Cocktails

2 bottles Ambix Spirits Pommeau
1 bottle Ambix Spirits Founder’s Apple Brandy
Cinnamon Stick
2 oz orange juice

Combine and heat pommeau, brandy, and cinnamon stick on stove to ~160 F. Remove heat, add orange juice and serve.

An excellent and easy winter holiday party treat that serves 12 people or can be scaled down for a cozy evening by the fire. The vibrant Gravenstein pommeau balances with the baking spice notes of the brandy to create a balanced and warming treat for a cold evening.

History: The original hot toddy was made by adding hot water, lemon, and honey to whisky and can be traced back Scotland in the late 1700’s. It quickly became popular through the British colonies and adapted to local tastes. In the US it was, of course, adapted to apples and was very popular throughout the 1800’s. Many American recipes were based on a combination of apple brandy and hot water poured over a whole baked apple.

2 oz Poire
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/4 oz Agave Syrup
Couple dashes Orange Bitters
Few drops saline solution
Splash of soda water
Lemon twist for garnish

Fill tumbler with ice, Poire, lemon juice, Yellow Chartreuse bitters, agave syrup and saline. Stir then strain into flute and add dash of water and garnish.

For this cocktail Adam took his inspiration from a Margarita, but wanted to highlight the complex notes of the Poire by balancing it with just a small amount of yellow Chartreuse. While shaking is most traditional for citrus based cocktails, stirring results in better clarity and results in a refined and beautified yellow hue.

The Margarita inspiration for this cocktail can be thought of as a Tequila Daisy (Margarita is Spanish for daisy). Daisy’s are a popular class of cocktails from the 1800’s that are composed of a base spirit, citrus juice, and sweetened with a liqueur or fruit syrup. Often they were then given a splash of soda water. While Adam’s choice of Yellow Chartreuse was selected to complement the complex profile of our Poire it harkens back to the the Brandy Daisy recipe of Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Bartenders’ Manual 2nd edition published in 1888 which also used Yellow Chartreuse in contrast to Jerry Thomas’s version that used Curaçao.

Credit: Adam Goldberg

1.5 oz Pacific Alchemy
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
Couple dashes Orange Bitters
3 oz Sparkling Wine
Garnish with lemon twist or flower

Fill shaker with ice, brandy, lemon juice, syrup and bitters. Shake then pour into Champagne flute and top with Champagne, Prosecco, or sparkling wine and garnish

For this cocktail Rick and Mark adapted the French 75 from gin to an apple theme. It works well with both Pacific Alchemy which gives a more fresh character and Founders Reserve which adds interesting spice note. They recommend homemade bitters own using local citrus and a recipe from David Lebovitz.

French 75, originally just called the Soixante Quinze (75 in French), got its name from a French World War 1 field gun. The name started being applied to cocktails during the war and by the 1920’s several recopies were published. Many early recipes pities included grenadine, but by the end of the 1920’s the standard recipe had evolved to the gin, lemon, sugar and champagne. While Gin was the most common base spirit for the French 75 other spirits were also used. In David Embury’s popular The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks he calls the use of Gin rather than Cognac “not French”. Most early recipes were served over ice. The straight up in a Champagne flute version that is most common today didn’t come around until the 1980’s.

Credit: Rick Mead and Mark Marion

2 oz Ambix Spirits Founders Reserve Brandy
½ oz yellow chartreuse
½ oz Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry for garnish

Stir brandy, chartreuse, Benedictine, and bitters in a container filled with ice until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry and enjoy!