Sometimes, even Mr. Booze is late to the party and boy, was I late to this one. I’ve only very recently been turned on to this absolute classic, and I wanted to rush it to your attention in time for spring. Champagne, as an addition, makes most cocktails ideal for a late spring brunch or perfect to stroll the back patio with on cool evenings. Like the Sidecar, the French 75 has World War One connections, probably being named after a WWI artillery gun. Returning French pilots, familiar with the guns deadly potency, demanded a drink equally disarming and were given one. You can substitute gin for the brandy. Mr. Booze prefers the brandy.

Here we go –

• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz Brandy or Gin
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• Champagne

Add lemon juice, Brandy or Gin, Cointreau to a shaker or pitcher with a bit of ice, stir or shake till cold. Strain contents into a champagne flute and top with champagne.

This delicious drink is made with an easy-to-find sugar cane based spirit, Cachaca, that unlike rum, which is made from cane molasses & pulps, is made from pure cane juice. I usually find Brazilian Cachaca in the rum section of my local liquor store. This is a very powerful cocktail and easy to drink which makes it dangerous. Stop and see how you feel after two. If you drink more than three, you’ll hate me in the morning.

Here we go –

• 3 oz Cachaca
• 1 lime (cut into 8 wedges – half, then quarter each half)
• 2 tsp sugar
• ½ oz lemon or limejuice (if needed)

In a bar glass, muddle the sugar and lime wedges until almost paste-like, add small amounts of the juice if the lime wedge/sugar mix becomes too gummy. Add a couple handfuls of ice and the Cachaca. Shake till cold and mixed well. Pour everything into a short or old-fashioned glass and add a stir stick. Perfect with some of that bossa nova or mambo I talk about over on our music page.

Created by bartender Misty Kalkofen at the Green Street Bar in Cambridge, MA, this Applejack cocktail is yet another reason you simply must have a bottle of this versatile apple spirit on your home bar. The cold frothiness combining with the warm flavors of apple, maple and the herbal Benedictine, make this a sure fire hit for your next cold weather cocktail get-together. This is a sweater-weather drink and one just right for drinking before a hearty winter supper.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Applejack
• ¾ oz Benedictine
• ½ oz maple syrup
• 1 fresh egg (just try it)

Shake in a shaker with plenty of ice till frothy and ice-cold. Strain up into a cocktail glass and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg.

I know there are Scotch drinkers out there. I know you guys, creepin’ round fireplaces, wearing your cable knit sweaters, reading your … books. I get it. I’m on to you. I see you in your banks and offices, playing your golf. Well, have I got a cocktail for you. Stay with me, it’s a scotch liqueur nestled inside of … scotch. Stand up and be counted, there are a million of you out there. Have a scotch cocktail and try something besides all that scotch. Just kidding. You’ll love this classic.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Scotch
• ¾ oz Drambuie

Pour over rocks in an old-fashioned glass.

Make this drink only if you’ve always wanted to drink a cocktail out of a pineapple. Not sure what else to say. Not a drink to offer if you’re having a load of people over but if you have an extra pineapple and want to invite a buddy over to watch an old Elvis Presley movie, this one’s perfect.

Here we go –

• 2 oz Gin
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz lime juice
• ½ oz Cointreau
• Crushed ice

Cut the top off a pineapple and hollow it out (save the fruit for pineapple daiquiris later). Make a hole for a straw in the cut off lid. Combine everything on list in a shaker and shake till cold, pour in the pineapple. Have people call you Thurston Howell.

Man, guess those old-time Quakers loved their Rye & Brandy ‘cause this drink rocks! You’ll need some raspberry syrup but you’ll find it easily and it has a thousand other uses. Who knew that rye works so well in concert with other flavors? I know I didn’t. Not a bad drink at all for a cool evening and some June Christy on the record player.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Rye
• 1 ½ oz Brandy
• 1 ½ tsp raspberry syrup
• 1 ½ tsp lime juice

Combine everything with ice into a shaker, shake till chilly-willy than strain into a cocktail glass.

I’m always looking for a new (old) Rye drink. Found this one recently in an old House & Garden’s Drink Guide and immediately dropped what I was doing and mixed a couple up. Re-shingling the roof could just wait a few more minutes. Wow ….the peppery taste of the rye mixing with the sweet of the grenadine worked gangbusters. If you have a bottle of rye in your bar, try this one.

Here we go –

• 2 oz Rye
• 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
• 1 oz Grenadine

Shake with ice ‘til freezing and strain into a cocktail glass, or … shake with ice and pour everything into a rocks glass. I actually prefer this one on the rocks.

I’m always looking’ for a hot weather, rum cocktail that I can make in a hurry, doesn’t require a lot of syrups, fruit, or the layering of boozes, that’ll hit the spot while I’m swatting mosquitoes. Here’s just the one. It’s a quick cooler that’s perfect for when your guests are gathered ‘round the patio bar. Just offer them Ordinary Seaman from an ordinary home bartender.

Here we go –

• ¾ oz lemon juice
• ¾ oz Rose’s lime juice
• 1 tsp powdered sugar
• 1 oz dark Rum
• ¾ oz white Rum
• Lime wedge

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of crushed ice. Pour everything into a small highball glass, squeeze a lime wedge over the drink then plop in into the glass.

This is a great cocktail to make when you want to do a little something special behind the bar but not kill yourself with ingredients. The smoky flavor of the bourbon and the lesser tang of the orange triple sec both mesh within the froth of a whipped egg white to create quite an eye opener. Drink these ‘til you’re a millionaire yourself, then pay someone to mix one for you.

Here we go –

• ¾ oz lemon juice
• 1 egg white
• ¼ oz Triple Sec
• Couple dashes grenadine
• 1 ½ oz Bourbon

Shake hard with ice in a shaker, strain into a cocktail glass.

You all know that on this site, Mr. Booze leans heavily towards seasonal drinks and drinking.   There’s a time and place for many cocktails, and this one’s absolutely a cool- weather drink. I flipped upon it in a 1912 recipe book, and she drinks wonderfully. It calls for a flannel shirt and the promise of a steaming bowl of chili after.

Here we go –

• 3 oz Applejack
• 3-4 dashes Angostura bitters
• Apple Cider

Fill tall glass or mug with ice, add Applejack and bitters and stir, then fill glass with Apple Cider.

Women l-o-v-e this one.   A great drink to pour when you have a couple hens cackling ‘round your bar. With the Applejack as the base, a drinker with a mustache can even partake (sorry Aunt Gladys, didn’t mean to single you out)

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Applejack
• 1 oz Cointreau
• ½ oz limejuice
• Small splash of cranberry juice

Shake with tons of ice in a shaker, strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.