. Easy-to-prepare cocktails with four ingredients or less .
BÉNÉDICTINE IS A COGNAC-BASED HERBAL LIQUEUR from Normandy, France, that is named after the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Fécamp. Those guys really knew what to do with botanicals—seventy-five to be exact, including citrus peel, honey, basil, rosemary, and sage. A mere ½ ounce in the drink makes for an aromatic cocktail with a honeyed sweetness. For a refreshing S.S. Manhattan, add 2 ounces fresh orange juice.
Stir the liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Run the lemon peel around the rim, twist it over the drink, and drop it in. |
2½ ounces bourbon ½ ounce Bénédictine Lemon peel twist |
LIKE MANY WHISKEY-BASED DRINKS, the Bent Nail must be made with the specific whiskey called for—in this case, Canadian blended whisky. This drink is the Canadian take on the Rusty Nail, which is made with blended scotch. There’s only a hair-splitting difference between the Bent Nail and the Mammamattawa, which calls for generic cherry brandy instead of fine kirsch, which is a cherry eau-de-vie-style brandy with a slight bitter almond flavor. Now that you’re properly confused, shake one up to clear your head.
1½ ounces Canadian blended whisky ½ ounce Drambuie ¼ ounce kirsch |
Shake the ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. |
YOU SIMPLY CANNOT GO WRONG with this classically well-balanced combination of whisky, lemon juice, and orange liqueur. Bourbon lovers may want to try the Chapel Hill, which replaces the Canadian with bourbon and the Grand Marnier with Cointreau. For a potent variation on the Chapel Hill, add 1½ ounces brandy to make a French Twist.
Shake the liquid ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the orange peel over the drink, and drop it in. |
1½ounces Canadian whisky ½ ounce Grand Marnier ¼ ounce fresh lemon juice Orange peel twist |
AMARETTO LENDS A MELLOWING ELEMENT to this popular drink from the 1970s. Although blended scotch is the traditional whiskey used, bourbon is equally tasty.
Shake the ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass. |
2 ounces blended scotch or bourbon 1 ounce amaretto |
TO OBTAIN THE IDEAL “MIST,” you must pack a chilled glass with crushed ice to get that dramatic Scottish-precipitation effect once the spirit is poured into the glass. This drink should be sipped appreciatively using a good-quality single-malt scotch.
2 ounces scotch Lemon peel twist |
Pour the scotch over crushed ice in an old-fashioned glass. Twist the lemon peel over the drink, and drop it in. |
A NO-BRAINER, with a title that makes it real easy to remember the ingredients—but sooo smooth, you might just forget how many you’ve had.
2½ ounces Seagram’s 7 Crown whiskey 3 to 4 ounces chilled 7-Up Lemon peel twist |
Pour the liquid ingredients into an ice-filled highball glass. Stir well. Twist the lemon peel over the drink, and drop it in. |
BUCKS ARE TRADITIONALLY MADE WITH GIN, but this drink takes the Southern route, becoming the perfect late-afternoon-on-the-veranda quencher. It’s also customary to drop the citrus wedge, once it has been squeezed, into the glass.
Lemon wedge 2 ounces bourbon 5 ounces chilled ginger ale |
Squeeze the lemon wedge into an ice-filled highball glass. Add the bourbon, top with ginger ale, and stir gently. |
. Variations . For a SCOTCH BUCK, substitute scotch for the bourbon.
For an IRISH BUCK, substitute Irish whiskey for the bourbon.
For a HORSE’S NECK, add a dash of Angostura bitters, and coil a lemon peel spiral in the highball glass.
For a PRESBYTERIAN, reduce the ginger ale to 2 ounces, add 2 ounces club soda, and garnish with a lemon twist, omitting the lemon wedge.
WHAT COULD BE MORE COPACETIC than a cocktail that partners bourbon with Southern Comfort, a peach-flavored bourbon-based liqueur with roots in New Orleans? Pure Southern charm misting in a glass.
Pour the ingredients over crushed ice in an old-fashioned glass. Stir well. |
1½ ounces bourbon 1½ ounces Southern Comfort |
. Variations . For a KENTUCKY COWHAND, add ¼ ounce light cream. Shake and serve up.
For a LITTLE COLONEL, add 1 ounce fresh lime juice. Shake and serve up.
