PH factor: 9.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 1 ½ ounces Remy Martin VSOP cognac o ½ ounce Aperol o ½ ounce Amontillado sherry o ¼ ounce green Chartreuse o 1 dash Angostura bitters o 1 dash Hella Orange bitters Garnish o lemon peel Method: 1. Stir cocktail ingredients over ice in a mixing glass. 2. Strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. 3. Garnish with a lemon peel. Remarks: Move over doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles, there’s a new dog in town. By the way, if crisp apple strudel is your thing, see our Apple Strudel and Brandy Cocktail. . . .

PH factor: 8.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 2 ounces Hennessey VO cognac o ½ ounce Bénédictine D.O.M. o ¼ ounce Fernet~Branca Garnish o lemon twist Method: 1. Stir cocktail ingredients over ice in a mixing glass. 2. Serve up in a cocktail glass. 3. Garnish with lemon twist. Remarks: This is exactly what you mean when you say, “I could use a drink, a real drink.” . . .

PH factor: 8.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 1 ½ ounces Remy Martin VSOP cognac o ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice o 1 tablespoon Simple Syrup, see: Syrups etc. o champagne Garnish o lemon twist Method: 1. Stir to combine first three ingredients in a champagne flute. 2. Top with champagne. 3. Stir once gently. 4. Garnish with a lemon twist. Remarks: There are many theories of its origins, and much debate over gin vs. brandy. We do know the recipe was first recorded in 1930. The name may have come from a remark of a World War I pilot who said drinking it felt like being on the receiving end of a French 75mm field cannon. Of course, he might have been referring to how his head felt the morning after drinking too many. You decide. . . .

PH factor: 9.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o sugar o 2 ounces 1800 Reposado tequila o 1 ounce Hennessy VS cognac o 1 ounce Cointreau o ½ ounce fresh lime juice o 1 tablespoon agave nectar Garnish o lime wedges Method: 1. Moisten the rim of a cocktail glass with lime juice and invert it into a shallow dish of sugar to coat the rim of the glass. 2. Shake remaining cocktail ingredients over ice. 3. Serve up in the prepared glass. 4. Garnish with lime wedges. Remarks: Margarita-like? Sure. Dessert-like? Certainly. Do we need a dessert-like margarita? Absolutely! . . .

PH factor: 8.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 1 ounce Hennessy VS cognac o 1 ounce Boulard Calvados VSOP o 1 splash grenadine o 1 tablespoon lemon juice Method: 1. Shake over ice. 2. Serve up in a cocktail glass. Remarks: Not at all like dropping a shot glass filled with something into a mug filled with something else. That original Depth Charge illustrated the name of its drink better than most. . . .

PH factor: 9.0 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 2 ounces Remy Martin VSOP cognac o 1 ounce Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao o 1 ounce fresh lemon juice Garnish o lemon twist Method: 1. Moisten the rim of a cocktail glass with lemon juice and invert it into a shallow dish of sugar to coat the rim. 2. Shake cocktail ingredients over ice. 3. Serve up in the prepared glass. 4. Express the lemon peel over the cocktail and drop it in as the garnish. Remarks: The Sidecar is a classic cocktail with quite a few iterations. We have included many. This one stands up well in that company. . . .

0PH factor: 9.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 1 ounce Hennessy VS cognac o 2 ounces Lillet Blanc o ¼ ounce Pernod Absinthe Supérieure Garnish o orange peel Method: 1. Stir cocktail ingredients over ice in a mixing glass. 2. Strain into a cocktail glass. 3. Express orange peel over the glass and drop it in as a garnish. Remarks: This is a pleasant surprise. A bright tasting cocktail that goes down easily and will have you asking, “Please sir, may I have another?” . . .

PH factor: 8.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 2 ounces Hennessy VS cognac o 2 ounces Campari o 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, see: Syrups etc. o 1 ounce fresh lemon juice Garnish o lemon peel Method: 1. Shake cocktail ingredients over ice. 2. Serve up in a cocktail glass. 3. Garnish with lemon peel. Remarks: Why Blue Edisonian? Some say it has to do with the blue color emitted by his first lightbulbs. We have no idea. But if you want to know how to tame Campari with citrus, let's get started. . . .

PH factor: 9.0 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 6-8 large fresh blueberries or 2 bar spoons blueberry preserves o 2 mint leaves o 1 ½ ounces Woodford Reserve bourbon o ¾ ounce Hennessey VS cognac o 1 tablespoon Honey Syrup, see: Syrups etc. o 1 dash almond extract o 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice Garnish o mint sprig Method: 1. Muddle berries or preserves with 2 mint leaves in a cocktail shaker. 2. Add ice and remaining cocktail ingredients and shake to chill. 3. Double strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. 4. Garnish with mint sprig. Remarks: The wild berry version did score higher while the preserves were sweeter. There is no compelling reason to not make this cocktail using either. So, if you don't have fresh berries, “Don’t stay thirsty, my friend”. . . .

PH factor: 9.0 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 1 ½ ounces Remy Martin VSOP cognac o 1 ½ ounces Bénédictine D.O.M. Method: 1. Combine in a snifter. 2. Enjoy. Remarks: In the early 1900’s combining equal parts of these spirits became a cocktail. In the 1930’s it was commercialized as B&B by aging 60% Bénédictine D.O.M and 40% brandy in oak. Let us return to the golden age of the B&B Cocktail, with a 50-50 split. You can of course let it “age” by drinking it very slowly. We say, "Good luck with that!" . . .

PH factor: 8.5 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 2 ounces Pedro Domencq Fundador brandy o ½ ounce Pierre Farrand Dry Curaçao o 1 dash Angostura bitters o 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters Garnish o lemon peel Method: 1. Shake cocktail ingredients over ice. 2. Serve up in a cocktail glass. 3. Garnish with lemon peel. Remarks: A “classic” cocktail formula that dates to the early 1800’s i.e., spirit, sweetener, water, and bitters. The lemon peel would have been considered a bit “fancy” back in the day. . . .

PH factor: 9.0 Recipe Ingredients: Cocktail o 2 ounces Pedro Domecq Fundador brandy o ½ ounce Pierre Farrand Dry Curaçao o 1 dash Pernod Absinthe Supérieure o ½ ounce fresh lime juice Garnish o orange twist Method: 1. Shake cocktail ingredients over ice. 2. Serve up in a cocktail glass. 3. Garnish with orange twist. Remarks: If you’re like us, you probably said, "Spanish brandy and lime? Curaçao and absinthe?' Whoa, this is different. You might even feel, after your first sip, that you were right to question these pairings. But, by the time you’ve gotten about halfway through, it will dawn on you that different is not such a bad thing, after all. . . .