vodka

The End of An Era: 3 simple cocktail recipes to toast the series finale of Mad Men

/ cellarkeeper / Leave a comment

We’re just hours away from the series finale of Mad Men. Whether you love it, you hate it, or love to hate it, the Emmy-award winning AMC series has undoubtedly contributed to the resurgence of cocktails in recent years. Here are three simple recipes to help you celebrate the end of an era:

Gimlet

Gimlet
Betty Draper-Francis’ go-to beverage, whether entertaining as Don’s wife or drinking alone at the bar.

  • 2 oz. vodka (or gin)
  • 3/4 oz. lime juice

Betty prefers it with vodka, but gin is perfectly acceptable. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe and reminisce about the early years of Don and Betty’s marriage.

7 & 7

Although I don’t recall anyone actually drinking a 7 & 7 on Mad Men, we did catch a glimpse of Seagram’s Seven Crown whiskey in Don’s apartment.

  • 1.5 oz. Seagram’s Seven Crown American Whiskey
  • 6-8 oz. 7 Up

Start with a highball glass with ice and add whiskey. Fill with 7 Up, stir, and toast to the last 7 episodes.

Roger & Peggy’s Last Hurrah

If your liquor cabinet is looking a little light, you can always take a tip from Roger and Peggy and grab what’s available. Bonus points if it’s vermouth!

  • 1 bottle of whatever’s handy, such as Vermouth
  • 1 or more friends

Roller skates optional.

A Lazy Hike

/ cellarkeeper / Leave a comment

Lazy Hike

I was inspired by the Camden Hike, a recipe from Maine bar manager Tom Laslavic, featured in Imbibe’s The American Cocktail. I’m not a huge vodka fan, but was intrigued by the use of blackberries and lemon. I took a few shortcuts on the original recipe- hence the name A Lazy Hike- but the result was still delicious. If I ever have the energy to puree blackberries again, I might try this with gin.

  • 2 oz. vodka
  • 1 oz. blackberry puree (throw berries into a food processor, then use a fine mesh strainer. 1/2 c. blackberries yields roughly 1 oz. of puree)
  • 0.75 oz. lemon juice
  • 0.5 oz. honey
  • 0.5 oz. creme de cassis

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a double old fashioned glass with ice. Garnish with lemon peel and blackberry.

Goose in Spring

/ cellarkeeper / Leave a comment

I wanted to start experimenting with botanical infusions and was thrilled to find a recipe that uses both elderflower liqueur as well as lavender-infused vodka. St. Germain, a French apertif derived from elderflower blossoms, comes a bottle that looks like it was just plucked straight from Jay Gatsby’s liquor cabinet. If you can make iced tea, you can easily infuse vodka with dried lavender. While the recipe’s namesake calls for Grey Goose, I suspect any vodka will do. We sprinkled a generous handful of dried lavender into a bottle and let steep for a few days.

Goose in Spring comes from Elijah Venanzi, who won the May 2012 Vodka Cocktail Contest:

  • 2 muddled raspberries
  • 2 oz. lavender-infused vodka
  • 0.75 oz. St. Germain elderflower liquer
  • 0.25 oz. fresh lemon juice

Shake with ice and double strain into a lavender-rubbed coupe. Garnish with lemon peel.

Goose in Spring: easily infused