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

1 part French Vermouth 

5 parts Cognac 

2 dashes each of Absinthe, Curacao and Angostura to each drink. 

Stir with ice cubes. A twist of lemon over each drink. Decorate with a cherry. 

There are a number of variations of this drink. Some recipes omit the vermouth, some nse both cognac and whisky, some add a few dashes of maraschino, and some use orange bitters in place of Angostura.

This wasn’t bad at all, essentially a fancy brandy cocktail a’la Jerry Thomas, only then with the French thrown in. its an interesting vehicle for yet another slightly unexpected spirit and vermouth style pairing, Cognac cries out for Italian vermouth, like a Saratoga, so mixing it with a French is a different idea to me. I must admit 11 and a half months in I’m having a lot of difficulty remembering all the drinks, favourites I have some reference to but there are a lot I suspect just lost by now. A better approach would have been to categorise them more as I go, you live and learn, a project for 2019.

The drink itself is a good one, the French doesn’t give it too much sweetness and with the absinthe and angostura there’s a lovely light bitterness and zestiness to it, a great aperitif.