Tax Day Cocktails

Yes, there it is, looming on the horizon.  Tax day.  I am a tax procrastinator; I willingly admit it.  It may have something to do with the returns for three different states I have to fill out, or the fourth state return I have to do to help out my dad, but I just hate doing taxes.  I never finish on the last day (I’m not that much of a procrastinator), but I come close.  Especially when I have to pay in, like I do this year.  On tax day, I will be ready for a good stiff drink or two (or three), and I would guess that the same is true for you.  So I’m not here to recommend some cute cocktail that takes a lot of time, I’m here to suggest some classic cocktails that are easy to make and easy to double for those of us that need a good stiff drink once they have their taxes done.  Just remember, you may have to go to work Thursday, so don’t overdo it.  Have a great cocktail, curse the taxman soundly, and get a good night’s sleep.

The Sazarac is reputed to be the original cocktail, first concocted in “partay central,” Nouveau Orleans.  This brown beauty is almost straight whiskey and deserves to be treated with respect.  Sazaracs are traditionally (and according to my recipe) served in an old-fashioned glass, but in honor of tax day I will tell you one of my darkest secrets: I like to drink Sazaracs out of a cocktail glass.  Yes, I know it’s perverse, but I like to take a cocktail glass out of the freezer, rinse it with Absinthe (coating the inside of the glass to the rim), strain in that heavenly mixture, and then drink my way around the rim of the glass so that I get that little hint of Absinthe with each sip of Sazarac.  The sensation can be almost orgasmic.

The Manhattan is another venerable cocktail.  It’s around 140 years old, and is sometimes attributed to Winston Churchill’s mother.  The more likely story is that it was concocted for a party she was throwing.  The ratio of whiskey to vermouth in a Manhattan can be as low as 1:1, but my recipe is considerably drier at 4:1.  You may also vary the bitters you use to influence the flavor and make this drink your own.  One secret to a good Manhattan is to use quality maraschino cherries.  If you have any Luxardo Marasche® Marasca Cherries, use them.  If not, I guess you’re stuck with the bright red, plastic ones… at least they taste good.  What the hell, if you’ve got your taxes done, drop in two cherries; you’ve earned them.

You didn’t think I would forget the Martini, did you?  Whether made with Gin or Vodka, a Martini is one of the old stand-bys for rapid intake of alcohol to dull the pain of paying taxes.  This cocktail supposedly originated during the California gold rush, so it’s kind of à propos to drink a Martini as you see your gold rushing away from you.  After the agony, it’s nice to have the biggest decision you must make be the choice between olive, onion, or lemon peel.  Decisions, decisions…

One final suggestion as your money goes south comes from south of the border: a Margarita.  I’ve always had a weakness for this cocktail.  You’ve probably noticed that my recipe is for a blended Margarita.  That doesn’t mean that I have anything against a Margarita on the rocks or straight up.  Au contraire, I tend to make my Margaritas frozen because they go down too fast otherwise.  For tax day, assuming your taxes are done, I recommend shaking your Margarita like a maraca and serving it straight up in a chilled cocktail glass with a lightly salted rim. Olé!  And death to taxes!

Photographs ©iStockphoto.com

Cocktails for Mardi Gras

This week-end my wife and I attended the annual Alliance Française Mardi Gras celebration where wine, but no cocktails, was served. Mardi Gras, however, is a time for cocktails, so I’ll have to make my own. No place in the US is as associated with Mardi Gras as New Orleans, home of the Sazerac cocktail. Legend has it that the Sazerac was invented in New Orleans in the early nineteenth century by Antoine Amadie Peychaud, who also originated Peychaud’s Bitters. The drink was originally made with Cognac, but today Rye whiskey is most commonly used. Use a good Rye, since you’ll be sipping it almost straight. Peychaud’s Bitters can be hard to find, so substitute Angostura Bitters if necessary. Bourbon can make a good Sazarac too. On my last trip to DC, I had a “Sazer-Jack” at Poste in Hotel Monaco that was made with Jack Daniels® and Sazerac Rye® with gomme syrup.

I don’t know why, but when I think of Mardi Gras and New Orleans I think of Jazz and hurricanes, so I thought I would include a Hurricane recipe in this post. I love the difference amoretto makes in this drink. You can find a lot more Hurricane recipes online if this one doesn’t match your taste. This cocktail is a double, so be careful it doesn’t blow you away. Ladies, earn those beads!

If you’re wondering why Mardi Gras celebrations seem bigger in the tropics, it’s because it’s too damn cold to run around outside drunk and under-dressed in much of the northern hemisphere during February (unless you’re sprinting for the hot tub). So for my last two Mardi Gras cocktails I selected an old stand-by, the Mai Tai, and the more trendy, but never-the-less venerable, Mojito. Both are rum-based drinks you’re sure to enjoy. I first got hooked on Mai Tais years ago, sitting in a semi-private tea room at Kiyo’s Japanese Restaurant on Clark Street in Chicago. Kiyo’s served their Mai Tais in ceramic crocks filled with crushed ice that fond memory estimates at about six inches in diameter and four inches in height. The presentation was exquisite, as one would expect at a good Japanese restaurant, and garnishes included mandarin orange slices, a pineapple wedge, fresh mint leaves, thin slices of lemon and lime, and a maraschino cherry. Exquisite and powerful. I know from experience that if you ordered three in the course of an evening, the bartender would bring the third one to check out who was drinking so much.

I had my first Mojito (see photo) at a beachfront hotel in Miami. It was so long ago that I can’t remember its name (the hotel’s name, that is), but I do remember the Mojito. Fresh mint leaves are an absolute requirement for a good Mojito. Accept no substitutes. I once unsuccessfully experimented with using minute amounts of mint extract in a futile attempt to make a Mojito without ever coming up with an acceptable result. Bacardi® has a great video of making a Mojito here.

So that’s my Mardi Gras line-up for 2009. If nothing appeals to you, search online. There are plenty of good cocktail recipes out there just waiting for you to sample them. If your Mardi Gras tastes run even farther south than the Crescent City, check out Colleen’s selections at About.com for some good Brazilian options.

Sazerac

2 ounces Rye whiskey (or Bourbon or Cognac)

1 tsp bar sugar or simple syrup

3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters (or substitute Angostura)

½ tsp. Absinthe (or other anise-based liqueur like Pernod, Ricard, etc.)

lemon twist

Chill an old-fashioned glass in the freezer. Put the sugar or syrup in a mixing glass; add the bitters (and a couple of drops of water, if using sugar), and stir until you have a smooth liquid. Add the whiskey and some ice cubes and stir. Retrieve the chilled glass and add the Absinthe; roll the glass to coat the inside with Absinthe and dump the excess. Strain the whiskey mixture into the prepared glass; twist the piece of lemon peel over the glass, rub it once around the rim, and drop it in.

Hurricane

1 ½ oz light Rum

1 ½ oz Gosling’s Black Seal® dark rum

¾ oz amaretto almond liqueur

3 oz Passion Fruit juice (you may substitute Orange juice)

fresh squeezed juice of ½ Lime (½ oz )

Combine ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker. (Feel free to cut the rums back to 1 oz each if this seems too strong.) Squeeze in the lime juice. Shake well while imagining you’re on a Mardi Gras parade float. Strain into a Hurricane Glass full of ice. If you don’t have an official Hurricane glass, serve it in a tall white wine glass or a Collins glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a slice of orange (or other fruit). Serve with a straw. If you like your cocktails sweeter, add 1 tsp simple syrup or bar sugar before you shake.

Mai Tai

1 oz Gosling’s Black Seal® dark rum

1 oz light Rum

½ oz Amaretto almond liqueur

1 oz Cointreau (or Triple Sec)

2 oz Guava juice (you may substitute Orange juice)

3 oz Pineapple juice

1 lime wedge

Combine ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker. Shake well while thinking about the dancers at the old Intercontinental hotel in Wailea, Maui. Strain into a Collins glass full of ice. Garnish with a wedge of pineapple and a maraschino cherry. Float just enough Gosling’s Black Seal® dark rum to cover the top of the glass, finish it with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, drop the lime wedge in and enjoy.

Mojito

2 oz light Rum

fresh squeezed juice of ½ Lime (½ oz )

1 tsp bar sugar

6-8 mint leaves

soda water

Put the mint leaves and sugar into an Old Fashion glass. Squeeze the lime juice into the glass. Muddle well to bring out the smell and flavor of the mint. Add the rum and stir to dissolve the sugar. Fill the glass with ice, then top off with soda water and stir. Garnish with a sprig of mint and serve with a straw. Vary the mint to suit your taste.