May 16-Americano

This cocktail should need no introduction, but I’m here to give it to you anyway. We are talking about the Americano, another classic cocktail coming from This cocktail was made popular the way it is today by the introduction of the Milano Turino cocktail causing it to replace the Amari in the Americano with red bitter such as Campari. I would not recommend usiong Aperol or Select as they are sweeter than Campari. Aside from that feel free to use the correct ingredients that fit your palate. Change the soda, vermouth all will work just right.

Thsi cocktail is super simple keeping with the theme of our recent entries. This is essentially a Negroni sans the gin and adding soda water, obviously you add more soda water in this cocktail than gin in the negroni, but they are essentially the same outsdie of that.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D0AV25FLFOwmMqyTta_9r_ZF_H8jYUtwZl2bCc4dX4o/edit?tab=t.0

May 15-Casino

I was super happy to see this cocktail when I saw the recipe. This is because it uses one of my favourite spirits that is barely used in cocktails outside of the Martinez. This is spirit is Old Tom Gin. If you don’t know what that is it is a barrel aged gin that has a darker colour than regular gin, some might even mistake it for bourbon, but if you taste it, you can tell it’s a gin. The cocktail is called The Casino. This cocktail has a muddy history as there are multiple recipes from multiple bartenders.

This cocktail for all intents and purposes we are using Embury’s recipe which uses both orange juice and bitters. Other than that, there isn’t any reason that this recipe is different from the others.

This cocktail is really all about showing off those barrell flavours of the Old Tom Gin. This is definitely a rarer spirit to use as I mentioned before and I am super gladf to see it used.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LiLCpH0foQWGYKrbNdrOVz427fXmN7uhjpTvzrReVsI/edit?tab=t.0 .

May 14-Hanky Panky

I was first introduced to this cocktail by a Youtube video by The Educated Barfly before I really got into Sweet Vermouth. The main things I remember from that video is liking the lore of this cocktail and not thinking much of it outside of that since I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Now that I do enjoy sweet vermouth I can confidently say that this is a cocktail that deserves more attention than it gets.

Let’s start with said lore that I was interested in from the start. Ada Coley made this cocktail at the Savoy American Bar in London and around the same time Charles Hawtrey was producing and starring in a movie in the Savoy Theatre. The movie was featuring a character called the Hanky Panky Butler who got that name from a cocktail he created in the lore of the movie. Hawtrey named Coley’s cocktail “The Real Hanky Panky Cocktail”, this then became her signature cocktail at the bar.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yrfzab3LTWk_-qOQUDZd60In_XlegtnWhsS5mkrgs2I/edit?tab=t.0

May 13-Passion Fruit Margarita

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. What you see is what you get, it’s a margarita with passion fruit. There isn’t even a history section on Difford’s Guide. I can tell you that I knew this would be one of my mom’s favourites. This is due to her love of the tart flavour passionfruit and lime gives to a cocktail like this. Not top mention the roasted agave flavours given by reposado tequila, which she is typically not a fan of but I knew this cocktail would change her mind.

This is admittedly a seasonal cocktail as passionfruit isn’t the most popular fruit or the easiest to grow year round. But if you find it in the sotre or you have frozen passion fruit pulp like I used for this, this is the time to use it. The main issues are with the judging criteria we have put in place for this summer as this will not score highly in the name or originality deparments. We even came up with a better name for kicks, the “Lola Montez”. This woulod have easily made it the highest scored cocktail we have talked about.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-CKUVLqAcWYzIKibsnKYw0f6p9PagJg-Q0-8MbII4Rg/edit?tab=t.0 .

May 12-The Garibaldi

Today we have a revolutionary cocktail about a revolutionary man. The Garibaldi is not a new cocktail at all but this cocktail has been revitalized by one bar in particular. We have Naren Young at Dante to thank for this revitalization since it was his viral fluffy juice technique that did most of the work.

Let’s talk about the cocktail, It is 2 oz of Campari and 4 oz of Orange juice, that’s it. Another simple cocktail like Saturday with the Gin & Tonic but I call this one harder since the fluffy juice takes a little time rather than justy pouring the spirits. To do the fluffy juice all you need is a milk frother (or a blender) and the small tin of your shaker. Just place the juice in the small tin and froth the hell out of it. Once you have the bubbles all over the top, you’re good.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dEHNnZ1upl52Z1JeMTk2qd6VebaLuKEqfDnjjicKiOo/edit?tab=t.0 .

May 11-White Russian

It might be crazy to say this when we looked at the Gin & Tonic yesterday but we are discussing one of the easier cocktails we will discuss this summer. Today we look at the White Russian. I say this cocktail is easy because it’s only 3 ingredients and you don’t even need a shaker or mixing glass for this one. It is built straight in the glass. By the way I happen to be writing this on Mother’s Day so I am glad that we are talking about one of my grandmother’s favourites.

No one really knows much of the history of the White Russian except that it is definitely a successor to the Black Russian and it probably started in Boston. Obviously the name comes from the white colour the milk gives the drink as well as the main spirit being vodka which is most associated with Russia.

The main thing I donm’t like about this cocktail is the look. I have met people who think its a beauty but I personally disagree as I think it looks like oil in snow from far away and closer isn’t much better. It looks like what it is, non stirred coffee with creamer. Again sorry for the shorter post but I had a hectic week at work.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19vzFyvs7yJQQP_pcFjd5QUZ2_5tnn-dNFO-KS2f7gSQ/edit?tab=t.0 .

May 10-Gin & Tonic

Today is a special day on the blog as we are talking about my go to drink whenever I go to a party and am suspicious of the qualifications of the bartender or I need something quick and satisfying after a long night of work. That’s right, you read the title, we are talking about the Gin and Tonic. While this cocktail is simple, it is incredibly refreshing and when you add lime to it, it is near perfection in a glass. I will admit that that is one flaw with the cocktail is that the garnish is needed to make it really at its best. Normally as a bartenmder we would get upset if a customer squeezed a garnish into a drink we already made balanced, but here it works. I honestly don’t like thaty aspect since it depends on the customer’s knowledge of yopur drink before they even come in . I just want people to enjoy my drinks as they are with no need to alter therm once it’s handed to them.

This nis going to be a shorter postr sinc ehtis is a simple cocktail but I want to mention at least this. This cocktail was made as a cure all since the quinine in the tonic water with the botyanicals in the gin were seen as a healthy combo, it’s technically not for our body but it helps your mind.

Fuill judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IqiXQSt7r2tJoq30vzKCsrP855gmU-RKxcHR66lnEhI/edit?tab=t.0.

May 9-New York Sour

The Cadet Honour Code states “A Cadet will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate anyone who will.” Well we are breaking that code and the entire rules of this challenge with today’s entry. This might confuse some people whjo looked at Difford’s Guide for a clue as to which cocktail I’m doing next as technically I should be talking about the Bloody Mary. But I will be honest when I say that there is only one cocktail I hate with a passion and that is the Bloody Mary itself. So we are going to pretend it doesn’t exist for all intents and purposes of this challenge since I want to actually have fun making cocktails like I usually do. I’m not thje only hater of this cokctail in my family either as I’m confident that if I did include itit would likely be my lowest rated cocktail all summer. Let’s fix that by instead talking about the New York Sour.

Now let’s get into this cocktail. This is no doubt a modern classic as the Netflix show Bar Masters had a whol;e challenge dedicated to it, but I will say this is a weirder modern classic as it includes a red wine float and sometimes an egg white along with said wine. I did it with both as that’s how Difford’s Guide presented it, so who am I to argue? Well I am a bartender and so I will argue with how they presented this drink. No disrespect to Difford’s Guide at all with this section, but part of this blog is to share my opinion on these drinks and here is what I would change. First off do one or the other in terms of the egg white and red wine, it won’t be a New York Sour without the wine but it is more pleasing to the taste if you just make a choice either is good it’s just about if you want the red or blue pill. Second off is the ice. I don’t have a problem doing a New York Sour over ice with just the wine float, in fact that’s how I would suggest serving it. Specifically with a large rock. But if you choose to do an egg white at all, omit the ice all together and serve it up in a chilled coupe glass. This is because myself and patrons I’ve had find that the extra water from the ice along with the egg white makes a slimy texture. I will admit that I don’t know the science behind this phenomenon but in experiments I have done I find no ice to be the better choice with an egg white.

Now I want to talk about some positives about this cocktail since it probably seems like I can’t stand it based purely on that last paragraph alone, I don’t. This is a cocktail that I can definitively say is a great “Sunday Cocktail”. The Italians have a special sauce called Sunday Gravy where you take all your leftover meats from the week and throw it in a bolognese style sauce and I see this cocktail as having that vibe. Imagine this, you just had a Saturday party with friends and have leftovers from entertaining that just happen to include a half a bottle of Red Wine that you don’t want to turn into cooking wine yet. This cocktail is perfect to use that wine and some leftover lemon juice, simple syrup and possibly even bourbon (or any whiskey really). This might seem like there are too many coincidences, but in my household we always have excess wine open. You can even use an off nottle of wine and it will shine in this cocktail. This ios a specific problem that probably only the upper middle class has but as I have grown up in that class it is a problem I faced.

Full Judging Here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1becpHbUvbkAZ0EwCOJQIa-vPZPibvvaOQOgFzSNHjeQ/edit?tab=t.0 . Good Night and Happy Drinking!

May 8-Poet’s Dream

Again we have an instance where a cocktail as little information on Difford’s Guide. But what I can tell you about this cocktail is that I was called a psycho for enjoying it. This is nothing against the cocktail, I truly enjoyed it. The reality of cocktail judging is that people have different tastes when it comes to their drinking, my family just doesn’t enjoy Vermouth or benedictine like I do. And that’s totally valid, but that’s the issue with this as a competition since it’s almost completely subjective. Hopefully this is one of the lower average scores we have all summer since they only gave it an average score of 55.33 just 0.33 points above the Left Bank Martini.

Even though this score seems low I would still recommend trying this cocktail, especially if you like the taste of benedictine and vermouth with the botanicals of gin. Again I understand that this cocktail has a very specific taste and you need an even more specific palate to enjoy it, but I say the same thing about Campari and maybe Fernet. Once you develop thew taste for it there is nothing better.

Unfortunately I don’t have much else to say about this drink except that this is a great second use foir that Benedictine you bought to make Monte Carlos.

Full Judging Here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ksWIeA3xTzGd8FH2KLeByPm2ptwmDeNEh9dcKzRcDXs/edit?tab=t.0 .

May 7-French 125

This cocktail was so close to being a true classic cocktail, if only it weren’t for the true French 75 (the one made with gin instead of cognac) stealing its thunder. Nowadays people think it’s okay to lump this one in with its gin counterpart asa one cocktail. I think this is a shame as this cocktail is arguably more French than the French 75 since this one uses cognac (a true French spirit) while the 75 uses gin (typically not French unless you are using something like Citadelle).

Now let’s get into the cocktail specifically and break it down. The original French 75 was named after a French 75mm war cannon, but weirdl;y the more French cocktail of the 2 is named after a Soviet 125mm war cannon. This whole cocktail family is ass backwards if you ask me. That doesn’t change the fact that taste wide it’s one of the better ones I’ve explored. And even if the name isn’t as French as it claims to be the drink itself is so French that I wouldn’t be surprised if it surrendered its spot as a classic to the more British French 75 cocktail. I actually remember this being one of the first cocktyails I learnt since it’s one of my aunt’s favourites I make.

This cocktail is, as I said before the same as a French 75 but with cognac. Othjer than that the other main French ingredient in this cocktail is one of the most French things ever, Champagne. To pair with these is lemon juice and simple syrup. It is a very easy cocktail to learn and yet super satisfying at the same time. This makes both versions some of the best cocktails I know, makes it a shame that this cocktail is a new entry and therefore is only now getting recognition.

Nonetheless my judges all enjoyed this cocktail wholeheartedly scoring it an average score of 77.33 making it the most liked cocktail so far.

Full Judging Here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wnGABvUqHpeQMJ81nTz2zfdSN5zAjoFRmI43I8HpPyE/edit?tab=t.0 . Have a good night and happy drinking!

May 6-Red Hook

There have been a huge influx of Manhattan variations named after NY City neighbourhoods recently. We are featuring one with us today with the Red Hook. This cocktail is widely considered a modern classic by many bartenders even in the massive sea of Manhattan variations. This is possibly in the conversation for the best among these contenders. I’m almost sad that this is one of the only NY City named Manhattan variations we will talk about this summer, I’m really sad we can’t talk about the Little Italy or the Greenpoint. What surprises me even more though is that this cocktail is a new entry, meaning it wasn’t included in last year’s list and that’s a shame considering how good this cocktail is.

Now let’s talk about the cocktail, It is a boozier cocktail registering a 1.7 standard drinks on Difford’s Guide’s calculation. In order to give some perspective to a non-professional bartender, that is equal to almost 2 whole 5 oz glasses of wine. It is for this I must please ask everyone reading to drink this coocktail in moderation. I must say that this will be hard for some due to how good this cocktail is. The combination of the warming rye with the drying maraschino and the bittersweet Punt e Mes is an addicting flavour combo.

Now the history, the cocktail was made by Vincenzo Errico at Milk and Honey somewhere between 2003 and 2005. He is also famous for the cocktail called the Enzoni which uses grapes, not a common ingredient for cocktails even now. But back to the Red Hook this cocktail was, as I said, made at Milk and Honey, the legendary bar created by Sasha Petraske in NYC that was famous for its incredible bartending lineup including Mr. Errico himself as well as Tobey Maloney, Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy. This bar was also responsible for some of the greatest modern classics like the Penicillan, the Paper Plane and the Gold Rush.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1okIWZ7SblIZ5tpNisM0M53h6sDqB0NZKloLG361OTHw/edit?tab=t.0 . Good Night and Happy Drinking.

May 5-Tequila Almond Old Fashioned

So it’s cinco de Mayo and I did'n’t realize that until I got up this morning. So instead of redoing my entire schedule I decided to do a tequila version of today’s cocktail that was under the Variations section under the cocktail. That seems Cinco De Mayo enough right? The Almond Old Fashioned is a classic Old Fashioned with some Amaretto cut in. The tequila version supplants the bourbon and simple syrup for Tequila and Agave Syrup.

This cocktail was created by MArk Prat at the Bar Maze in London, and that’s all that I could find on it from Difford’s Guide. I’m sorry this is a short post but there isn’t much to this cocktail. The interesting thing about this cocktail is that my mom cringed at the smell but loved the taste. Good thing scent isn’t a category in the score sheet. Also my aunt enjoyed it despite being an Amaretto hater. Full judge sheet here : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HGwHfGO0kF9jU6NKA4ccZphMtt-L9XVIyK3Gn_mNDc8/edit?tab=t.0 .

May 4-Trinidad Sour

The Trinidad Sour is one of my favourite cocktails I have learned in my bartending career. The main reason I say this is because it takes the conventional rules of cocktail making and says “Screw you I’m doing my own thing.” The main reason I say this is for the main spirit used. I’ll give you a guess as to what that is…… you are incorrect, because this cocktail uses 1 1/2 oz Angostura Bitters as the main spirit. Yes it also includes rye but the cocktail only uses half the amount of bitters with 3/4 oz of rye. If you did guess bitters, congratulations, have a cookie.

Cookie break over? Great let’s talk about the cocktail more. This drink gets its name from the fact that Angostura Bitters are from Trinidad and Tobago. Aside from that it is a classic sour with lemon juice and a syrup type. Traditionally this cocktail uses orgeat, but I’m allergic to nuts so I was unable to try the original specs, but everyone I had try this said it was absolutely delicious. If you are allergic to nuts like me, I would use simple syrup. You can’t really just omit an ingredient for a cocktail taht you don’t like or can’t eat, you will mess with the balance, I would always say to find a substitute.

Now the history, The cocktail was made at one of the most famous bars in recent memory, The Clover Club by Julie Reiner. The bartender responsible for this is Guiseppe Gonzalez in 2009. The drink was based off the Trinidad Especial by Valentino Bolognese which is a similar cocktail in that it uses Bitters as the main spirit but supplants the Rye for pisco and the lemon is replaced with lime. This cocktail has gone on to inspire many new cocktails including trhe Angostura Colada by Zac Overman at the Sunken Harbour Club which is run by one of my favourite modern bartenders Garrett Richard.

I’m really happy that this cocktail was in the top 100 since it can seem intimidating to some since it has an unorthodox formula featuring a technical non-potable ingredient as the star. Full judging can be found here : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kRWv5nm1UP8VR9KpRP3jAOSss4hh5AqEZcBFEPYq5vs/edit?tab=t.0 and the cocktail can be found here https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/3328/trinidad-sour . Happy Drinking and good night.

May 3-Left Bank Martini

We have a cocktail today by the main man of Difford’s Guide himself, Simon DIfford. Today we are talking about the Left Bank Martini. With the name Left Bank Martini, France nerds can probably tell it has a wine component. This is because the term “Left Bank typically refers to a small region below the Gironde Estuary in the Bordeaux region of France. Even more so this cocktail references the Saint-Germain-des-Pres, a district on the left bank of the River Siene in France, don’t you love it when a name has layers like onions and ogres?

Let’s get into the actual cocktail itself. which cann be found here https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2464/left-bank-martini . To make this a more appetizing ccocktail I recommend using a Sauvignon Blanc over a Chardonnay. The reason behind this is to use a less rich wine to balance the richness of the St. Germain elderflower liqueur but if you love Chardonnay and have a taste for a richer cocktail, then go for it as it will still be amazing. Another note is on the St. Germain, if you cannot find the exact bottle, I find St. Elder to be a fantastic substitute. If you do end up using St. Elder I would use Chardonnay as it is not as rich as St. Germain. But like other cocktails this one is best enjoyed how you like it so I encourage you to play around with different wines to find your perfect specs.

I also don;t use too expensive of a wine for this cocktail and there are 2 reasons for this. The first is as a functioning adult I need to budget my liquor bill with rent and food. The other is I find it a waste of great wine, will it be decadent and amazing, yes but not to the level that I would pay for a $100 bottle of wine for this cocktail, give me the cheap stuff and I’ll make it work. Even boxed wine will shine in this cocktail, but I can understand more if you have an aversion to that stuff from some college experiences I seem to hear from friends of mine where they abused it. It always seems to be boxed wine and jaeger that give the most reviled reaction becauce of college.

I would say the ingredient that shines most in this cocktail is the gin. This is because the botanicals of the gin play really well with most white wines and the St. Germain. And the lime twist just pushes that to the limit in the best possible way. It is for this reason I would say use your favourite gin. If you don’t know I am here to help in the comments. If you are just starting with gin I would use Beefeater. If you liuke a sharper flavour to the gin, I would use Citadelle which is my go-to bottle. Other than this use thew best quality and your favourtie flavour. When my dad visited California recently he brouyght me a bottle of gin back called Junipero which also works great in this cocktail, but obviously as it is in the name it has a Junipery flavour.

So what should you take from this? Experiment with different bottles and find what works for you. This cocktail is the best example of one you coulkd do this with we have seen so far. As al;ways the full scorecards can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18nn2xibkdyBpOWbblU5K33qi_wluFNc4wXnF6PZhvXI/edit?tab=t.0 .So I leave you here, Happy Drinking!!!

May 2-The Sour Apple Martini

The world has a lot of martini variations known as altern’atinis but the Appletini is one of the most popular behind only the Espresso Martini. When I went to bartending school this was one of the first I learned and it has stuck to me all this time. Unfortunately I was unable to find Sour Apple Puckers that were worth the time of day, so I made my own. All you need is 225 ml apple juice, 2 g malic acid, 3.2 g citric acid and 25 g sugar. You just combine them in a saucepan over heat unttil dissolved and boom, a great apple cordial. Also I recommend Martinelli’s apple juice is you don’t have a juicer to make it fresh.

Now let’s talk the history, it started when bar owner Loren “Lola” Dunsworth wanted a new cocktail featuring Ketel One Vodka and Sour Apple Puckers. She gave this challenge to bartender Adam Karston on July 4th 1996 and he gave what I would consider a poor effort even for the mid 90s cocktail culture. He only mixed equal parts Vodka and Apple Puckers with a splash of Sour Mix. At least thew sour mix was homemade otherwise I would say definitively that this was the least deserving cocktail to go mainstream. I still don’t think it is far from that distinction.

As you probably guessed this is not my favourite cocktail, even my least favourite cocktail, The Bloody Mary, is incredibly creative and unique, this one is just a less sour green apple warhead made alcoholic, but if thats what you want it’s better to just soak actual warheads in vodka. But hey if this cocktail is your thing I’m not here to say you are wrong, I’m just sharing my benign opinion that will change nothing in the world. Obviously this cocktail has an audience somewhere or it wouldn’t be #100 on the top list.

One more thing, I am using an adapted recipe for this cocktail because I had to use a homemade cordial. I will link the original one here https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/1797/appletini-sour-apple-martini but if you want my specs with this homemade cordial let me know in the comments. Hopefully this is the only time I have to do this this summer. As I did before my Judge’s Rating is availible here if you want the full details https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Twx2HgIwwWwxacF7KhZQq5Jbr9_P08QGMSvA9LBIxQo/edit?tab=t.0 .

Thank you and have a good night.

May 1-The Californian Margarita

The Californian Margarita was created by Andrew Gelb, who created this cocktail in the comments section for the margarita page on Difford’s Guide. The website named this cocktail after him as he was a self proclaimed “Long Time Californian”. He has 3 main cocktail recipes on his porfile which is linked here https://www.diffordsguide.com/profile/jWq20E.

This coktail was judged by my parents to start off this summer and they agreed on a collective 72 score with my father scoring it 71 and my mother a 73. You can find the entire score sheet here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o8hURe3519XPkjS2EsXTKcnu6O44kdc_syPNbWWiOck/edit?usp=sharing. The most impressive thing about this cocktail is that my father (a known agave hater) went in for a second sip, that’s how good this is for anyone.