ALABAMA SLAMMER aka The Yellowhammer Cocktail

If you have a hankering to idle a few hours away in a rocking chair on your front porch after a day of running all over hell's half acre on errands this is the drink to idle away with. Cool and refreshing, pert with a kiss of peach mixed with the citrus and tingly spices dancing on the tongue, it'll surely wake up your down yonder.
An iconic 70s cocktail that was/is often served as a shooter (especially at Crimson Tide tailgate parties), the Alabama Slammer is also known as the Yellowhammer, so named because the Yellowhammer is Alabama's state bird. The original name, Alabama Slammer, hints at most likely the original version of this cocktail being a shot. It is believed to have first popped up in the late 60s at the University of Alabama. As it gained popularity the Alabama lost its Slammer and taller cocktail versions softened with orange juice replaced the collegiate, slam-worthy shooter. A few more drinking years down the country roads the Southern Comfort, sloe gin and OJ were left at the wayside and the Alabama picked up pineapple juice and vodka and turned into the Yellowhammer.
I believe if you want to stay true to the original you just can't leave out the Southern Comfort and sloe gin and the pineapple juice should be left with the Tiki drinks. All you truly need to balance out this drink is temper the sweet liqueurs with a bit of fresh lemon juice in addition to the fresh OJ and adjust the ratios. Now, think of it as a Screwdriver with a Southern kick.
Yup, not bad at all, especially now that Southern Comfort liqueur is again being distilled with a whiskey base as opposed to the harsher, cheaper neutral grain spirit of previous decades. We can thank Sazarac, who bought the SoCo brand in 2016, for that lovely, gentle switch back to a base that is much more sympatico with the fruits and spices of Martin Wilkes Heron's original Southern Comfort recipe. It definitely makes the Alabama (Slammer) a more graceful drink for today's more refined palates.

TheALABAMA(SLAMMER)
INGREDIENTS3/4 Oz. Southern Comfort1/2 Oz. Amaretto3/4 Oz. Sloe Gin2 Oz. Fresh Orange juice1 Oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
GarnishOrange SliceCocktail Cherry
DIRECTIONSPour the amaretto, sloe gin, and Southern Comfort into a highball glass. Top off with the fresh juices, add ice, stir, garnish and serve.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

FOR THE SHOOTER1/2 ounce of each spirit and 1/4 ounce of each juice, layered in a shot glass.
Alabama Day, the day Alabama was admitted to the Union as the 22nd state, is celebrated yearly on December 14th.
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LEMON CHIFFON PIE MARTINI Cocktail Recipe

Have you discovered Limoncello yet? It's a wonderful lemon flavored Italian liqueur enjoyed often as an aperitif and it's delicious. I make my own on a regular basis for gifts and to keep my own bar stocked.

Limoncello combined with rum and heavy cream creates a liquid lemon chiffon pie experience and the whipped cream dollop on top is the final pie touch for this cocktail.

The

LEMON CHIFFON PIE

MARTINI

INGREDIENTS1 Oz. White Rum1 Oz. Limoncello 1 Oz. Heavy Cream1 Oz. Fresh Lemon Juice1 Tbsp. Powdered Sugar

Garnish

Sugared Pie Crust Crumbs on Rim

Whipped Cream

Candied Lemon Peel

DIRECTIONS

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish and serve.

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

I serve this up often for dessert. It's much easier to make than a lemon chiffon pie and it tastes better.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY MY LEMON CHIFFON CAKE MARTINI

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The Original ZOMBIE Tiki Cocktail Recipe

Invented in 1934 by Donn Beach (formerly Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt) below is the original Zombie recipe that was served at his flagship Don the Beachcomber's in Hollywood. The Zombie became world famous when it was introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
There are many recipes for the Zombie, several from Donn Beach himself, but according to Jeff "Beachbum" Berry the complete original recipe is below. It is a true post war mainland Tiki culture drink, complex in nature and made with mostly rum, fresh fruit juices with an additional sweetener from a spice and nut based syrup. The Zombie is deceptively easy to drink but it's a dangerously strong punch-like cocktail, so strong that Donn Beach would never allow more than 2 to be served to a customer.
I made one change and replaced the recipe's half an ounce of "Don's Mix #2" (2 parts grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon-infused sugar syrup) with 2 simpler ingredients so you don't have to make a whole bottle of a weird ingredient like cinnamon infused grapefruit syrup.  The "Don's Mix #2" combo was part of Beach's drink recipe security. He would create syrups & mixer combinations that only he and a trusted few knew to make it harder for competitors and ex-Beachcomber bartenders to steal his drink recipes.

THEZOMBIE
INGREDIENTS3/4 C. Crushed Ice3/4 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice1/2 Oz. Falernum1-1/2 Oz. Gold Puerto Rican Rum1-1/2 Oz. Dark Jamaican Rum1 Oz. 151 Overproof Demerara Rum2 Tsp. Grenadine6 Drops PernodDash of Angostura Bitters1/2 Oz. Fresh Grapefruit Juice1/4 Tsp. Cinnamon Syrup
DIRECTIONSBlend until smooth, pour into a tall slim zombie glass, top off with additional ice if desired, then garnish with a grapefruit slice and a cocktail cherry, add biodegradable straws and serve.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

World Zombie Day is October 8th. Zombie Awareness Month is in May.
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RAMOS GIN FIZZ aka NEW ORLEANS FIZZ Cocktail Recipe

Originally called a New Orleans Fizz, the Ramos Fizz was invented by Henry C. Ramos as his "One and Only One" in New Orleans in 1888. Back in the good old days, at the height of the Ramos' popularity (and before blenders), Ramos insisted you needed to shake the Ramos Fizz for a full 15 minutes as this was what was required to create the meringue like consistency of the cocktail. As this is pretty much an impossible task for one person, plus very time consuming, he hired "shaker boys" for the tedious task.

There is a famous story where one bar lined up 15 shaker boys and sent the cocktail down the line because one shaker boy could not shake a cocktail longer than a minute without his arms seizing up. Now you understand why modern bartenders cheat and use a blender. Thank goodness for mod-cons!
When The Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans purchased the rights to the Ramos GIN Fizz in 1935 they trademarked it, promoted it and ensured the drink's position in the lexicon of classic cocktails. It didn't hurt that then Governor Huey Long loved the Ramos and brought his fondness along on his travels, spreading the recipe along.
At exactly midnight on October 27th, 1929,Ramos (always opposed to drunkenness and in support of the upcoming Prohibition) stated, "I've sold my last gin fizz", closed his saloon and retired with his closely guarded original recipe. Ramos finally shared the recipe with a reporter who "had the brass nerve" to ask for it just before his death in 1928.
RAMOS' ORIGINAL GIN FIZZ RECIPE1 tbsp powdered sugar, 3 - 4 drops of orange flower water, the juice of half a lime, the juice of half  a lemon, one jigger of Old Tom Gin, 1 egg white, 1/2 glass of crushed ice, 2 tbsp. of cream, a little seltzer water; well shaken and strained.
Interesting to note that recipe did not include any vanilla extract and there's a huge debate over its inclusion in the drink. There's no way of ever knowing whether Ramos used vanilla extract and excluded the ingredient from his recipe on purpose or just didn't ever use the vanilla in his recipe. I personally prefer the no vanilla recipe.

THERAMOSGIN FIZZ
INGREDIENTS1-1/2 Oz. Old Tom Gin2 Oz. Heavy Cream1 Tbsp Powdered Sugar1/2 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice1/2 Oz. Fresh Lemon Juice2 Dashes Orange Flower Water2 Tbsp. Pasteurized Egg White 1 Oz. Chilled Soda Water
Garnish: 1 Dash Orange Flower Water, Orange Slice
DIRECTIONSUsing The Reverse Dry Shake Method1. Add the gin, cream, powdered sugar, both juices and 2 dashes of Orange Flower Water to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake 20 seconds to chill.2. Strain out the mixture into another shaker with NO ICE. Add your egg white and DRY SHAKE for 90 minutes.*3. Pour into a chilled 12 ounce Collins glass. Slowly add the chilled soda to lift the meringue just above the glass.4. Tap on the Orange Blossom Water, garnish with a slice of orange and serve with a straw. If your straw stands up in the middle of your drink you have successfully made your Ramos Gin Fizz.
*I have shoulder problems so at the second step I strain my drink into a Boston shaker and use my immersion blender to emulsify the cocktail and build the foam. Call it cheating but it works and I don't reinjure my rotater cuffs.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

August 7th is Henry C. Ramos birthday.National Henry C. Ramos Day is October 27th.
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YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:the Cherry Diamond Fizz,the Golden Ramos Fizz andthe Absinthe Minded Leprechaun.
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The HISTORY of the MARTINI GLASS

The martini glass is a subset of bar glasses designed for specific purposes. Despite common belief, the martini glass is not the same as the cocktail glass. The cocktail glass is smaller, more rounded with a narrower rim and a narrower and shorter stem. It also predates the martini glass by about fifty years.

Though the martini glass design may look arbitrary and somewhat of a balance challenge, there is a true function to this elegant and unique drinking vessel. The long stem is a design element that allows for holding the cocktail so the heat of the hand doesn't cup the bowl and warm the drink. This feature keeps the martini cold so there is no need to add ice which would dilute the drink.
The conical bowl is a functional element that aids in the enjoyment of the gin. There is a tale that the wide mouth was designed to allow for quicker dumping of the “illegal” alcohol in the event of a raid on the speakeasy during the Prohibition era, but it’s more likely that the wide mouth allows for more surface tension which enhances the natural bouquet of the juniper berries in the gin.
Though larger than the cocktail glass, the traditional martini glass was originally designed to hold a two to five ounce cocktail, (about the same volume as the cocktail glass). A martini is all liquor and totals only 2 to 4 or 5 ounces of liquid*, it is meant to be sipped not gulped, so the advantage of the smaller volume glass is it keeps your martini cold while you drink it. These days "designer" martinis require a larger capacity because of the addition of juices and mixers.  It’s not uncommon to see "martini" glasses that will serve a six or even eight ounce cocktail.

Some of my hand painted martini glasses.
Martini glasses now come in all sizes and shapes and configurations.  There are hand blown glasses with imaginative stems, etched crystal glasses and fun, colorful hand painted glasses available today.  There are “inverted” glasses and even martini bowls without the stems that come nestled in a larger fishbowl shape you can fill with ice. I have a giant martini glass that I use for chips, flowers and party favors on my buffet table and there's even a cat tree in the shape of a martini glass, but the one common design element is that distinctive conical bowl with the wide mouth.
National Martini Day is June 17th.
THE HISTORY OF THE MARTINI
My recipe forTHE GIN MARTINI

* The volume of a cocktail will change depending on how much is poured but the method of mixing and how long the cocktail is mixed will also affect volume. A shaken cocktail will end up higher in volume than a stirred or thrown drink. The longer you stir or shake a cocktail the more dilution, thus more volume, occurs. The amount of ice in the mixing vessel will also affect end results.
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The NICK & NORA MARTINI aka the 3:1 Martini

Growing up I spent a lot of time with my mom watching old movies on TV and amongst our very favorites was The Thin Man Series of comedic detective stories featuring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, with Skippy as Asta their scene stealing fox terrier. Nick and Nora were sophisticated, witty and rarely without a cocktail in hand, usually a martini. Definitely one of my first and earliest inspirations for my happy hour obsession as an adult.

The original and only book, written by Dashiell Hammett, spawned not only the six successful movies with Powell and Loy from 1934 to 1947 but:

1. a 1941 to 1950 radio show voiced by various Nick's and Claudia Morgan as Nora
2. a television show during the fifties starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk
3. a television movie in 1975 with Craig Steven's and Jo Ann Plug and
4. a Broadway musical in 1991 starring Barry Bostwick and Joanna Gleason

Nick and Nora pretty much ruled the light mystery genre with booze fueled witty repartee and screwball couple antics from the thirties through the fifties and set the bar for later detective couplings like Hart to Hart and Remington Steele and Laura Holt. Nick and Nora helped escort America gracefully out of Prohibition, Nora was a vanguard for Women's Lib and together they entertained a country rebounding from a depression. And they both had a healthy respect for cocktails, despite the fact Nick called his 3 to 1 martini "dry" and advocated shaking a gin martini. No matter how he made them, they could both certainly put them away!

I say that calls for trying out the cocktail named for them.Below is the recipe for the classic 3 to 1 Martini also known as

TheNICK & NORAMARTINI
INGREDIENTS1-1/2 Oz. Dry Gin1/2 Oz. Dry Vermouth
Glass: Nick & Nora
Garnish:  Spanish Olive (no pimento)
DIRECTIONSAdd ice to a cocktail pitcher, pour in the ingredients, stir (sorry, Nick) until chilled, strain into your chilled glass, garnish and serve.
Voiceover Video with Ingredients and Directions:

I prefer my usual London Dry Gin with Noilly Pratt stirred but we all know every martini drinker goes their own way.Cheers!

I'VE ADAPTED THIS GRAPHIC & PUT IT ON FUN MERCHANDISE!Check out the 3 to 1 Martini Cocktail Recipe Design on Tees & Clothing, Party Supplies, Posters & Art, Decor & Gifts.

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The Perfect PERFECT MARTINI Cocktail Recipe.

Tucked in a corner of the Times Square Subway Station by the 42nd Street shuttle is an unobtrusive door with a sign overhead that says Knickerbocker.

At the turn of the 20th century that door took subway riders directly into the bar at John Jacob Astor's famous Knickerbocker Hotel. Referred to as the 42nd Street [Country] Club because it was located in the old Knickerbocker Hotel on the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway smack dab in the middle of Times Square, it was a popular pre Prohibition hang out for the glitterati of the Edwardian age.

The "Knick" was built in 1906 and closed in 1921, a short 15 years after opening, most likely a victim of Prohibition. Yet in those 15 years the Knick was host to many of the day's rich and famous notables and the name still carries an unmatched aura of lavish luxury and entertainment. Stories abound of over-the-top parties, elegantly attired guests, flowing Champagne and the elite of the era's high society stopping by for a vacation or just popping in for a cocktail or a gathering. The history, guests and stories are legend. Enrico Caruso lived there with his family because it was close to the Met. On Armistice Day he went out on his balcony and led the cheering crowds below in the Star Spangled Banner. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "This Side of Paradise" and courted Zelda there and he would make it rain twenties for the Knickerbocker staff during his stay.
But the story that piqued my interest the most was the Knickerbocker's claim to the invention of the the Martini. According to their website history page, John D. Rockefeller supposedly bragged to his friends about the great new "martini" cocktail created for him over at the Knick. Of course that claim post-dates the first printed recipe for the cocktail in an 1888 bar guide making the claim somewhat dubious.

Harry Johnson's New and Improved Bartender's Manual 1888
What bartender Martini di Arma di Taggia most likely made for Doc Rockefeller was not today's gin and dry vermouth cocktail but the Perfect Martini, a cocktail that employed gin with dry and sweet vermouth. It's much closer to the original martini recipes of the late 1800s than today's drier gin and vermouth iteration. Note that the present day Knickerbocker Martini Recipe uses Tanqueray 10 Gin, Dolin Dry Vermouth, Cocchi Torino Vermouth, orange and citrus bitters with a lemon twist; these are similar to the ingredients and flavor profile of Johnson's recipe above. The Knickerbocker recipe is almost like a martini recipe time-bridge from the sweet gin and vermouth cocktails from bygone days to the very dry gin and vermouth drink of the modern era.
I find the vintage version is a less harsh, warmer and friendlier cocktail that makes me feel like I've just been cuddled by Mrs. Doubtfire, it's a pretty color too. When I make mine I use a London Dry Gin, Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth and Martini & Rosso Sweet Vermouth.

The PERFECTMARTINI
INGREDIENTS2 Oz. Dry Gin1/2 Oz. Dry Vermouth1/2 Oz. Sweet VermouthDash Orange Bitters
GarnishOrange Twist
DIRECTIONSStir ingredients with ice, double strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish then serve.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

You might want to check out my History of The Martini for more information on this classic cocktail.
GET THIS COCKTAIL RECIPE DESIGN ON TEES & CLOTHING, POSTERS, PARTY ACCESSORIES, STICKERS & CARDS:

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