cocktail corner_aug.06 7/7/06 3:21 PM Page 1

cocktailcorner by Dale DeGroff

sweet & drinks THE BENCHMARK

f your bar has made the big step to fresh juice sour drinks and you are to use the rich syrup with the following having trouble with the recipes, join the club. Sweet and sour drinks still recipe for a Whiskey Sour: I remain the biggest challenge for bartenders. They are truly the drinks 1/2 oz. rich simple syrup that separate the professional from the student. The biggest mistake that 3/4 oz. lemon juice bartenders make in this category is producing drinks that appeal to their 2 oz. of American whiskey

tastes instead of the palates of the general public. The average consumer Even after shaking with ice and adding up to won’t tolerate a sour drink. an ounce of water, the drink was sorry look- Test your recipes on managers and colleagues before going live with ing and unbalanced in the big 8 ounce glass. It looked stingy. I tried bumping the lemon them. It’s essential to review the details of the process, like the strength of juice to 1 ounce and the simple syrup to 3/4 the simple syrup and the consistency of syrup preparation, from bartender ounce and the drink looked better, but the to bartender. lemon took over and the resulting drink was way out of balance on the acid side. The solution I found was to create more volume with the ingredient that added MY RECIPE lar is 50 brix, or half sugar and half water, and sweetness but not flavor - the simple syrup. I Here is the formula I arrived at after much the rich is two parts sugar to one part water. changed the simple syrup recipe to one to thought and feedback from countless cus- one and switched the sweet and sour ingredi- tomers and the formula I have used success- BACK IN THE DAY ents in the recipe, arriving at the following: fully for years: When I started my exploration of fresh fruit drinks in 1984 at the insistence of my boss 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice 3/4 oz. sour and mentor Joe Baum in New York City, I 1 oz. simple syrup (50 brix) 1 oz. sweet started by exploring old bar books and many 2 oz. of American whiskey 1 1/2 to 2 oz. strong of them prescribed the rich formula two to one. Remember, a typical drink was much With 3 3/4 oz. of over-all liquid before Plug that into a Whiskey Sour, for exam- smaller when those books were written shaking, the drink looked great in the big ple, and we get: because many of these drinks were served in glass. After I shook it with ice, I got the a small 3 to 4 ounce cocktail glass. A typi- additional ounce of water, an important 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice cal recipe would be: ingredient in any cocktail. It looked great; I 1 oz. simple syrup* got volume and a well-balanced drink! 1 1/2 oz. American Whiskey 1/2 oz. rich simple syrup All recipes are just the starting point, (Scotch is an option but Whiskey Sours are 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice because the final arbiter of taste is the per- generally blended or straight American and 1 oz. of the spirit son across the bar. In the case of the sour- I would recommend a good bourbon like style drinks, there is a wide latitude of pref- Maker’s Mark or Woodford Reserve). After shaking, the drink would nicely erence, but the rule of thumb is almost all fill the small glass. But when I tried that for- drinkers will tolerate a slightly over the line *Let’s get to specifics about simple syrup mula, I hit a snag; my cocktail glass meas- sweet drink, but almost none will tolerate a and not the store-bought variety. There are ured 8 ounces. I was constrained by man- sour drink. Fresh lemon and lime juice are two recipes for simple syrup that most bars agement to use maximum two ounces of unforgiving and a small over-use will result use: regular simple and rich simple. The regu- spirit to produce the sour style drinks. I tried in an undrinkable potion. cocktail corner_aug.06 7/7/06 3:22 PM Page 2

Recipes

TOM COLLINS 1 1/2 oz. 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice 1 oz. simple syrup 2 oz. club soda

Shake the first three ingredients well with ice and strain into a Collins or chimney glass and top with the sparkling water. Garnish with a flag (orange slice and a cherry or in Assemble all the ingredients in BOURBON STONE SOUR English fashion with a lemon slice). a filled with ice (also known as a California Sour) Note: adding mint leaves to a makes and shake well to a slow ten count. 1 1/2 oz. bourbon a pleasing variation on this drink. Strain into the serving glass of 1 oz. simple syrup choice (rocks glass or cocktail glass 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice if served without ice). Prepare the 1 oz. fresh orange juice 3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice serving glass by frosting half of 1 oz. Cointreau the outside rim with Kosher or Shake all ingredients with ice and strain 1/2 oz. simple syrup margarita salt. Never use iodized into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish 1 1/2 oz. (100% blue agave plata) table salt; it is much too salty! with an orange slice and a cherry.