The Cocktail Artist

From the Oxford American Dictionary:  vesper,  ˈvespər | noun; to evening prayer;  archaic  evening.  To the Cocktail World the Vesper is the martini version that James Bond introduced in 1953’s Casino Royale —the first Bond book by Ian Fleming. The cocktail was named for double-agent (and Bond love interest) Vesper Lynd. The drink takes a gin martini and ramps it up with a dose of vodka. The original recipe (that Bond recites to a bartender in the book) uses Kina Lillet instead of a martini’s typical dry vermouth. Kina Lillet has been replaced by Lillet Blanc – a sweeter variant without the quinine of the original. Well, since you can’t even obtain the actual ingredients in the original recipe why not just try something completely different – which is what we do with most recipes anyway. We were fortunate to acquire a nice vodka and a lovely quince gin recently and thought that using the Vesper as a template would be a nice way t...

Last month we made a trip to Philadelphia to see the Philadelphia Flower Show. Following our trip to the Flower Show last year we put it on our list of must-see annual events. You don’t need to be a gardener to appreciate the incredible displays, and it is sure to put you in a springtime mood - even if (like this year) winter refuses to go away. The colors and the scents provide both the mixologist and the artist with inspiration. While in Philly, we dropped by the Art in the Age Tasting Room and picked up a couple bottles of their unique liqueurs. We’ve previously purchased Art in the Age releases in our local (D.C.) liquor store, but most of their new products are only available at the tasting room. So now, Art in the Age will  be a   permanent  part of our Spring pilgrimage to Philadelphia. The tasting room stocks Art in the Age’s specialty liqueurs (produced in New Hampshire by Tamworth Distilling ), spirits from Philadelphia’s New Liberty Distillery , and an ...

Back in the pre-prohibition days, Vodka was one of those spirits that people (who weren’t Eastern Europeans) didn’t know what to do with. Thanks in large part to the creation of the drink known as the Moscow Mule (and more recently the proliferation of flavored vodkas) vodka is now the most popular spirit in the world. The Moscow Mule is a combination of vodka, lime, and ginger beer – traditionally served in a copper mug. It’s a refreshing drink with an interesting backstory, but as is the typical case with any story involving liquor, things tend to be a bit muddled (sorry, couldn’t resist the cocktail pun!). The Moscow Mule fell out of fashion during the Cold War, but (despite our current tensions with Russia) it has made quite a comeback. Read this article from Vine Pair to learn more about the history of the Moscow Mule. We decided to do a “martini style” version of the Moscow Mule using ginger liqueur in place of the ginger beer. Since we’re serving this in a cocktail coupe...

There's a great old standard "I'd Like to Get You on a Slow Boat to China". It was published in 1948 and covered by singers  ranging from Rosemary Clooney to Paul McCartney. The idea behind the lyrics is that if you want to spend an extended period of time with someone, a slow boat trip to a far away place would work well (assuming the other person wants to be there with you). If you're looking for a soundtrack to this cocktail there's a great version sung by Dee Dee Bridgewater on YouTube . So what's this tune got to do with our drink? Well, we have been experimenting with Bigallet China-China Liqueur which (despite the repetition of "China" in it's name) is a product of France, where it's been produced by Bigallet since 1875.  You can use the link above to go to Bigallet's website where there's a cool video of them making liqueur. China-China is a blend of sweet and bitter orange peels macerated in beet neutral alcohol and ...

Lavender Hill Farm - original watercolor by the Cocktail Artist Northern Michigan is filled with gorgeous scenery - clear blue lakes, pine forests, and idyllic family farms. In mid-summer, the sea of purple blooms at Lavender Hill Farm is absolutely stunning. This lavender farm is located in Horton Bay (Boyne City), Michigan - a small hamlet where Ernest Hemingway spent many summers and the setting for his story "Up in Michigan". If you are anywhere near this part of the world during the month of July you shouldn't miss visiting the farm. Not only will you be treated with the visual beauty of the lavender fields, but the scent is utterly intoxicating (in a completely non-alcoholic way). Research shows that lavender produces soothing effects when its fragrance is inhaled, and we can verify that this place fills you with a sense of calm. Coming from Washington, DC (where we live most of the year) we are quite desperate for some calm. We picked fresh lavender at the ...

Basil Gimlet - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist For a number of years this has been one of our favorite summer cocktails, but we just can't resist continuing to tweak it. We've made it with either gin or vodka with good results, but when we tried adding a bit of aquavit we felt that we had arrived at the perfect balance. The fresh basil really comes through when enhanced by the herbal flavor of the aquavit. The lime juice and muddled basil also give the cocktail a vibrant green color - making it a lovely muse for a watercolor painting. Because we love Italian food, we always have plenty of sweet basil growing during the summer - usually in pots so that it can be moved around during the course of the growing season. When the weather gets cool we bring it indoors just to extend the taste of summer a bit longer. If you are not growing basil at home you can certainly find it now at the farmer's market. To keep cut basil fresh, trim the stems and put it in a ja...

The Blue Garden - original artwork by the Cocktail Artist For many years we only planted blue and purple flowers in our garden (with the exception of some of our azaleas). It's so nice to look out at that cool color palette during the heat of the summer. Blues are also a good palette for summer watercolor paintings, and this post includes a few of the blue floral watercolors we have done during the past several summers. There is no shortage of blue flower paintings done by great masters. Take a look at Irises , Van Gogh, 1889 (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) and Monet's Water Lilies , 1914 - 1926 (MoMA, New York) . In the description of Monet's 3-panel oil painting, the Museum of Modern Art says that Monet was trying to create " the refuge of a peaceful meditation in the center of a flowering aquarium. " That's exactly the atmosphere we are looking for on a hot and muggy summer day. Just to be clear, we are in no way comparing our artwork with these ...

Typically we come up with a drink recipe and then create some original artwork to illustrate the cocktail. This time we are working in reverse. The watercolor of Split Rock Lighthouse was painted a number of years ago by the artist member of this partnership. It’s a painting we’ve always loved and it hangs in our dining room. For our Split Rock Cocktail we are translating the colors of the rocks, sky and water into purple basil, blueberry and honey (along with alcohol of course - but more on that later). Split Rock is located on Lake Superior - north of Duluth. According to the Minnesota Historical Society; “A November gale that wrecked nearly 30 ships in 1905 prompted this rugged landmark's construction. When the U.S. Lighthouse Service completed Split Rock Light Station in 1910, it soon became one of Minnesota's best known destinations… with a drama-filled history and breathtaking Lake Superior views.” Split Rock Lighthouse is worth the trip, but we suggest you try to...

Darn! Why didn’t we buy those airline tickets to Italy when they were cheap? It would be so nice to be lounging in a beautiful Italian seaside town right now.  The Amalfi region, on Italy's west coast, is known for it's production of lemon liqueur and fine writing and art paper - sounds like the perfect place for us! Oh well, maybe it would be better to be there during the off season. Italy is probably packed with American tourists right now. Let's  just pull out the watercolor paints and the cocktail shaker and bring a bit of la dolce vita  to our patio. Our Amalfi Martini (naturally) features limoncello. It's a fairly low-alcohol liqueur, so we boost the proof of this cocktail by adding our vodka of choice - District Made Vodka by One Eight Distilling. If you are using a vodka that doesn't have much flavor on it's own (which, honestly, is most vodka) you may want to add a couple dashes of citrus bitters to this recipe. This just wouldn't be an Ita...

Despite the inconsistent spring weather, there are things blooming here in the District of Columbia. It probably won't be the best year for the cherry blossoms on the tidal basin, but the trees are trying to tough it out after a cold snap caught them in mid-bloom.   So, we are dedicating this blog entry to spring and it's blossoms - which happens to work out well for the art (Chris has been doing a lot of flower paintings recently) and for the cocktail. For our vodka-based drink, we are also featuring St. Germain - an elderflower liquor made from flowers that are gathered from the hillsides in the French Alps each spring. In a nod to our local blossoms, we have added cherry juice and cherry bitters to the cocktail (along with some citrus to brighten the flavor). We think this drink has the taste of spring - and it does look nice and fresh with the blossoms from our garden.  Happy spring! Spring Blossom 1 1/2 oz. Vodka 1 oz. St. Germain 1 oz. Tart...