Golden Ratios: The Red Hook

The second cocktail to examine is the Red Hook, created only ten years ago by Vincenzo Errico at Milk & Honey. This is the most popular of Brooklyn variations (something we discussed last post), with Punt e Mes playing the role of both vermouth and bittering agent for Amer Picon. To bartenders, the beauty of this drink is more its balance than its flavour. Given almost any three ingredients (within reason), applying a Red Hook structure will surprisingly often make a dry, balanced flavour. Some bartenders like to push the maraschino to half an ounce, but I implore you to add no more than a quarter lest the drink become sweet, cloying, and the liqueur dominate the flavour. Here is the ratio:

2 part spirit

½ part fortified wine

¼ part liqueur

Like the Negroni, there are numerous options just with the above ingredients, but swapping similar ingredient-types gives a mind-boggling number of options. A fun experiment is to randomly choose a spirit and any two ingredients off the backbar and add them together in Red Hook ratios (using your judgement) and you’ll be surprised at how well these drinks tend to turn out. Keep in mind that the spirit is your drying element, the ½oz ingredient will add flavour but also soften edges and strong flavours, and the ¼oz ingredient is potent and therefore requires only a small amount. Reserve strong flavours, like Chartreuse or Fernet, for the ¼oz.

Below again are just a few variations, the first two from Pourhouse in Vancouver, and the last again from yours truly.

Name           Spirit                      Fortified Wine      Liqueur          Additions

Red Hook       rye                                Punt e Mes              maraschino       

Crit Milano    Booker’s bourbon         Averna                    Strega

Wilhemsen’s   Linie Akvavit (1.75)        Bitter Truth EXR     Campari

Gun For Hire    Elijah Craig bourbon    Averna                    Y. Chartreuse     Bitter Truth 

Aromatic bitters, 

Ardbeg rinse

The Red Hook ratios also lend themselves extremely well to classic cocktails, some of which may seem unbalanced to our modern palates. Try some of the below and you’ll be inspired to scour old cocktail books looking for old ideas to update.

La Louisiane  rye                             sweet vermouth        Benedictine          Angostura,                                                                                                                                                                   Peychaud’s,

absinthe rinse

Martinez        gin                             sweet vermouth        maraschino       Boker’s bitters

Toronto            rye                             Fernet Branca          simple syrup      Angostura

The next time you find a drink you think might be unbalanced or you come up with a combination of ingredients you want to try, look to classic structures. They’re classic for a reason.

Golden Ratios: The Negroni

To finish off the concept of ‘golden ratios,’ we are going to examine two more influential structures. One is a true classic perhaps more popular today than ever, and the other is a contemporary classic, young in age but old in sensibility and inspiration.

Beginning with the former in 1919, Florence, Italy, the story goes that Count Negroni requested a stronger version of his favourite cocktail - the Milano Torino (later known as the Americano - you can see a more detailed discussion here). This drink is a mixture of three elements - Torino vermouth (what we now typically call simply “sweet”), Campari, and soda water on the rocks with a lemon garnish. Swapping the soda for gin and the lemon for orange created one of most enduring classics there is, aptly named the “Negroni.” The beauty of the drink is that each ingredient - spirit, vermouth, amaro - are present in equal parts and balance together perfectly. It is the perfect aperitif: dry enough to stimulate the palate, not too sweet, not too bitter, and not too strong. Variations came about quickly, showing in print as early as 1927 from Harry McElhone’s American Bar in Paris. This most famous twist, called the Boulevardier, swaps gin for bourbon, and in American fashion, is served up rather than on ice. Swapping bourbon for rye and sweet vermouth for dry gives us the Old Pal, and the list goes on. Given how many spirit, fortified wine, and amaro options there are, the possibilities are numerous, but being creative about the structure itself can allow you to create some truly interesting and unique tasting cocktails.

The Negroni is defined not so much by looking at the ingredients this way:

1 part spirit
1 part fortified wine
1 part amaro 

but rather this way:

1 part dry
1 part sweet
1 part bitter

Below are some classic and contemporary examples. The newer additions include the Negroni Sbagliato (meaning literally “mistaken” because the bartender grabbed a bottle of sparkling wine instead of gin) from mid 20th century Milan, the Hoighty Toighty from Amor y Amargo in New York, the Stenson (named after influential bartender Murray Stenson) from Pourhouse in Vancouver, and The Black Rider, from yours truly. 

Name                    Dry            Sweet               Bitter            Additions

Negroni                      gin               sweet vermouth      Campari           rocks, orange twist

Boulevardier             bourbon        sweet vermouth      Campari           orange twist

Old Pal*                     rye              dry vermouth          Campari   

Negroni Sbagliato     sparkling      sweet vermouth      Campari           orange twist

Hoighty Toighty         genever        sweet vermouth      Cynar              orange twist

Stenson                     bourbon       Calvados                Averna             Boker’s bitters

The Black Rider**     mezcal         brandy                  Cynar (¾)

* for the Old Pal, while the original recipes call for Canadian rye whisky, be aware that due to lack of regulation, the majority of Canadian whisky today contains no rye at all. This drink should be made with American rye for good results.

** for The Black Rider, use a softer mezcal like Fidencio, and a big, fruity brandy like Torres 5-Year Old.

Next time we’ll look at some applications of the Red Hook.

Golden Ratios: The Brooklyn

Last post we looked at the concept of using basic cocktail structures to make a range of classics and even come up with new ideas. By learning the role of each ingredient in a drink, classic ratios can be used for a wide variety of cocktails by swapping out different agents. For example, a Daiquiri, Margarita, and Whiskey Sour can all be made with the same recipe just by swapping the base spirit, sweetening agent, and sour/acidic agent.

This time we will look at a commonly used cocktail structure that does not contain any juice, that of The Brooklyn Cocktail. This Manhattan variation is a more complex and dry alternative to its forefather and made its first appearance in print in 1908. It is a favourite among bartenders and aficionados mostly due to the lack of availability of one defining ingredient: Amer Picon. This amer, or French bitter like the Italian amaro, was invented in 1837 and made from dried oranges, quinquina, and gentian, then sweetened and coloured with sugar and caramel. While it is most often enjoyed as an aperitif or with beer in Europe, it is most commonly used in the U.S. in cocktails, namely the Brooklyn. What it makes it so sought after is not just that it is so rare to find, but also that its recipe was changed twice - once in the 1970’s and once in the 80’s - to reduce to proof. This makes the currently available Picon noticeably sweeter. Jamie Boudreau at Canon in Seattle actually developed a recipe to recreate the original Picon using a combination of Amaro Ramazzotti, orange tincture, and blood orange bitters (a recipe that can be found here http://spiritsandcocktails.wordpress.com/2007/09/09/amer-picon/). This makes for a considerably drier and more accurate Brooklyn.

Like every drink, there is not just one recipe and of course some will argue which one is “right.” The right one is the one you like best, but for the purpose of this discussion I will be looking at the the most commonly used and agreed upon recipe as it is a very balanced and easily translated structure. (Please note that only cocktails containing egg, juice, or cream should be shaken so from here on out all these drinks should be stirred). 

Brooklyn Cocktail

2 oz straight rye whiskey

½ oz dry vermouth

¼ oz maraschino liqueur

¼ oz Amer Picon

This is a very dry recipe, and if you are using Boudreau’s less sweet Picon, I even suggest going for about 1.75oz of whiskey instead of the full 2oz. Note the role and ratio of each ingredient:

- The base is (around) 2 oz

- The vermouth, which softens the base, helps blend the ingredients, and adds some herbaceous character, is ½ oz

- The sweetening agent (maraschino) is ¼ oz

- The bittering agent (Picon) is ¼ oz. It will also have a slight sweetening property.

The inability of bartenders to procure Picon led many to start substituting other amari or similar ingredients, such as Cynar, Punt e Mes, or simply a combination of bitters. Many of these drinks are so good and well-received that they became modern classics, such as the Bensonhurst, Red Hook, and Greenpoint (all named after Brooklyn neighbourhoods). This makes the Brooklyn not just useful as a basic structure but also in a creative sense as it is the progenitor of a whole family of drinks.

Creativity here is simple as the sweetening agent can be swapped for any liqueur, syrup, or even amaro, the dry vermouth can be swapped to sweet or even an amaro, and the base can be any spirit. The bittering agent has fewer options if swapped directly, as you may be left with a bitter vermouth or another amaro, unless it is viewed as two components. As I mentioned, the Picon both bitters and slightly sweetens the drink, so this can be replaced by two ingredients, such as a liqueur and some bitters. Try a mezcal base, or a rum base with Chartreuse for sweetness, or a bourbon base with two amari instead of just one. Below are some popular modern Brooklyn variations. 

Bensonhurst (Milk & Honey, New York)

2 oz straight rye whiskey

½ oz dry vermouth

¼ oz maraschino

¼ oz Amaro Cynar 

Carroll Gardens (Death & Company, New York)

2 oz straight rye whiskey

½ oz Punt e Mes

½ oz Amaro Nardini

¼ oz maraschino 

Grand Street (Death & Company, New York)

2 oz gin

½ oz Punt e Mes

¼ oz maraschino

¼ oz Cynar

Grapefruit twist 

Coin Toss* (Death & Company, New York)

2 oz dark rum

½ oz Carpano Antica

¼ oz Yellow Chartreuse

¼ oz Benedictine

2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters 

That Old Feeling (Pourhouse, Vancouver)

1½ oz Martin Miller gin

½ oz Carpano Antica

¼ oz Carpano Bianco

¼ oz Fernet Branca

3-4 dashes Angostura Bitters

For conceptual purposes, here is the above list in chart format:

Drink Name       Base (2oz)    Vermouth (½oz)    Sweet (1/4oz)    Bitter (¼oz)   Addition

Brooklyn             rye whiskey     dry                        maraschino         Amer Picon   

Bensonhurst       rye whiskey     dry                        maraschino         Amaro Cynar   

Carroll Gardens  rye whiskey    Punt e Mes            maraschino         Amaro Nardini   ¼ Nardini

Grand Street       gin                 Punt e Mes             maraschino         Amaro Cynar      GF twist

Coin Toss            dark rum         sweet                    Y. Chartreuse      [Benedictine]*  Peychauds

That Old Feeling gin                 sweet                     bianco                Fernet              Angostura

[* - the Coin Toss has mostly sweet components, so using Punt e Mes instead of Carpano or a more potent aromatic bitters instead of Peychaud’s are simple ways to make the drink more appropriately dry]

One of the most famous and well-crafted Brooklyn variations is The Red Hook, which has the same concept and a similar flavour profile but a different structure containing only three ingredients. It is possibly the easiest and most useful structure to use for stirred drinks and I will discuss it in detail next post.

Golden Ratios: The Sour

When I'm behind the bar I often get asked how much time I spend memorizing drink recipes. The answer is basically none. Most cocktail bartenders would likely say the same thing. The reason is not because we as a group have photographic memories or peek at cheat sheets before making every drink, it's because mixed drinks as a whole tend to share one of a few classic structures (except Tiki, but that's a different story altogether). While everyone may have slightly different recipes for specific drinks and for this reason there is no right recipe for any drink, they can all be grouped into certain categories using common ingredient ratios. From there, ingredients can be swapped to create different drinks or to create original ones. For example, a Margarita, Whiskey Sour, Sidecar, and Clover Club can all be made by using the same ratio and just swapping out specific ingredients. The best way to understand these structures is to understand the history of mixed drinks and to be familiar with the classics. Any bartender interested in making quality cocktails should learn this history, as the majority of all modern drinks are variations on old ones.

The easiest place to start is the Sour. By definition, this drink is simply a combination of a base spirit, a sweetening agent, and a souring or acidic agent, usually citrus juice. First a brief history...

Long before the "Cock-tail" or "Bittered Sling" the Punch was the king of the mixed drink world. Appearing first in at least the mid 16th century, Punch became a staple in home and tavern drinking from the mid 17th century until the mid 19th. It consisted of simply a collection of local spices, seasonal fruit, liqueurs and spirits, and later - if one was so fortunate to have any - a block of ice. It was in the the mid 1800's that sitting around a bowl of Punch for hours on end lost its appeal and drinkers preferred something smaller and quicker. So, Punch shrank from bowl-size to glass-size and thus birthed the Golden Age of Mixed Drinks. The simplest of Punches became the simplest of juice drinks - The Sour - and variations ensued, including the Fizz, Fix, Collins, Smash, Daisy, and so on. Changing the presentation or ice, adding a little or a lot of soda, and adding cordials and liqueurs created new drinks with new names, but the basic idea remained the same.

Later bartenders such as David Embury in the 1940's took an analytical approach to mixing and designed a system of categorizing drinks and their ingredients. This is very useful to understand as a bartender for remembering recipes, balancing flavours, and creating original ideas. The system is evident by looking at even the oldest recipes, but Embury is worth reading (and you can see my post on him here). Here is a generalized idea:

- The main ingredient of your drink is the "base," which should in almost all cases be a spirit (using a liqueur as your base would make much too sweet a drink). The other ingredients are added to accentuate the flavours of your base.

- The acidic ingredient, "souring agent," or "modifying agent," is present to both soften the alcohol and enhance or add flavour to the base.

- The sweet ingredient, or "sweetening agent," is present mainly to balance the acidity of the souring agent but will also soften the alcohol and can add flavour.

Once you understand the role of each ingredient you can learn the basic structure. As I mentioned, each bartender has his or her own favourite recipe. The best one is the one you like the best - but I warn you not to make your drinks too sweet! Embury, for example, gives a ratio of 8:2:1 for his Sours - that is 8 parts base to 2 parts sour to 1 part sweet. The oldest recipes tend to be on the much sweeter side, sometimes with double the sweet to sour. At home I often prefer a 4:1:1. However, where I work, for the purpose of consistency we all use the same Golden Ratio, a starting point I highly recommend: 6:4:3 for base to sweet to sour. Translated to measurements, this is:

1.5oz base spirit

1oz sweet

0.75oz sour 

This will undoubtedly give you a very balanced drink. You may prefer something a little different for your own palate, so find what you like, though I recommend not going much sweeter than this.

Now we have the ingredient types and a ratio to use for basically all sours. Let's refer back to our list of variations at the start, using our ratio to separate our ingredients. 

Drink Name            Base (1.5oz)        Sweet (1oz)           Sour (0.75oz)        Addition

Margarita               Tequila                  Cointreau                 Lime

Whiskey Sour        Whiskey               Simple Syrup          Lemon                 (Egg white)

Sidecar                   Brandy                 Cointreau                Lemon

Clover Club            Gin                       Raspberry Syrup      Lemon                  Egg White

Others would follow suit:

Tom Collins           Gin                        Simple Syrup          Lemon                  Soda

Golden Fizz           Gin                        Simple Syrup          Lemon                   Egg, Soda

Jack Rose             Applejack               Grenadine               Lime       

Daquiri                Rum                      Simple Syrup          Lime

The list goes on and on.

Perhaps your bar is limited at home. You want to make Margaritas but you have no triple sec of any kind, but you do, however, have St. Germain. Being a liqueur, it will act as a sweetening agent, so use it in place of the triple sec for a tequila-elderflower sour. You can make Whiskey Sours with lime instead of lemon, or a Clover Club with a different kind of berry cordial. The options are endless. Creativity begins when you recognize similarities in ingredients and pair new products with old structures. Try pairing more than one sweetening agent, souring agent, or base spirit together. As long as you still follow the overall ratio, it will still work (for example, 0.5oz lemon and 0.25oz lime, or 0.5oz of two different liqueurs). Try adding a dash of complimentary bitters, such as celery bitters with gin, or aromatic bitters with dark rum. You can even get really creative and use orange, grapefruit, amaro, or home-made flavoured syrups as sweeteners, or vinegar and shrubs for acidity. You will start to notice changes in dryness due to varying sweetness in the liqueurs, varying proofs in your spirits, and varying acidity in your citrus (for example, lime is more acidic than lemon). You’ll start making minor adjustments and come up with your own signature drinks while developing your palate.

The possibilities are endless and that’s the fun of making drinks. Learn a little history, understand the role of ingredients in a drink, and memorize only some basic structures and you won’t have to memorize pages and pages of ratios and recipes.