A variation on the traditional daiquiri, I find this drink a bit more complicated on the taste buds (which ain’t always a good thing, but it’s fun here). With the addition of sweet vermouth, and more importantly in my opinion, the kiss of crème de cacao, the drink elevates itself to more than just a warm weather sipper. If you search for it, you’ll find the extremely slight chocolate wash from the crème de cacao combining with the vermouth almost indescribable, yet sensually apparent. I made my first one just a few days ago, and all who joined me outside on an oddly mild January day fell in love with it.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz light rum
• ½ oz fresh lime juice
• ½ oz sweet vermouth
• 1 tsp grenadine
• 2 tsp crème de cacao

Shake above ingredients in a shaker till cold and strain into a cold cocktail glass. Garnish with a thin lime wheel.

After completion of their “Bright College Years”, I imagine Yale graduates in springtime Connecticut back in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s rushed to a campus bar and threw back a couple of Yale cocktails in celebration. I think it’s kind of cool that a few universities had the wherewithal to create their own private drinks, and I imagine if you graduated from one, you owe it to yourself to partake. Did you know that Cole Porter wrote the Yale Fight Song while attending? Go Bulldogs!

Here we go –

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce dry vermouth
• 3 dashes Crème de Yvette (you can substitute w/ Crème de Violette)
• 1-2 dash(es) bitters

Shake contents with ice in shaker ‘til cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass.

This colonial college libation is a pretty adventurous one. The use of an olive as garnish is a bold move, yet one that carries the drink back to its sophisticated martini drinker’ roots. No idea when it was actually invented, but I found this one in a recipe book dated 1939, so the kids were knockin’ back in NJ pre-War. I can imagine the undergrads enjoying this one at their celebratory bonfire after beating Yale and Harvard back in the day.

Here we go –

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce dry vermouth
• 2-3 dashes of lime juice

Shake ingredients gently in an ice-filled shaker ‘til terribly cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass with an olive for garnish.

So, the Rhode Islanders like their bourbon. The Brown University cocktail may be the most interesting and familiar of the Ivy League bunch. Basically a half and half manhattan, the Brown had to be a mainstay of the raccoon coat-wearing, gold-fish swallowing, roaring twenties-loving Brown undergrads. No garnish mentioned in the old recipe I found but a cherry seems natural.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ ounces bourbon
• 1 ½ ounces sweet vermouth
• 2-3 dashes of orange bitters

Shake everything with ice ‘til cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass. Cherry garnish optional.

A pretty sophisticated cocktail and one I just can’t envision anyone under 30 drinking. But, this drink is at least 75 years old and kids back then didn’t have shooters, light beer and wine coolers. Quite possible a faculty and graduates’ pleasure, The Harvard works wonderfully as a pre-dinner cocktail. Strong so be careful.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ ounces brandy
• 1 ½ ounces sweet vermouth
• 1-2 dashes bitters
• 3 dashes grenadine

Shake in a shaker with ice ‘til cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass.

Just a quick pop to lighten your load before the in-laws arrive. I find this little two ounces is a great chilled bite that’s perfect for taking the edge off. The orange juice middle sort of hugs everything else in the shake. Best served in a small cocktail glass ice cold.

Here we go –

• ½ ounce gin
• ½ ounce dry vermouth
• ½ ounce orange juice
• 5 dashes bitters, orange if you have them.

Shake with crushed or cracked ice ‘til freezing. Pour up into a small cocktail glass, garnish with a small slice of orange peel.

Figured I’d kick-off with this one. It’s an easy drink to mix and you can make up a batch ahead of time if you’re having guests over. This was the first purely Christmastime cocktail I ever tried, and I still love it during the holidays. The peppermint flavor makes it a strictly seasonal drink but one most will really enjoy.

Here we go –

• 3 oz Gin or Vodka (I prefer gin)
• ½ oz Dry Vermouth
• 2 capfuls Peppermint Schnapps

Shake with ice ‘til North Pole cold, strain into one of those Christmas Martini glasses you picked up on sale last year and garnish with a peppermint stick or candy cane.

I normally don’t lean towards the sweet in drinks. I like the taste of whiskey, gin, and brandy. That being said, during the holidays, I back down a little. We entertain at home a lot, and let’s face it, more guests than not prefer the yummy factor. A lot of folks who normally don’t drink hard spirits during the year, make exceptions in December, and I want to welcome them at the bar, too. This drink is perfect for boozehounds and soccer moms. It calls for Cinnamon Vodka which you can buy or infuse a bottle at home by adding 5 or 6 cinnamon sticks to a bottle of vodka and letting it sit on a shelf for 3-4 days. I know I won’t drink a whole bottle of cinnamon vodka ever, so what I do is infuse a half bottle only.

Here we go –

• 3 oz Cinnamon Vodka
• ½ oz Sweet Vermouth
• ½ oz Curacao

Shake with ice ‘til cold, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Since I use “why not?” as my standard answer when offered almost any libation, I knew I had to try this one when I came across it in an old recipe book. I’m an apricot Brandy fan and am starting to figure out that this spirit is ripe for a comeback, seeing how popular and called for it once was. Apricot brandy must have been a bar “must have” back in the day, it’s asked for in a lot of old cocktails..

Here we go –

• 1 oz Gin
• 1 oz Dry Vermouth
• ¾ oz Apricot Brandy
• 2-3 dashes Lemon Juice

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

Another one of those “old flavors” tasting drinks, the Claridge will remind you of Jazz Age cocktails. Don’t be shy; the Cointreau and lemon juice will comfort the modern drinker. This cocktail demands cold, it just works a lot better the colder it sips. The Claridge goes exceptionally well with instrumental jazz or Big Band.

Here we go –

• 1 oz Gin
• 1 oz Dry Vermouth
• ½ oz Apricot Brandy
• ½ oz Cointreau

Gently shake with cracked ice ‘til the booze inside if freezing, strain into cocktail glass.

This is a perfect winter drink. If your fortunate enough to have an evening on your hands while the porch light illuminates a nighttime snow fall, do yourself a favor and pour this cocktail. Don’t let the peppermint component throw you, if your brave enough, I’m certain you’ll enjoy the flavor and hopefully be daring enough to try other peppermint cocktails.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Brandy
• ¾ oz Sweet Vermouth
• ¾ oz Peppermint Schnapps

Shake above ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker, strain into cocktail glass, watch the snowfall.