Silent Third

Now here’s an under the radar drink that I only alighted on because it had triple sec in it and I was wanting to use triple sec. Until relatively recently I assumed triple sec was some crap that you put in margaritas, and I don’t make margaritas, so whatever. Then I had a Deshler and then I actually looked up what this “crap” was. So I didn’t buy Cointreau but rather the random DeK***** stuff that is at the store and which probably is really OK or whatever.

The Silent Third is a drink that’s like a scotch sour in a way — 2 parts scotch, 1 part triple sec and 1 part lemon juice. Jen liked it, for what it’s worth.

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.

A Soothing Cocktail for a Snowy Evening

Ingredients

Hey, clouds, enough with the snow already. If I liked this much snow, I’d live in Quebec.

Speaking of Quebec, they make kickass apple brandy there.  Here’s a way to use such ambrosia to take the edge off a cold winter’s night.  Calvados will do just fine if you’re not close to an SAQ.

Soothing Cocktail (a tweak on the “Soother Cocktail” in Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide, 2009 Edition)

1 oz VSOP Armangac
1 oz Apple Liqueur
1 oz Triple Sec
2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into two martini glasses.