Ethel Duffy Cocktail

Take equal parts (3/4 oz.) apricot flavored brandy, creme de menthe (white), and triple sec. Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Shannon thinks this drink is quite tasty. It has a slight medicinal aftertaste, but she enjoys the mintiness. I think that the mintiness and apricot flavor complement each other surprisingly well. I am a little surprised at how the triple sec is overpowered by these other two flavors.

As for who Ethel Duffy was. My rudimentary internet search has not helped me much. It appears that she was an author and translator. Anyone who knows anything about this, drop us some comments.

Button Hook Cocktail

Shake half an ounce of creme de menthe (white), half an ounce of apricot flavored brandy, half an ounce of anisette, and half an ounce of brandy with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

This cocktail is rather tasty in my opinion. Shannon disagrees heartily and made her usual sour face. Guest bloggers Phil and Jannah split in a similar way, Phil thinking the drink wasn't that bad and Jannah cursing to high heaven about it. "It was awful," Jannah said. Phil said he could do with less licorice flavor, but that he'll finish it anyway. "I can't even believe you're drinking it," Jannah said. "You can't even drink it with a straight face." Phil: "It's not that bad."

This is a direct reflection of mine and Crooney's reaction.

Bee Stinger

The bee stinger is half an ounce of creme de menthe and an ounce and a half of blackberry flavored brandy. Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Shannon thinks it tastes like Aim, as in the toothpaste. This isn't exactly bad, but it isn't great either.

Guest judge Kerry thinks it is quite good.

I think it is ok, but perhaps a little heavy on the mint. It was the end of the bottle of creme de menthe, so it might not have been perfectly proportioned.

American Beauty

Take 1 tbsp Orange Juice, 1 tbsp Grenadine, 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth, 1/2 oz Brandy, 1/4 tsp Creme de Menthe (White), shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top it off with a dash of port. Per our previous post, we substituted Creme de Menthe (Green).

This drink has a muted red brick look. It tastes much better. We are both of the opinion that brandy makes some fine mixed drinks.

Shannon: "It's a tasty bugger." She was not expecting mint to mix well with these ingredients, but she admits to being wrong. She wouldn't want to drink a tall glass of this, but in the smaller cocktail size it is quite good.

Jocose Julep

Shannon and I did some food shopping today, so we are circling back to the Jocose Julep. This delightful concoction starts with 2.5 oz bourbon, 0.5 oz creme de menthe, 1 oz lime juice, 1 tsp sugar and 5 chopped mint leaves. Mix these ingredients in a blender, pour into a collins glass full of ice, and top it off with club soda.

I should say at the outset that I half-assed this drink. I neither chopped the mint, nor used the blender. The blender is difficult to get at and I just did not feel like chopping mint.

Anyway, the drink isn't bad. It is pretty minty, and I like mint. The club soda gives it smoothness, but you can still taste that sweet, sweet bourbon in the aftertaste. It is a great drink, but a pain to make.

Shannon also really likes it, but thinks it is really strange nonetheless. In spite of the popularity of the mint julep, she does not think bourbon and mint intuitively go together, but it works.

The Gentleman's Cocktail

Start with 1.5 oz bourbon, add 0.5 oz brandy, and 0.5 oz creme de menthe. Pour over ice into a highball glass and fill with club soda.

As a gentleman, I thought I would really enjoy this cocktail. However, I found it to be rather boring. The various tastes involved largely neutralized each other. The only recognizable taste is the creme de menthe and it is rather weak. It does have a delightful green color, however.

Shannon thinks it is just this blandness that appeals to her. The club soda and creme de menthe minimize the bite of the bourbon, which by now you should realize I do not enjoy. The part of this drink she enjoys the most is the color as well.

This drink also marks a milestone for the project. Today we started our second bottle of bourbon, marking the first bottle of booze completely consumed by the project.

The Dixie Whiskey Cocktail

Back to Mr. B. after a big weekend....

Take 2 oz. bourbon, 1 dash bitters, .25 tsp triple sec, .5 tsp. creme de menthe (white), and .5 tsp. powdered sugar. Mix with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

I like this cocktail. You still taste the bourbon, but the powdered sugar and creme de menthe make it minty and sweet. Shannon, however, thinks it is especially foul.

Once again we substituted an ingredient. Since we had green creme de menthe on hand we used that instead. Wikipedia assured us that the only difference is color. The bilious look of the finished product made me understand why the clear version is the preferred one.

This recipe also confused me a little. According to the conversion chart at the beginning of Mr. Boston, 1 dash is .25 teaspoon. Why one item would be listed as one dash and one as .25 tsp. in the same recipe is beyond me.