Where Have You Gone, Audrey Fanning?

I don’t think “Audrey Fanning” actually refers to anyone in particular but it is a cocktail in Mr. Boston: five parts gin, two parts sweet vermouth, one part Cherry Heering and two dashes Peychaud’s bitters. It’s a good cocktail: someone online (just saw it on the Google result, and didn’t actually read the post itself — which happens like all the time, when you think about it) mentioned it’s like a modified Negroni, which is perceptive, in retrospect. It’s good; tastes like a cocktail. A few days later, I think it could even use a lemon twist.

Tonight, I substituted Dubonnet for the sweet vermouth; this tasted even better. Still think it could maybe use a lemon twist. Or an orange twist maybe.

On a somewhat related note, a drop of Peychaud’s landed on the counter and I thought to taste it on its own: it’s like an elderly man’s cheap cologne.

This Is A Very Good Cocktail

The Duboudreau Cocktail (PDT, page 110), created by Jim Meehan based on some other mixologist’s recipe, is eight parts rye, three parts Dubonnet Rouge, one part Fernet-Branca and one part Elderflower liqueur. We don’t have Fernet-Branca, because whenever I think about buying it it seems kind of expensive. Jen suggested substituting Cynar for it, which I did. This is a very good cocktail.

Shake ‘N Bake Cocktails

The thing I learned, belatedly, after buying a fucking thing of it, is that the only thing Drambuie is good for is a Rusty Nail, which I still haven’t bothered making not least of which because Drambuie, as a scotch-based herbal whatever the fuck ever, is mixed with straight scotch. Basically, what the fuck? Scotch mixed with scotch? You’re kidding, right? So I never use it.

I suppose I should try a Rusty Nail. Maybe not now but some other time. Maybe tomorrow, just to get it out of the way. But I can’t believe it’s awesome. It’s just two ingredients, right?

All of which is to say, this colored my idea about a Dubonnet Cocktail, which at two ingredients (gin and Dubonnet Rouge), equally measured, seems too simple to be good. That’s a bad assumption. It’s a good cocktail. It feels like making a pork chop with Shake ‘n Bake, but it’s good. It has orange bitters, too. But still.

Two Versions Of The Same, Neither Of Them Done Exactly Right

The Deshler (PDT, page 105) is a drink that I’ve had twice tonight, neither time made how it’s apparently intended. It calls for [conjuring ye olde tymey time form of transmitting proportions in cocktail recipes] six parts rye, four parts Dubonnet (which I bought a bottle of today) and one part Cointreau, with two dashes of Peychaud’s.

I don’t have Cointreau. But Goober googled it and ran upstairs and got some triple sec, which Cointreau is?. So we used that the first time. Lo, this is one nice tasting cocktail! Without looking at the ingredients (or without looking at them too closely), Goober correctly guessed that it was a variation on a Manhattan, which the note says it is. To me, this tasted more complete and cocktail-y than a Manhattan; as strange as that sounds, my impression of Manhattans is that they’re rye with an added subtle flavor of some sort. Which, don’t get me wrong, I really, really like, but is usually just kind of boozy tasting.

After Jen got home late from work we made another cocktail, and it wasn’t until I poured a couple of ingredients that I realized that Goober’s triple sec was locked away upstairs. We figured our bottle of Domanier Cognac A l’Orange would be, uh, orange tasting. It’s a Grand Marnier knockoff, I think. We did that. Not the same but still decently cocktail-like.