September 1, 2024

Cocktail Codex

Recently I hosted a cocktail party. Most of my friends assumed I intended to host a fun night, but actually I just wanted to practice making cocktails, which is one of my yearly goals this year. So here are some brief reviews of cocktails I tried making.

Lemon Drop

• 2 oz limoncello
• 1 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• Sugared rim

A classic that is stronger than you’d expect — Caravella is 28% abv! When I went to an all-inclusive in Cancún, I learned to order lemon drops because they don’t water them down as much as tequila-based drinks.

That said, I’m not sure how to sugar the rim correctly. Every time I try to apply lime juice to the rim, it just squirts everywhere. The Bar Book suggests I should use a cut piece of lime, so maybe I’ll do that next time.

Margarita

• 2 oz blanco tequila
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• Salted rim

I was surprised how easy it is to make margaritas! However, everyone seemed to think it was too sour.

Japanese Slipper

• 1 oz midori
• 1 oz triple sec
• 1 oz lemon juice
• Cocktail cherry

Oft-maligned but the big winner of the evening. That may be because it’s fairly sweet, fairly aesthetic, and fairly easy to make.

Apparently the original recipe garnishes with a slice of honeydew, but the recipe I followed suggested a cocktail cherry. However, that didn’t quite work, because we were using plastic tumblers instead of cocktail glasses, so the cherries just rolled around at the bottom.

Pisco Sour

• 3 oz pisco
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz simple syrup
• Dry-shaken egg white
• Angostura bitters

Easily the most complicated drink I made and technically the reason I called for a cocktail party — I wasn’t exactly going to make it myself on a regular night.

I was surprised at how easy these were to make. I made a point of separating out egg whites in advance, which helped, and the dry shaking step didn’t add too much inconvenience once I got used to it.

Blue Hawaiian

• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz light rum
• 1 oz blue curaçao
• 1 oz cream of coconut

I didn’t actually make this one — Sherry volunteered herself to man the blender — but it was also popular. Conveniently, it can be made in large batches since it’s a blended drink.

Lavender Empress

• 2 oz Empress gin
• 1/2 oz lavender simple syrup
• 1/2 oz lemon juice

I did not make this either — one of the guests did — but I am including it here for posterity. I only had a sip so I cannot really judge the taste, but it had a beautiful deep-purple color.

I also made myself a Moscow mule at some point and another friend brought his signature “gilkis” (gin and Milkis).

Overall I have to say that a cocktail party was a great idea. I feel they have never been particularly popular in the Bay Area techie scene¹ compared to house parties, but maybe we should revive them.