Four Seasons Book of Cocktails

The next few pages tell you how to perform (mostly) easy tasks on your way to the perfect mixed drink. Remember that the quality of a cocktail is measured by the artfulness with which the flavors are blended and the freshness of the ingredients, not by the color or a fancy garnish.

When it comes to mixing drinks, practice doesn’t always make perfect. It is more important to simply pay attention to what you’re doing. A drink whose ingredients have been mismeasured (or one that gets watered down while you prepare it) is just another drink—as opposed to the winner you aspire to create.

Whether to shake a drink or to stir it is one of the finer points of mixing, and choosing one over the other is hardly going to make or break your cocktail. Still, common procedure is to shake drinks that contain any of the following: sugar, spice(s), cream, or fresh sour mix. Chilled drinks without the aforementioned ingredients are generally stirred, although shaking won’t hurt them (not surprisingly, the idea that shaking will “bruise” gin is a myth).

Shaking and stirring both chill and slightly dilute a drink—and while a little dilution is desirable, too much will affect the taste. That’s one reason why we recommend pouring the ingredients into the mixing glass or shaker before adding the ice—a departure from normal procedure. How much ice to add? Enough to fill the shaker about three-quarters full. And take note: When shaking or stirring, use only ice cubes, not crushed ice; the latter melts faster and can result in a too-watery drink.

Once you’ve put the liquid ingredients (with the exception of club soda, Champagne, or any other sparkling beverages) in the mixing glass or shaker, add the ice. Fit the stainless steel shell over the glass of a Boston shaker or make sure the lid of a standard shaker is on tight. Then give your drink eight to ten vigorous shakes. (More shakes will risk diluting the drink, and fewer may leave it insufficiently blended.)

• Put plenty of pressure on both ends of the Boston shaker to keep it from springing a leak (or worse) as you shake.

• Mix no more than two drinks at once in the shaker. A drink’s ingredients need some room to blend.

While most of the recipes in this book specify a mixing glass for stirring, it matters not whether you use the mixing glass of a Boston shaker, a pitcher, or any other container. Just make sure it’s large enough to keep the ingredients from sloshing over the sides as you stir.

Pour the specified ingredients into the mixing glass, then stir vigorously about 20 times with a stirring rod, barspoon, or any other long-handled spoon. Don’t overdo it, or you could end up with a diluted drink.

STIRING IN THE COCKTAIL GLASS

When mixing a cocktail directly in the drinking glass, you need to stir only once or twice with a swizzle stick or spoon. A carbonated beverage tends to mix the ingredients because of the bubbles, but a gentle stir once a large portion of club soda, sparkling water, or soft drink is added is still a good idea.

Pour your drink(s) immediately after shaking or stirring with ice—again, to keep them from getting watery.

Straining not only strains a straight-up drink off the ice but also keeps any muddled leaves or other solids out of your drink.

Some of our iced drink recipes direct you to pour shaker ice into the drinking glass along with the drink. That’s because ice becomes coated with the flavor of the ingredients during shaking, unlike ice waiting in the glass. Still, the choice is yours—you needn’t follow the pouring directions to the letter.

To muddle fruits or herbs is to crush or mash them with a wooden tool called—you guessed it—a muddler. What’s the point? To release the ingredient’s aromatic oils. Muddling is often done directly in the bottom of the drinking glass, as when a cherry and orange slice are muddled for an Old-Fashioned. Some recipes call for straining out the muddled plant material, while others consider the material part of the finished drink.

When blending frozen drinks or smoothies, use crushed ice, which not only “purees” faster but is easier to measure. The amount of ice used varies according to recipe. but it’s important not to use too much. The more ice that goes into the blender, the slushier and more watered-down the drink.

Put the ingredients in the blender first; if you’re adding fruit, process it before adding the ice, to avoid diluting the drink. Make sure the lid is on tight before you throw the switch, then process the contents until smooth, starting at slow speed and gradually increasing to medium.

Another tip: Frozen drinks and smoothies will keep their texture longer if you chill the drinking glass before filling it (Chilling Glasses).

Some recipes call for floating cream or a spirit on top of the cocktail. Other drinks are layered—either intentionally or because the ingredients settled in the bottom of the glass are left unstirred. In fact, many of the cocktail recipes in this book don’t call for stirring; a highball that has a nice dark color at the bottom and is light at the top is not only eye-pleasing but will mix itself as you sip.

Serious layering is the business at hand when making pousse-cafés, which call for layering a number of spirits atop one another. Naturally, this kind of layering works only when the spirit on top is lighter. To gauge the relative weight of spirits and liqueurs, check the alcohol volume on the label (see Check the Proof). The lower it is, the heavier the product: Low-proof products contain sugar and consequently are syrupy and weightier.

Float an ingredient by pouring it on top of your cocktail very slowly. Alternatively, use the tool required for layering drinks: a barspoon.

To layer a pousse-café is to top one ingredient with another according to weight to achieve a pretty rainbow effect. You could also layer a couple of spirits in any liqueur-based cocktail for an attention-getting presentation.

To layer ingredients, pour the heaviest in the glass first, then place the bowl of a barspoon (bottom up) at the edge of the liquid. Pour the next ingredient slowly down the neck (the part of the handle just above the bowl of the spoon) so that it gradually flows into the glass, creating a second layer. In the case of pousse-cafés, repeat until all ingredients are used.

The simplest way to chill glasses: Put them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so, or in the freezer for 10. At parties, when fridge space is at a premium, try one of these methods: 1) Put crushed ice in the glass and let it stand for about 5 minutes, then discard the ice and wipe the glass dry. 2) Put ice cubes in the glass and fill it with water; after 3 or 4 minutes, dump the contents and wipe the glass dry.

About Ice

In this guide, when we say “ice,” we mean ice cubes. Crushed ice is specified as such and is listed with the recipe ingredients. Cubes don’t melt as fast as crushed ice, which explains why they’re the best choice when shaking or stirring mixed drinks.

To turn ice cubes into crushed ice, put them in a heavy plastic bag, wrap with a dishtowel, and pound away with a mallet or rolling pin. (You’ll probably have to do the same with the bags of ice you buy at the supermarket.) Just don’t overdo it: The smaller the pieces, the faster they melt. Inexpensive ice crushers are available and come in both electric and manual models.

A couple of tips for freezing and using ice:

• Keep ice from absorbing refrigerator odors by freezing it (preferably from bottled water) shortly before you use it.

• Use the ice left in the shaker only if making the same drink twice. Traces of the previous ingredients remain on the ice, and in most cases will do the new drink you’re shaking no favors. (For fruit-juice ice cubes.)

Give summery iced drinks that something extra by frosting the glasses. To frost a glass inside and out, dip a glass in cold water, shake off the excess, and put the glass in the freezer for at least half an hour.

When you want to frost the rim of a glass with sugar or salt, moisten the rim (the first step) in one of two ways: 1) Rub a wedge of citrus fruit used as a garnish around the rim or, 2) dip the rim of the glass in water, juice, or liquor and shake off the excess. (You could also dip your finger into a liquid and run it around the rim, but this shortcut is less effective.) Then simply dip the rim into a saucer of sugar or table salt (see also A Word from the Bartenders).

To steam a glass is merely to heat it. The heat brings out a spirit’s aroma—the reason brandies are often served in steamed glasses. To steam a glass easily, fill it with hot water and let it sit for a minute or two. Then discard the water and wipe the glass dry.

Here’s a rundown on mixers and other nonalcoholic ingredients used in the recipes in this book, complete with tips for how to get the best out of them and what to look for when buying.

Refrigerated apple and pineapple juices are almost always better for cocktails than the bottled variety. Tomato juice comes either bottled or canned, so be sure to choose a quality brand.

Falling under the “bitters” umbrella are any aromatic mixtures that result from the distillation of herbs, seeds, bark, roots, and flowers. But this broad definition also includes such aperitifs and digestives as Campari and Fernet-Branca, which are drinks in their own right. The bitters called for in the recipe ingredients in this guide, such as Angostura bitters, are the type dashed into a drink as an accent.

In some towns, bitters products aren’t all that easy to find. Specialty food markets and some liquor stores stock them, and you can always order bitters online.

The fresher the juice, the better the finished cocktail. Choose quality-brand refrigerated orange juice over bottled or frozen, and don’t even consider taking a shortcut by buying lemon or lime juice in one of those squeezable fruit-shaped plastic containers.

Juicers for extracting juice from lemons, limes, and oranges range from handheld citrus presses and reamers to electric juicers (Juicer).

Whether to strain the pulp out of orange juice is a matter of taste, although no-pulp orange juice will keep your drinking glass looking neater as you sip.

Our recipes specify either light cream or heavy cream. In a pinch, you may have to rely on half and half as a light cream substitute. The big “but”: Half and half has about 50 percent of light cream’s fat content, so you may want to use a richer mixture of heavy cream and whole milk instead. (See also Whipped Cream.)

When using milk in a recipe that calls for it, avoid anything but whole, or full fat; except for milk punches, shakes, and smoothies, the amount called for in a typical recipe should pose no waistline worries. A few of this book’s recipes call for skim (fat-free) milk, but only when acidic ingredients may curdle the drink. To give more body to these drinks, choose one of the creamy-style fat-free milks sold at most supermarkets.

Popular brands of this rich, sweet mixer include Coco Lopez, Coco Casa, and Goya. Do not confuse cream of coconut with coconut milk or even coconut cream, both of which are less rich. Coconut water is not creamy in the least, of course, though it does have the tiniest bit of saturated fat.

You don’t have to reach for the blender when mixing cocktails that call for a fruit puree. Bottled or frozen purees can be found in gourmet markets and online, and include those made by Boiron, Culinary Traditions, L’Epicerie, and Monin.

Nectars are generally thick fruit juices, such as peach or pear, that are sold canned, bottled, or—better yet—in the refrigerated section. Nectars that come in plastic squeeze bottles are meant to be added to drinks in small quantities as a flavoring.

You probably won’t find fruit syrups at the corner grocery, but they’re available at specialty food stores and online. The most widely used is grenadine—once made from pomegranate but now usually artificially flavored. True fruit syrups come in a wide range of flavors, and include those made by Fee Brothers, Monin, Teisseire, and Torani.

This thickened sugar water has long been an ingredient in cocktails. Whip up a batch, refrigerate it, and use as needed.

Combine the ingredients in a small saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the syrup cool to room temperature and spoon it into a jar. Seal the jar tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Lemon-lime soft drinks such as Sprite and 7UP are the most commonly used in cocktails, although cola and root beer find a place in mixed drinks as well. To maximize the fizz, add any carbonated ingredient to your drink last and then give your drink a single (and gentle) stir.

Store-bought sorbet adds a velvety texture and extra flavor to drinks served straight up. In most recipes, a single scoop of half-thawed sorbet is added to the ingredients in a mixing glass or shaker. Take the sorbet out of the freezer a few minutes before using to give it a soft consistency.

Many of our recipes call for an ounce or so of fresh sour mix, which can be made in quantity and kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. For a pint of sour mix, you’ll have to juice several lemons—but don’t let that tempt you to buy inferior packaged juice.

Combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake well. Pour the mix into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

When spices are mixed into a drink, the drink is usually shaken to ensure that the spice doesn’t clump. Nutmeg and cinnamon are two common cocktail spices, most frequently used in holiday drinks or mulled wines.

Recipes that call for sugar specify superfine sugar, which dissolves faster than regular granulated sugar when shaken with liquids. Some drinks mixed directly in the glass call for powdered sugar, also known as confectioner’s sugar, which dissolves even faster. (For frosting glass rims with sugar.)

Not to put too fine a point on it, but club soda is carbonated with carbon dioxide, while sparkling water is naturally carbonated in a spring. Seltzer technically refers to the water that comes from the German town of Niederselters, but all three of these terms have become interchangeable. When using carbonated water of any type as a mixer, screw the cap back on the bottle tightly; it can lose its bubbles in an hour or two.

And still water? When a cocktail recipe calls for it, choose bottled water over tap water—unless, that is, your town’s tap water is known for its taste and purity. Cocktail purists prefer distilled water to mineral water because it has no taste whatsoever.

A garnish imparts a bit of extra flavor to a cocktail and gives it some flair to boot. The range of choices is wide, but make sure a garnish is in proportion to the glass: A fat strawberry perched on the rim of a delicate liqueur glass is impractical and looks silly.

Most cherry-garnished recipes in this guide specify maraschino cherries, also called cocktail cherries—the sweet, bright-red fruits that come in a jar. Just drop them into the drink whole.

A candy store—especially one that specializes in chocolate—is the place to find the long, narrow chocolate sticks used to garnish drinks such as Two-for-One and Peppermint Patty. Chocolate shavings can simply be scraped from a block of chocolate with a sharp knife or a cheese shaver.

We don’t plant flowers in drinks at The Four Seasons, but that doesn’t mean you can’t— especially if you’re wild about flowers or enjoy gardening. Wild hibiscus and plumeria (the flower of Hawaiian leis) are popular and attractive choices, but you might also want to try edible flowers such as nasturtium, dandelion, calendula (a marigold cousin), sage blossom, and squash blossom.

A caveat: Use only flowers that you’re sure have never been sprayed with pesticide. Also know what not to use. The shortlist of unsafe, even toxic, flowers includes crocus, chrysanthemum, daffodil, foxglove, hydrangea, lily of the valley, oleander, rhododendron (including azalea), and sweet pea.

Melon, apple, and other fruits that are usually peeled for use as a garnish are ready to go, but you’ll want to wash citrus fruits beforehand. Cut fruit slices from ¼- to almost ½-inch thick; if you want to perch a whole or halved slice on the glass rim, make a cut from the outer edge to the center.

To cut wedges, slice the fruit lengthwise in half, then lengthwise into quarters or eighths. (See also A Word from the Bartenders.) To cut long spirals of peel, begin at one end of the fruit and use a citrus stripper or sharp paring knife to cut around and down the fruit, creating a continuous spiral.

Firm-fleshed fruits such as pineapple and mango can be cut into spears and used to garnish tall iced drinks. With a sharp knife, cut the peeled fruit lengthwise into slices just under ½-inch thick. Then cut the slices into spears that are an inch or two taller than your rocks or highball glass.

Small fruits such as strawberries and apricots can be used whole or halved as garnishes. Just drop them into the glass (minus any leaves or stems) or perch them on the rim of the glass. For the latter, cut a small slit in the bottom of the fruit to secure it on the rim.

Pitted green olives stuffed with pimiento are the standard cocktail garnish. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use olives stuffed with anything from a bit of anchovy to an almond (the former with a Bloody Mary and its variations, of course). Just make sure the stuffing isn’t going to spoil the taste of your drink—a jalapeño-stuffed olive in a martini made with sweet vermouth isn’t exactly a marriage made in heaven.

Threading an olive (or olives) with a cocktail toothpick isn’t just for show. It makes the garnish easier to retrieve and nibble as you finish your drink.

The Gibson and its variations may be among the few cocktails that call for this garnish, but you can try cocktail onions in any savory drink (think Bloody Mary). These small, pickled pearl onions can be found in most grocery stores and in some liquor stores. Flush them with water before using them so the pickling brine doesn’t mix with the drink—unless, that is, the onions are packed in vermouth.

MAKING A CITRUS WHEEL

During the winter holidays, you might want to add a few clove-studded citrus wheels to hot cider or mulled wine. Floating a few wheels in the serving bowl adds both visual interest and aroma. A single wheel is also sometimes used to garnish a festive cocktail.

To make a wheel, cut a lemon or orange slice almost ½-inch wide and insert whole cloves into the peel at equal intervals.

Citrus peel twists are so named because they release a spritz of aromatic oil when twisted over a drink. You can also use twists to rub the rim of the glass for a bit of extra aroma. At The Four Seasons, twists are wider and shorter than the traditional sort. This larger piece of peel is not only easier to twist but also releases more citrus oil.

For a traditional twist, cut the fruit in half lengthwise. Use a sharp paring knife or a citrus stripper to cut the rind lengthwise into ¼-inch strips.

To cut a Four Seasons–style twist (as pictured in The Genie), use a sharp paring knife to cut an ovoid piece of rind about 2 inches by 1 inch, taking care to cut just beneath the colored part of the rind.

Hold the twist between the thumb and forefinger of both hands and give it a sharp twist over the drink; if you look closely, you’ll see a fine burst of spray. Then drop the twist into the drink.

THE BIG SQUEEZE

How much juice you get from citrus fruits depends, naturally, on their size. There are also a couple of ways to maximize the yield: Extract the juice when the fruits are at room temperature, not straight from the fridge. Also, rolling the fruit back and forth a few times on the countertop, pressing firmly, will make it yield more juice because it helps loosen the pulp from the pith. Below are the approximate amounts you can expect from medium-size fruit.

1 lemon	3 tablespoons juice
1 lime	1½ tablespoons juice
1 orange	cup juice
1 grapefruit	cup juice

When topping a drink with whipped cream, there’s no reason not to use the type in the can as your everyday topper. For after-dinner drinks served at dinner parties, however, fresh whipped cream crowning a hot drink will no doubt be noticed and appreciated by your guests. (Note that one cup of cream makes about two cups of whipped cream.)

While the cocktail was born and bred in America, it draws on ingredients from all corners of the world. And when a Four Seasons bar patron asks about cocktails, the question often revolves around the ingredients in a certain liqueur or spirit, and where the product originated. Products with an asterisk in this table are generic; those without an asterisk are brand names.

Product or brand	Main ingredients or flavorings	Origin
AGAVERO	agave	Mexico
ALIZÉ	Cognac with passion fruit	France
*APPLEJACK	apple brandy	United States
BAILEYS IRISH CREAM	Irish whiskey, cream	Ireland
*BANANE, CRÈME DE	banana	France
BÉNÉDICTINE	Cognac with botanicals, honey	France
*BLUE CURAÇAO	curaçao with artificial coloring	Curaçao
*CACAO, CRÈME DE	cocoa bean	France
CAMPARI	bitter herbs	Italy
*CASSIS, CRÉME DE	black currant	France
CHAMBORD	black raspberry	France
CHARTREUSE	herbs and spices	France
CHERRY HEERING	cherry	Denmark
COINTREAU	bitter and sweet dried orange peel	France
*CURAÇAO	dried peel of laraha citrus fruit, related to orange	Curaçao
CYNAR	artichoke	Italy
DRAMBUIE	aged malt whiskey, honey, botanicals	Scotland
DUBONNET	wine with herbs	France
FERNET-BRANCA	bitter herbs	Italy
*FRAMBOISE	red raspberry	France
FRANGELICO	hazelnut	Italy
GALLIANO	herbs, spices, flowers	Italy
GOLDSCHLÄGER	cinnamon schnapps with gold leaf	Switzerland
GRAND MARNIER	Cognac with bitter dried orange peel, spices	France
HARVEY’S BRISTOL CREAM	blend of Spanish cream sherries	England
IRISH MIST	aged Irish whiskey, honey	Ireland
JÄGERMEISTER	bitter herbs, spices, botanicals	Germany
KAHLÚA	coffee	Mexico
*KIRSCHWASSER (KIRSCH)	cherry	Germany
*KÜMMEL	cumin, botanicals	Netherlands
LILLEHAMMER	lingonberry	Norway
LILLET	blend of wines and fruit liqueurs	France
*LIMONCELLO	lemon rind	Italy
*MARASCHINO	marasca sour cherry	Croatia
MIDORI	honeydew melon	Japan
*NOYAUX, CRÉME DE	fruit pits	France
*OUZO	anise	Greece
PERNOD	star anise, botanicals	France
PIMM’S NO. 1	gin with herbs, spices, fruits	England
PUNT É MES	vermouth with orange, herbs	Italy
*SAMBUCA	anise, elderberry	Italy
*SAMBUCA NEGRA	sambuca flavored with coffee	Italy
SOUTHERN COMFORT	bourbon with orange, peach	United States
STREGA	herbs	Italy
TIA MARIA	rum with coffee	Jamaica
*TRIPLE SEC	sweet and bitter dried orange peel	Curaçao
TUACA	brandy-based liqueur reminiscent of butterscotch	Italy
UNICUM	bitter herbs	Hungary