The Spirit World

Man oh man if it’s not the season for making awesome cocktail ingredients from the farmers’ market. Food, too, I guess, if you’re into that sort of thing. Pictured is my Thai basil schnapps, which couldn’t be simpler to make: take some basil, put it in a jar, cover with high-proof neutral liquor (vodka or […]

I almost missed the sour cherry season this year—bad booze nerd! All the smart cocktail geeks know that now is the time to put up cherries for this winter’s Manhattan season. There are many different schools of thought as to how best to make these treats. What is universally agreed upon is that anything is […]

The Widow’s Kiss Project is dedicated to scouring the tomes of classic cocktail literature to find and taste the least-likely-looking recipes, in the hope of finding and reviving odd-sounding gems (like the applejack, yellow Chartreuse, and Benedictine of the Widow’s Kiss) that might otherwise be overlooked.

Today’s drink comes from Harry Craddock’s huge and mostly swiped […]

This classic recipe for preserving the short seasoned-yet-delicious raspberry comes from The Vintner’s, Brewer’s, Spirit Merchant’s and Licensed Victualler’s Guide (1826), but looking through old housekeeping or inkeeping instructional manuals, it seems to be a pretty standard one. The result is a sort of brightly-flavored brandy cordial, as opposed to a dry fruit brandy or […]

Today we visit another one of Leo Engel’s “specialties.” Perhaps you remember the Girard Flip from his American and Other Drinks (1878) Crazy ol’ Leo advises us to
Fill up a sherry wine glass two-thirds full of Maraschino, yellow Chartreuse, Kummel in equal proportions, and one dash of Kirschenwasser. Having done this, add the white of […]

The farmer’s market gives us seasonal and tasty foodstuffs, and for that we are grateful. But if human history has taught us anything, it’s that if it can be eaten, then it can be turned into booze. Of course, the quickest way to get some farm into your glass is to muddle the fruit, vegetables, […]

These days, cocktail folks the world over are brushing the cobwebs off classic cocktails and returning them to circulation. Their digging into dusty drink books of yore have given us such delicious new-old hits as The Last Word, The Aviation, and The Clover Club, just to name three. Research in this area surely continues, to […]