Home Forums FineTunedMac Community Lounge My "trademark" cocktails

> Artie, we should discuss some of your trademark cocktails in the Lounge!

OK, Alex...

If, by "trademark cocktails," you mean those I've created I'll have to disappoint you...there's only one: The "38 North" is a straight-up made of vodka (I prefer Ketel One.) with tiny dashes of Cointreau and Korean plum liqueur (Plum wine just doesn't cut it.), and it's so deadly that even hard-core drinkers who came in specifically to have a couple were unable to finish more than one; all the same, it made me some good bucks. (I was working in a Korean sushi joint at the time and used the "north of the 38th parallel" tag to call attention to its deadliness.)

My real trademark cocktails are the *classic* straight-ups I've labeled "attack drinks," because they jump out of the glass and go for your throat before you've even had a chance to take a sip:

Martinis (A martini is a cocktail made of GIN and vermouth... *not* vodka, and *never* "extra-dry, no vermouth, please.")

Manhattans

Sidecars

Stingers

Margaritas

and the newcomer, Cosmopolitans, which I call "terrorist drinks," because their deceptive pink color masks the fact that they are no more than pretty Kamikazes.

(I haven't worked in a while, because NYC bars no longer hire professional bartenders, but I don't think I've forgotten anything.)

All this reminds me of the new principal at my wife's school. Yeah, weird, I know. The woman's first name is Tequila. No telling what her mother was high on....

Better than being named Topanga, no?

She's probably also intoxicating and spicy...

Interesting. Your trademark one sounds like a sweet vodka with orange and plum flavor. Definitely unusual. What is the strength of that Korean liqueur? How do you serve it? Chilled? Another question: why Cointreau and not Grand Marnier? I find the latter less biting and "alcoholic", with a richer taste. Or was that the reason - not to "spoil" vodka?

Or intoxicated and sassy.

Back on topic: my favorite cocktail.... Del Monte (fruit variety)

> Better than being named Topanga, no?

When my Mom was a school librarian she ran across many unusual names, but the one I've always though takes the cake is Tura Lura Lipschutz!

> Your trademark one sounds like a sweet vodka with orange and plum flavor.

I consider Ketel One smooth...not-biting, but not particularly sweet; for a sweet vodka, try Finlandia.

> What is the strength of that Korean liqueur?

My fuzzy memory guesses 60 proof, but I haven't seen a bottle since 2001 and don't even know if, let alone where, in "Korean Town" I could find one to check.

> How do you serve it? Chilled?

I've never run across a straight-up that wasn't served chilled; I'd be curious to learn.

> Another question: why Cointreau and not Grand Marnier?

Personally, I stay away Grand Marnier, both as mixer and after-dinner drink, as a rule; I find it cloying. (It just *did not* work in a 38 North; I don't even like it in a "top-shelf" margarita.) Which, of course, is not to detract from the fact that every bar in which I've ever worked sells considerably more GM than Cointreau.

What's your interest in all this? Are you in the bar/restaurant business?