Hot Buttered Rum is a style of Toddy enjoyed in the cold weather; the standard recipe often includes rum, hot water, butter, sugar and spices. This particular version was created at the Pub and Prow Restaurant in Chicago. Not that different from the original except sweetened with chocolate liqueur, which you can use either dark or white coloured.
The recipe calls for one pat of butter, which I’ve translated into a teaspoon; but it’s really up to your preference, since butter doesn’t have any flavour, it does add a lovely aroma, so more the merrier.
Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with grated nutmeg.
There are numerous drinks out there that go with this name; this particular Sweet Dream was created by Hank Riddle, who was sleeping in the jungle back in WWII, and went without sugar for three months, hence the name and the sweetness of the drink.
It’s a light and dessert-style drink, barely alcoholic with a nice aroma of pineapple and hint of banana at the finish.
Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with grated nutmeg.
Twist on the Nutty Irishman, with added vodka for a kick, which also kills some of that over-the-top sweetness; some chocolate liqueur for an extra layer of flavour, which you’d would expect in such a creamy cocktail; and top it off with some freshly grated nutmeg, which makes it a complete and worthwhile after-dinner cocktail.
Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
This lovely dessert style cocktail is in the same trilogy with Alexander and Grasshopper, they all contain chocolate liqueur and cream, but it’s the base spirit or liqueur that defines them. Alexander is made with gin (Brandy Alexander with brandy), Grasshopper with crème de menthe and the Pink Squirrel is made with crème de noyaux.
Crème de noyaux, sometimes called crème de noyau or crème de almond (presumably so dumb English speakers can understand without knowing anything about bartending), is a red almond-flavoured liqueur made from apricot or peach kernels, it is very similar to the more well-known amaretto liqueur, in terms of flavour. You can substitute amaretto for crème de noyaux in a pinch, needless to say the drink won’t be anywhere near pink or sweet.
Again with the simple 1:1:1 ratio, it’s easy to twist it to your preference, say if you want a less sweet cocktail, just reduce both liqueurs to 3/4 oz, and increase the amount of cream; or if you want more almond flavour, simply raise the amount of crème de noyaux and decrease the other two, easy-peasy.
Stir everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a green maraschino cherry.
St Patrick’s Day doesn’t only have to be about lagers and stouts, although Ireland isn’t wellknown for its cocktails and mixed drinks, it doesn’t hurt to spice things up a bit for those who don’t drink beers.
The drink was created by Dale DeGroff, it’s easy to see where it came from: vodka, chocolate and mint liqueurs, otherwise known as Chocolate-Mint Martini. Compared to so many other minty chocolaty drinks out there, this really isn’t that special. Now I’m not going to speak ill of these modernised so-called “Martinis” all over again, but let’s just say they’re not my thing. However these drinks seem to please most keen vodka drinkers out there, therefore it should be considered a decent choice on St Patrick’s.
Ideally you should garnish with a green maraschino cherry (not the usual red), the colour matches the occasion. Green cherries also contain mint flavouring, which makes them suitable for any casual minty drinks.
Stir everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Created by Gary and Mardee Regan when they were experimenting with crème de cacao, it’s named after Audrey Saunders, which you should be able to tell already, because her nickname is Libation Goddess.
The drink is stirred instead of shaken, despite containing 1/2 oz juice. Cranberry juice is already watered down to a clear transparency, therefore it will mix nicely by simply stirring; when it’s possible to keep a drink clear, why not?
The flavour is interesting to say the least. Is this the first time I had chocolate mixed with cranberry? I can’t quite remember, but I’ve certainly had gin mixed with chocolate before, the herbal gin and the chocolaty crème de cacao is definitely not going to pass your tongue without causing a strange feeling; the cranberry flavour in this is not quite so noticeable, it does reinforce gin’s driness a little, but not enough to balance out the sweetness.
Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with grated nutmeg.
An Alexander cocktail substituting tequila for gin. It is quite a weird combination, you wouldn’t normally think of using tequila in an after-dinner style drink, but there’s something about tequila that matches so well with the creamy chocolate flavour. You can choose whatever grade of tequila here, I’m using blanco which has that sharpness to it, or you can use reposado, it’s been rested for a while which makes it more smooth. Adjust the ratio of the three ingredients to your liking.
One of those unusual concoctions without a clear origin. The combination of lemon juice, chocolate liqueur and grenadine shocked me a little the first time I found this recipe.
It doesn’t taste half bad to my surprise, although sour chocolate flavour is not something I’d normally go for. You can increase the vodka to 2 oz if you like, to make it more boozy; I think the 4:3 ratio for cacao to lemon juice works great, so go very easy on the grenadine as it can easily over-sweeten the cocktail.
This drink doesn’t require any garnish, and I can’t think of an appropriate one for it. Give it a lemon twist if you like.
Layer in the order given in a pousse-café or shot glass.
Another layered shooter, sweet, creamy and disgusting. But maybe not for everyone, just pay more attention to the presentation.
Simple drink, pour in equal parts of everything, using the back of a spoon, layer apricot brandy above cacao, and then float the cream on top. The colour of crème de cacao wasn’t specified in the Savoy Cocktail Book, and you might find some people using darker version, but I prefer using white crème de cacao, simply because just like apricot brandy, they are both translucent, giving that fun transition effect.
