Amaretto Sour

Taken from the May/June 2012 issue of Imbibe magazine as created by bartender, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, I found this version of the almond-sour seventies classic to have much more “oomph” and lip-smackability than the traditional 2 or 3 ingredient version. An ultimate food cocktail, this Sour drinks best when accompanied by a hot-off-the-grill burger or platter of barbecued chicken. I drank mine out of an ice-filled plastic cup and that was as perfect a vessel as the called-for glass rocks glass. Sour, sweet, fruity and satisfying, this drink will certainly cure the miniscule thing that ales you as you sit barefoot in your hammock waiting for the coals to ash over.

Here we go -

• 1 1/2 oz Amaretto
• 3/4 oz cask-strength Bourbon
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. simple syrup
• 1/2 oz fresh egg white

Everything goes into a shaker w/o ice. Shake vigorously until well mixed. Now add ice and shake again until cold & frothy. Pour everything, ice ‘n all, into a cold rocks glass. Add more ice if needed, then garnish with a cherry & slice of orange.

Ginger Lilly

Another borrowed from the latest issue of Imbibe , I made one about four minutes after I first read the article the recipe accompanied. I adore ginger and have yet to find a season the peppery, spicy flavor doesn’t compliment. With this one, you combine the strong ginger flavor with other rich flavors of pineapple, mint & lemon. In concert, you’re left with a blend that is best described as thirst quenching magic. Honestly, this is a May through August cocktail that while requiring a bit of elbow grease, will still have you going back to the bar to make more. Irish whiskey, no less, which, in its lightness only adds to the rich softness of this cocktail. Make one … then hit the hammock.

Here we go -

• 1 3/4 oz Irish whiskey
• 2/3 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 oz ginger syrup (see http://www.mr-booze.com/2011/01/03/simple-syrup/ )
• 3 chunks fresh pineapple
• 4-8 mint leaves
• Ginger Beer

In a shaker, muddle the syrup, mint & pineapple. Add rest of ingredients except ginger beer and shake until well mixed. Strain into tall, ice-filled glass then fill to top with cold ginger beer. Garnish with sprig of fresh mint & straw.

Berryoska (Raspberry)

As soon as I start seeing “fruit-deals” at the market, I start thinking about fresh fruit cocktails. The buy-one-get-one free ads usually are enough. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc, when added fresh, can turn an early summer evening from simple gathering to easy event. This Berryoska cocktail is about as simple as it gets in terms of warm weather ease. If you can muddle and throw ice in a glass, you’re there. You can use any seasonal berry, so knock yourself out. Just have a full bowl of berries on your bar, along with the liquid ingredients, & full ice bucket. You or a guest can whip one up quickly.

Here we go -

• 2 oz vodka
• 6-10 raspberries
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 oz lime juice

In bottom of fat rocks glass, muddle berries, juice & sugar until “as one.” Add cracked ice to near top then pour in your vodka. Stir w/ straw until refreshingly mixed. Repeat throughout summer.

Salty Dog

I’ve been on a Salty Dog kick of late, knocking this tart, refreshing drink back for a number of reasons. First off, a cocktail can’t get any easier to make. Squeeze a pink grapefruit, rim a glass with coarse salt, pour gin or vodka, & sip in the shade of early evening. There’s just something about a true combination of salt & tart with each sip that is amazingly refreshing. Margaritas, I know, are usually rimmed with salt, but the sweet of the Cointreau doesn’t work as well as the blast of pure grapefruit tart you find in a pulpy Salty Dog. Also I find that the sour wash of this cocktail sets your mouth more for the taste of grilled food. The ice in the drink waters her down more, and as I’m standing next to the hot charcoal, I want that sour, salty thirst quenching aspect of this patio classic.

Here we go -

• 2 oz vodka or gin
• 4-6 oz fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice
• coarse salt rimmed, fat rocks glass filled with ice

Add booze & juice into a shaker with ice. Shake till chilly then pour into glass. Garnish with a mint sprig if you have it.

866

Referring to a danish, long distance bus, I discovered this fantastic cocktail in one of The Washington Post’s spirits writer, Jason Wilson’s, columns. Made with the Danish & Norwegian dill & other botanically distilled spirit Aquavit, instead of gin or vodka, this Salty Dog variation was surprisingly complex and refreshing. I used the fairly easy to find Linie Aquavit in mine. Just get ready for a real hot-weather drink experience with this one.

Here we go -

• 2 oz Aquavit
• 4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
• 1 oz Campari

Shake ingredients with cracked ice in shaker till very cold. Pour into an ice-filled rocks glass & garnish with a sprig of fresh dill.

Kentucky Buck

Our Buck recipe, found on our recipe list here, is still a tried-n-true warm weather go-to. With the addition of this Buck variation, I’m not suggesting it’s not. Still, when I sipped bartender, Eric Castro, of Rick House Bar in San Francisco’s version, I knew I found something special and worth mentioning. Lemon, strawberries, bourbon, ginger beer? Well, to quote Julie Andrews, “these are a few of my favorite things.” You’ve got an awful lot working in this cocktail, but it does indeed balance into something harmonious, smooth and delicious. I usually mix a drink in the late afternoon or early evening after a weekend’s day spent doing yard work. I feel I’ve earned something special and don’t mind spending a little more time building my drink. This one … is almost worth the poison ivy.

Here we go -

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• 2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 ripe strawberries
• ginger beer

Muddle lemon juice & one strawberry in a cocktail shaker. Add ice, bourbon, syrup, bitters and shake till c-c-c-cold. Strain into a tall, rocks filled glass. Fill to top with ginger beer and garnish with that second strawberry, now sliced, and a lemon wheel.

Get out in the yard now and earn these cocktails with a little hard work. Freshly showered and talcumed, you can rub bug-bite ointment on while listening to a little warm weather jazz and sipping down on one of the above.

Roland Shaw & His Orchestra, Themes For Secret Agents – My second "spy-themed" album review here (see “Come Spy With Me” down the page), Roland Shaw easily sets the bar as high as Hugo Montenegro did with his homage to the men who know women and karate chops. What Mr. Shaw does with his double CD is take the original themes, scores, novelty tunes, and mood-setters and fleshes them out completely. You still have the familiarity of the snippets and themes you remember listening to while enjoying the films & shows; it’s just that Roland perfects them and arranges them as complete little masterpieces. Full, thick and rich with strings, horns and driving rhythms… Simple little touches like the blind trio singing "Three Blind Mice" in a Kingston Calypso from the Bond film, “Dr. No,” becomes a delicious island background song for your next barbeque. Honestly, the only song I feel is missing is the theme from “Mannix”. Roland covers just about everything else with the first disk being devoted to James Bond and most of the sexy, wonderful openers and mood pieces; the second disk finishes up the Bond and glides on into the famous television detective themes from the same 60′s era. “The Saint,” “I Spy,” “The Avengers,” and so much more is covered. Almost as fascinating as the spy themes and moods he covers here, Roland Shaw delivers everything you need in these 37 songs for a night of tropical drinks, martinis, grilled meat and thick, fun, movie-spy atmosphere.

Bobby Troup, Kicks on 66 – When, as a child, I used to watch Bobby Troup as a mild mannered receiving doctor for the paramedics on the show “Emergency,” I had no idea he was better known as a seriously accomplished song writer, pianist and composer. I recall my dad mentioning that both he and co-star Julie London were connected both romantically and musically, but I was much more interested in the show’s weekly life & death situations. Along came my 30′s and now 40′s, cocktails & jazz and now I know! Bobby Troup was a very important figure in standards jazz. I had no idea he wrote “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” “Girl Talk,” or “It Happened Once Before” – all beautiful standards and three of my very favorite songs. The songs on this record were all unreleased but played on “Navy Swings,” a public service radio series back in the day. This one’s pretty soft and can easily carry a cocktail party’s mid-point. Troup’s voice is adequate and soft in that jazzy way that works perfectly. One can easily imagine this record played live at a late-night piano bar and swank 60′s Hollywood party. Six out of the record’s sixteen songs are Troup originals, the other ten are perfect late night listeners. Fire place or fire pit, a nice cocktail and some friends, along with this record? You could do a whole lot worse.

Elmer Bernstein’s Some Came Running Soundtrack – Frank Sinatra had such success with novelist James Jones’ “From Here To Eternity,” that in 1958 MGM decided to team actor and author again in an adaptation of Jones’ “Some Came Running.” Teaming Frank and Dean Martin together for the very first time on film and bringing a perfectly cast Shirley McLaine along for the ride, the movie had a lot to live up to, and its soundtrack also had much to carry on its back. Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen even composed a special ballad, “To Love and Be Loved,” for the picture, which stands out a timely ode for the period, a Country Club standard one would hear at the movie’s ritzy club. Bernstein fills his soundtrack with dozens of atmospheric punctuations all designed to carry the film’s melodramatic storyline through town taverns, living rooms, poker dens, diners, necking spots, state fairs and flop houses. If you’re a fan at all of the great schmaltzy love stories and dramas of the late fifties and early sixties, “Some Came Running” is one of the best. This gorgeous, full orchestra piece composed by an American Master begs for a summer night on the sofa, gin and tonic in hand. One of Sinatra’s best film’s for you as a musical experience, what more could you want.

Feliciano!, Jose Feliciano – One thing I’ll say about YouTube is that it’s actually turned me on to quite a bit of undiscovered music. While searching for a great cocktail-party version of Burt Bacharach’s “Always Something There To Remind Me” to post on our FaceBook component, I stumbled upon Jose Feliciano’s version and was stunned as to how fantastic it was. I turned around and bought the record and have just devoured it. It reminds me very much of the bossa nova albums I’ve mentioned in our reviews section. Recorded in 1968, this album carries Feliciano’s strong Latin-based guitar style, yet also pumps infectious Latino jazz rhythms throughout the mix as well. Another important record I’d never listened to (it stayed on the charts for 59 weeks), this record very much captures a sense of time and place. One can easily visualize this sound ebbing up from street parties and barbeques of the era. I’m often outside, and this record is just perfect for yard parties and grilling. Jose Feliciano is a subtle, accomplished, beautiful guitar player, and the arrangement of this one celebrates the more jazzier style of voice and instrumentation. More jazz than pop, this one is yet another perfect excuse to slow things down outside, enjoy the weather, and indulge with a lime-based sour, or other summer cocktail. Songs include his famous version of Light My Fire, Sunny, Here, There & Everywhere, and many more.

The Tides Inn
Lancaster Lemonade

The Tides Inn is a quaint small resort on the northern neck of Virginia which is gaining a lot of “notoriety” for its customer service and quality. Named the #1 resort in Virginia by Travel and Leisure magazine readers in both 2011 and again in 2012, it is a home away from home with remarkably good food and a location and views which are quite breathtaking.

Built in 1946 in a county which was dry, the Tides Inn has all of its bar area lined with walnut wood liquor lockers used in bygone times for guests to keep their alcohol in. The Stephens Family who built the Tides had little time for the puritanical few who decreed that alcohol and drinks were the devil’s brew and that it was really quite sinful to sit out on The Tides Inn’s terrace and enjoy a beer or it’s newly created house specialty, the “Lancaster Lemonade.”

Guests checking in before alcohol was allowed would pay $1.00 to be a member of the Chesapeake Club, an organization which ran the bar and was absolutely created to defeat the alcohol free rules of Lancaster County. Once the membership fee was paid, a key was given to the guest and they would immediately take the Tides Inn’s boat across the river to Urbanna where a multitude of naughty alcohol and beer vendors were eagerly waiting to take their money and send them back to The Tides Inn with a box of wines and spirits, sufficient to keep the guests happy and joyful for the extent of their stay.

Eventually, the puritanical few made way for a state liquor control board who realized that the state of Virginia could make good revenue by selling alcohol, and the lockers became forlorn and empty while the bar was lined with bottles and happy joyful people who would spend their time eating and drinking some of the finest food and wine in the state.

This is sounding like a fairy tale, but it is all true, and these lockers are used today for corporate groups who use them for memory games or just as a talking point.

The Lancaster Lemonade has become the #1 selling drink at the Tides and was created by a small team of the Tides Inn’s management and staff in the winter of 2010. There was snow on the ground and no guests to be seen, so Gordon The General Manager and Mine Host, along with others, created a plethora of different drinks in the Chesapeake Club. One was universally decreed to be the best, and it is now served proudly as the Tides Inn’s Signature Cocktail.

Lancaster Lemonade

Take the juice of half a freshly squeezed lemon; add a shot of Limoncello and a shot of Vodka; place in a personalized Mason Glass and add pinwheels of lemon. Add ice and top off with Northern Neck Ginger Ale; garnish with fresh lemon balm from the Tides Inn’s herb garden, and you have what we call “A Southern Sippin’ Sensation.”

Enjoy!

Here we go:
- 2 Ounces good Bourbon
- Ginger Beer to fill.

When it comes to a Bourbon and Ginger, Ginger Beer is where you need to go. Mr. Booze’s absolute favorite brand is Goya. It’s rich and gingery to the point of being almost peppery. Fill your glass half up with ice; add a stir stick. Add your bourbon then fill to near top with the ginger beer. Stir sharply ‘til its frothy.

Here’s a drink my Dad used to whip up during our Family’s two weeks at the beach back in the early 70’s. I have great memories of my Dad wearing his Robert Culp shades mixing up this drink for his pals while the wives had us kids down on the beach. Apparently, the Harvey Wallbanger was named and or created for/by a California Surfer in the early 1960’s. Old Harvey had a habit of wiping out while surfing and would head on off to a local bar to nurse his aches and pains. He’d end the day drinking vodka and Galliano liquor with a little orange juice to tie it all together. He’d end the night by banging into walls on his way out of the bar. This is a wonderful Spring/Summer cocktail; a great cap on a day out on the golf course or before a barbeque. The drink calls for Galliano Italian Liquor. Easy to find, this yellow liquor tastes like a combination vanilla and licorice with a nice sent of flowers. Not too expensive and nice to have at your bar.

Here we go –

Pour the vodka and o.j. into a medium tall glass filled with cracked ice. Stir. Float the Galliano on top of the drink by slowly pouring over the bottom of a bar spoon. Garnish with an orange slice and a straw.

Here we go – (multiply by a large number)

• 2 oz Dark Rum
• 1 oz Apricot Brandy
• 1 oz Curacao
• 1 oz Light Rum
• 3 oz Limejuice
• 3 oz pineapple juice

1 oz Almond Syrup (I find mine in the baking aisle of the supermarket.  This is the orgeat syrup substitute…Please don’t kill me mai tai purists…I tried to find your syrup, I did)

Mix everything up in a tall glass, tiki mug or bucket, pour over ice. Garnish a Mai Tai with straw, a pineapple spear and a little paper umbrella. After three, tell your guests you’ll see ‘em all again the next day and sit back down for another.

Daisy de Santiago

It sounds “new,” doesn’t it? I just can’t fight the good fight any longer and will occasionally introduce cocktails on this site that are new. Rest assured, I will draw the line at trendy. If I truly feel a drink has stamina and should very well be around for the next 50 years, I’ll stamp it after, of course, drinking one or three myself. The Daisy de Santiago’s a sour, but the addition of yellow chartreuse adds an herbal element that, to me, tastes more of spring than summer. This is a playful cocktail, full of ice-cold spring promise.

Here we go -

• 2 oz white rum
• 1 oz yellow chartreuse
• 2 oz lime juice
• 2 tsp simple syrup
• lime wedge, mint sprig, club soda

Gently shake with cracked ice, the rum, juice and simple syrup. Strain into iced rocks glass, then float the chartreuse on top. Pour to fill with club soda, then garnish with a lime slice and mint sprig.

Orange Collins

You’re going to need to find orange blossom water for this drink, but it’s out there and closer than you might think. I found mine in the Middle Eastern section of a hip grocery chain that carries the odd products more uncommon at the local grocery. If you live in a city or close to one, chances are you’re near a shop that caters to cooks or culinary explorers. The brand I found was “Cortas.” You may want to start there. These flower waters are surprisingly strong so don’t over pour or you’ll feel like your dinking more perfume than cocktail. This is a gorgeous spring cocktail, basically a Tom Collins with an orange tinge that will usher springtime onto your patio.

Here we go -

• 2 1/2 oz gin
• 2-3 tsp simple syrup (to taste)
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz orange blossom water
• orange slice, club soda

Gently shake the gin, lemon juice & simple syrup together. Strain into a tall, ice-filled glass with a bit of room left at the top. Pour orange blossom water, then club soda to fill. Gently stir once or twice and add your orange slice and straw.

(If you’re feeling daring, substitute rose water for orange blossom water, but use a little less rose.)

Santa Rosita Cocktail

A late spring drink, the Santa Rosita cocktail would be the perfect one for a mid-May evening in the yard, as the azalea bushes are in full bloom and the bugs are still a few weeks away from blood-thirsty. Created by Florida bartender, John Lermayer, this one will get all the praise at the party. It calls for muddled watermelon, and mid-May is when the good ones start showing up at the grocery store. This is positively delicious and also calls for wine which you’ll already have open for your guests anyway.

Here we go -

• 1 oz Domaine de Canton liqueur (a superb ginger liqueur you can easily find now)
• 1 1/2 oz white rum
• 1 oz Sauvignon Blanc (it’s important that you use a crisp, dry, fruity white wine for this)
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 4 smallish, seeded chunks of watermelon

Muddle watermelon in shaker, add ice along with other ingredients, shake till mixed and cold. Strain (try and catch the majority of the melon pulp) into an ice-filled tumbler and garnish with a lime twist.

Gin Rickey

I’m a DC boy, born and bred, and have purposely hesitated from discussing this drink ’cause just so damn much has been written about it. Heck, in DC, entire weeks and contests are devoted to the Rickey and “hep” variations of her. I’m not one for trends, and loathe when bastardizations of classics are wheeled out by pork-chop side-burned hipsters who tweak, grate, fuse and fluff flavor of the month ingredients into the Rickey. I know there are different kinds, yet I still always go back to my gin. The Waldorf Hotel history of the Gin Rickey is but a google click away, if you so desire…as are flower infused, cucumber, and honey-watered styles, too. If you want to sip a not-sweet, soured commitment to streamlined cocktails in your home bar as the sun takes longer to set each evening, then the classic is a mere 3 ingredients away.

Here we go -

• 2 oz good London dry gin
• The juice and rind of a halved lime
• seltzer water

Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice. Add the gin then squeeze the 1/2 lime over the drink. Plop in the lime rind then fill to top with seltzer. A little stir with a stir stick then consume. Well, there you go, easy enough to make for a few friends while the lamb is on the grill.

Pimm’s Cup

My roommate in college drank Pimm’s Cups after returning from England on summer break. He made them in the dorm room to impress girls when they came by. I thought they were as pretentious as he was, but cocktails are cocktails so I too indulged. I started drinking them again a summer or two later while in California. I decided there that this was a great cocktail and one which allowed me to still socially function after three. At 25% alcohol, Pimm’s #1 is a gin based, herbal spirit which balances between a fruity and an herbal taste that won’t clobber you if you have more than one drink. Slightly bitter, slightly sweet, slightly fruity, the Pimm’s Cup is a great call for an early Easter supper cocktail or any slightly warm weather function.

Here we go -

• 2 oz Pimm’s #1
• 7-Up or ginger beer (truly, a matter of taste)
• Cucumber and lemon peel as garnish

In a tall, ice-filled glass, pour Pimm’s #1, then fill to top with your choice of either 7-Up or ginger beer. Garnish with a thin slice of peeled cucumber and a lemon peel.

Gin Shandy

For me gin is to spring as rum is to summer, as bourbon is to winter, and as apple brandy is to fall. Not to say that seasons have positively their own spirits, they just have flavors more conducive to work with during various times of the year. Gin tends to work with the softer flavors of spring — the berries, the herbs, the soft sweets and subtle sours. Gin, in many cases, already has an herbal, juniper berry, musky flavor that reminds my palate of April, so I choose to just add to that. The Gin Shandy’s a really easy one. You’ll need a pitcher and at least one friend to share it with. I float whatever berry happens to be on sale at the time in mine.

Here we go -

• 3⁄4 cup gin
• 1 cup lemonade
• one 12-ounce bottle ginger beer

Gently stir the three ingredients together in a pitcher. Pour over ice in tall glasses and float raspberries on top.

There you have it folks. I realize that you’re busy with spring cleaning and yard tidying but do take an evening soon to enjoy the spring. We’re pre-bug outdoors, yet the evenings can be handled with a light jacket or sweater. Put on some Jack Jones, Ella or Sinatra on the portable player, invite a few friends over, and enjoy one of these perfect spring cocktails. Remember to check out the Mr. Booze recipe list for additional ideas.

Every now and then, I’d say a few times a year, I throw caution to the wind and blind-buy an expensive bottle of spirits just because.  I feel like treating myself; I want to try something special.   The bottle grabbed my eye, impulse… any number of reasons may lead me to bring something special home to the basement bar.  WhistlePig Straight Rye was the latest bottle I couldn’t say no to.  I had no preconceived notions; I’d never heard of it.

Like any whiskey I buy, I start my experience with a straight-from-the-bottle half-shot.  I drink a fair amount of rye and know what to expect.  This WhistlePig threw me a little but not in a bad way.  The spiciness and strong peppery notes were right there.  The finish to the mouthful changed as the liquid washed down my throat.  It coated the tongue and pallet longer with that rye-richness and with more complexity than other premium ryes I’ve experienced.  This is a one-hundred proof, 100 % rye whiskey, so along with the complexity, came a fairly smooth fierceness of a higher-proof.  She should have biten more, but she didn’t; more on this in a sec.

WhistlePig Distillery is located on an old Vermont farm, and they managed to entice Kentucky Master Distiller, Dave Pickerell  to make the trip North, roll up his sleeves and create this rye. His work paid off in higher-end circles; it was awarded Wine Enthusiasts highest rating ever for a rye whiskey, coming in with 96 out of 100 points.  Sounds good…but does she make a good Manhattan?

The rye is aged for ten+ years in new American oak barrels, and Distiller Pickerell said that he was looking for high notes in proof, purity and age with this one.  He found it.

The nose on WhistlePig is very pleasant.  The vanilla, spice, and citrus smells are there, and hold up for the duration of your drink; I only wish they came across a bit stronger.  For such a complex whiskey, I’d like a bit more strength as I breathe it in.  Still, I was satisfied.  As long as my rye-spice is there, as it was in this one, I’m happy.  The WhistlePig shone in this department, but still managed to carry in some taste surprises.

I found the sipping part, when opened up with a few pieces of cracked ice, most delightful.  Rich, nutty, peppery and warming, the WhistlePig coats the mouth, but a lot softer than my high-end Templeton Rye, or even Wild Turkey’s Rye or Old Overholdt.  WhistlePig seems a thinner rye – the subtlety almost too apparent.  But…hold the phone!  Right when you feel a taste loss, a second finish comes up (this was confirmed by guests who shared).  The higher proof and pure rye taste hits you again with a flavor that takes its own sweet time exiting.  For a higher-proof whiskey, the bark that can oftentimes turn this drinker off, just wasn’t there.  I couldn’t find it; it was too smooth.

As swell as the WhistlePig is as a straight pour or over a few pieces of ice, the one-hundred proof and enormous shoulders of the straight rye, begged to be mixed in a cocktail.  My WhistlePig Manhattan, made with 2 ounces rye, 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth, and a couple dashes orange bitters, was as perfect a Manhattan as I’ve ever tasted.  Orange bitters teamed with the subtle citrus-orange note in the rye and caused me to drink the damn thing much too quickly.  A single old fashioned the next evening proved WhistlePig’s worth to me as a top-notch build in a rye cocktail.  I quickly corked the bottle and placed it out of site in my bar….  No need to get greedy; I want this one to last for a while.

I paid $69 for my bottle, which is a bit more than I’m used to spending on rye.  Still, as I mentioned at the start, as a treat to yourself, the WhistlePig rye is worth it.  A good rye is almost an essential in your home bar today.  Top-shelf whiskey cocktails, as long as whiskey is the main pour, are some of the best reasons to home bartend.  Premium cocktails in restaurants and bars can set you back some major cabbage.  Having a few excellent bottles of whiskey at home will satisfy that premium-whiskey tooth, and can be considered an occasional affordable luxury.  I say, “go for it!”  WhistlePig Straight Rye would be a great addition to the top-shelf of your home bar.  Just don’t let too many friends know you have it.

The Swinging Mr. Rogers, Shorty Rogers and His Giants – This record certainly sets a mood, no doubt about that. Very reminiscent of West Coast jazz greats like Chet Baker & Stan Kenton, Shorty Rogers, who played both trumpet & flugelhorn, blows slightly to the left of anyone I’ve listened to. In this album, Mr. Roberts sets a very bohemian vibe that you hear right from the very first notes. An album that is best played at the tail end of a party or gathering, this one will set heads bobbing and the party going for at least another hour or two. Recognizable in scope and tone, this album isn’t avant-garde enough to confuse or turn-off the listener; it is just 50′s progressive music and rather beatnik in its wisdom. Strong horns, tight drumming, anchoring piano, melodic tempo, you’ll feel very comfortable with this one, yet still musically challenged, which is what I want with late night jazz or cocktail music. Shorty Rogers plays the kind of jazz you wish you had a time machine for. Personally, I’d love to go into a smoky little L.A. lounge on a rainy 1955 night and just sit and listen to a scene like this…with a drink of course. Songs include Isn’t It Romantic, My Heart Stood Still, and Not Really he Blues.

The Very Best of Nancy Wilson, The Capitol Recordings 1960 – 1976 – Haven’t bought a triple CD collection in a while, but I just couldn’t ignore what I’d been hearing for the past 30 years and decided to dive into Nancy Wilson head first and with my shoes on. My parents were very into Nancy and used to catch her whenever she made it to DC. I’d have to listen to her records and to the both of them praising her for weeks after. I listened to her but filed her in my childhood memory as background music — too sophisticated to enjoy and not immediately resurfacing in my psyche in later years. Recently, her name kept popping up as a huge miss on my part. I did some exploring on my own and purchased this one as the baptism-by-fire record. Final analysis? Stunning! I love her voice, pacing, R&B accent, and adult jazz sensibility. Nancy Wilson seems very rainy-day to me. I put her on during a wet, quiet, late Friday night, and it was a match made in heaven. As personal as a singer gets, this one, especially within this range of a decade and a half, hits her mark with practically every song she sings. I can’t compare this voice with anyone else’s; she stands apart but only in the most welcoming of ways. Ballads & standards changed dramatically during these years, and that’s more than demonstrated in the strong choices made in this collection. Yet somehow Ms. Wilson’s delivery holds steady and takes no far-out chances. Rich as bourbon and ginger and just as enjoyable on a stay-at-home weekend night. Songs include The Nearness Of You, Time After Time, Hey There, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.

Lola Albright, Soft Sounds – Considering Lola Albright’s B movie and television past, the overall vibe and sound of this two-album collection is beyond fitting; it tickles the same entertainment bone that’s satisfied while watching a great noir, sci-fi, or B drama in black-&-white on late night TV. Her voice, just honey-smooth and as sexy as Lola herself, sounds as if recorded with a microphone set up in some far off place, separated by breath and cigarette smoke and emptiness. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s this recording quality I’ve never heard before, and it just adds to the thickness of the listening experience. Lola started in B films and eventually graduated to television with a recurring role in the detective show, Peter Gunn, playing a jazz and lounge singer who Gunn would regularly visit at a local watering hole while enjoying a belt and making goo-goo eyes aimed at Lola. She made the viewer forget all about the previous hour’s plot. I discovered her in a YouTube clip and spent the next week hunting for Lola vinyl. Her voice is perfect on both these records (Lola Wants You & Dreamsville). Both albums, conducted by Dean Elliott & Henry Mancini, carry tunes written by their conductors which elevate the experience even more. I tell ya, while listening, you’ll feel like you’re sitting in one of those cool little bars that play jazz in B movies. Don’t be a bit surprised if your evening drifts into movie-land as you enjoy. You’ll feel like an extra sitting in a Cornel Wilde film-noir movie. Songs include Candy, They Didn’t Believe Me, and Think Of Me.

Frank Sinatra, I Remember Tommy – I’m just gonna start trickling in my Sinatra album reviews semi-regularly now. There are just too many great ones to ignore, and everything he recorded can be played while enjoying a cocktail. This was Sinatra’s first record after saying "sayonara" to Capitol records and founding his own Reprise label. Released in 1961, this was Sinatra’s musical tip o’ the hat to former band leader, Tommy Dorsey. Frank hired former Dorsey arranger Sy Oliver to arrange and conduct this salute, and man does it swing. Brassy, with fat horns, this record will get your foot tapping on more than one song. Sinatra had a little something to prove with this record, and I think he does more than that. This is one of my favorite Reprise Sinatra albums ’cause, right out the gate, it’s classic Sinatra. Finger snapping, loud, confident, and all-there, this one is full-throttle Frank. There is a big, big band behind Sinatra on this one, and he uses every instrument of it. When he swings with this band, you will, too. Fantastic versions of East of the Sun, Imagination, and I’ll Be Seeing You. If I had to pick one Sinatra album for a big, fun cocktail party, it very well might be this one.

I love Irish Whiskey, and have since I first graduated from beer to spirits. I have enough of a selection of home-bar bottles of the Aqua Vitae to open my own Irish bar, I love it so. My favorite way to drink it is neat, just a finger width from the bottom of a heavy, whiskey glass, with a cold Guinness sitting behind it. Smoother than almost any other in the whiskey family, Irish goes down like a kiss, yet fills the mouth with indescribable flavor; flavors that very tremendously from style and region, yet still taste universally like Irish whiskey.  Jameson or Bushmills basic whiskeys are perfect places to start, but if you find yourself developing a taste for the dram, you can graduate to their 10 & up years aged product, or a more peated Connemara, or the pure Redbreast, the Knappogue Castle, Paddy, Tullamore Dew … I could go on and on. But I won’t….this is a collection of Irish Whiskey Cocktail Recipes, and for these, I’d stick with a basic bottle. No need to be using top-shelf whiskey, when you’re adding other flavors. I’ve only very recently started using my precious Irish in mixed cocktails, but the ones here are tried and tested and worth the loss. Irish Whiskey is a perfect drink to enjoy as the cold months end and the start of Spring creeps in. The flavor is earthy and deep and will remind you of the smell of the breeze as things start growing in the yard or in the woods behind your house. Enjoy an Irish whiskey neat, like I describe above, but also make room for one of these satisfying cocktails. I’m sure you’ll enjoy both.

Leprechaun Dancer

Celtic Cocktail

Wild Irish Rose

Cold Irish

Irish Milk-And-Maple Punch

Black Manhattan

Irish Trinity