Classic – Recipe from David Embury’s ‘The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks’

1 part Curacao

1 part Maraschino 

4 parts Lemon Juice 

8 parts Cognac 

Shake with cracked ice. A twist of lemon over each drink.

This is a great little drink, a little tricky to research as the name may give away, it is however a lovely combination of flavours, the only negative I would add is that I’d reduce the lemon and the liqueurs a little to allow the spirit to breath through, in the levels they sit at they crowd the Cognac a little, and the result leaves the whole thing a little heavy on citrus. Aside from that I quite enjoyed it.

There are nowhere near enough brandy-based drinks on lists these days, we have one drink on our list, not a million miles from this, only with a gingerbread syrup for the sweetness, and some aquafaba to give it body which we roll out every year around Christmas.

It’s only been recently that we’ve started looking to other grape based spirits as a spirit base for cocktails, and this has been a bit of a revolution in flavour, I think more pushed through by the pisco sour than anything cognac based. We find pisco (if you get the right one) adds a wonderful fruitiness to drinks, which really helps accentuate fruit flavours, and is currently propping up a watermelon-based drink, and a nectarine sour. I do love summer flavours. And that being said I actually think the ‘Classic’ may work a bit better with pisco than it does with Cognac, although Embury would never touch the stuff, one of my favourite passages of his refers to Pisco as “another grape brandy that I definitely do not recommend”, adding, “I am told that it is quite popular in Peru—which is one reason I am satisfied to remain in the United States.”

How can you not love the original cocktail grouch?