddock, compiler of the Savoy Hotel Cocktail Book, "Four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again." From experience, I would also like to note that the reviving effects wear off after one hour.

Champagne Cocktail

I first became aware of the existence of the Champagne Cocktail when I first became aware of the film Casablanca.  Set in French Morocco during the second World War, it's a gorgeous melodrama with everyone in it, from Bogart and Bergman to Lorre and Veidt.  The subject of the film is the refugee trail that the war brought about, so upon reflection, it takes a stretch of the imagination to believe that these people have time to sit around Rick's Café Américain and drink champagne cocktails, but they do. Paul Henreid's character orders one at the bar as a cover for the fact that he's meeting with a member of the Free French.

Place a sugar cube in a champagne glass and saturate with Angostura bitters. Crush the sugar cube and make sure it is well combined with the bitters. Fill glass with chilled champagne, and imbibe. Pairs well with celebrations of all kinds and the film Casablanca.


It's also worthwhile to quote The Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930 with recipes compiled by Harry Craddock:


Put into a wine glass one lump of Sugar, and saturate it with Angostura Bitters. Having added to this 1 lump of Ice, fill the glass with Champagne, squeeze on top a piece of lemon peel, and serve with a slice of orange.