Brandy Champagne Cocktail (Drink # 11)

I played basketball tonight.  Due to the random nature of picking teams (first 5 free throws hit are one team, the second 5 are the other team), I had to guard a guy who was 6 inches taller than me.  I'm 6' tall.  This guy was 6'6".  It was not a fair match-up.

It was so unfair that I would laugh every time he got the ball in the paint.  I couldn't help it.  I wasn't alone either.  I was the tallest guy on our team.  Everyone else was around 5'9" to 5'10", so they weren't crazy-small or anything, but still, I was stuck with the very tall former collegian.  Awesome.

We lost the first game, quickly.

After I got home from the game, I found Barca, the Official Mascot of The Amateur Mixologist was a wet mess after playing outside in the rain.  She is the Official Mascot, but even Official Mascots aren't allowed on the coach when soaking wet.

All was not lost - I was still looking forward to the Brandy Champagne Cocktail, which combines a few things that I really enjoy...

Recipe
The Ultimate Bar Book, page 151


Brandy Champagne Cocktail

1 sugar cube
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1/2 ounce brandy
3 to 5 ounce chilled champagne
Lemon twist

In the bottom of a chilled champagne flute, soak the sugar cube with the bitters.  Pour in the brandy, and slowly top with champagne.  Run the lemon peel around the rim, twist it over the drinks, and drop it in.



As first noted in the Sidecar post, I'm a fan of brandy.  I'm also a fan of Angostura bitters.   Champagne ain't bad either - making any evening feel like it's more important than the random Thursday evening that it truly is. 

Even though I like the ingredients in this drink, it is a weird combination, and the results are pretty mediocre.  It kind of tastes like a ginger beer, or a screwed up craft-produced cream soda or root beer.

Let's start with the bitters. As mentioned in the Old Fashioned post, Angostura bitters with sugar produces a really strong and vibrant summer spice scent.  But, a little goes a long way. The brandy and champagne (or in this case, sparkling wine) don't really add much flavor to counteract the spice, and as a result, the drink is really pungent, sweet and overpowering - in the same way I find many ginger beers to be overpowering.

Sadly too, the lemon twist added nothing. 

This drink doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  Is the sugar meant to sit at the bottom, sometimes floating up the side when the glass is turned up for a drink?  Brandy is, on a relative scale, a sweeter 80 proof alcohol, as far as 80 proof alcohols go.  The recipe couples a sweeter liquor with sugar and bitters (which despite the name, actually adds a sweetness - a complex sweetness, kind of like licorice jelly beans, but sweetness nonetheless), and then, top it off with champagne.  It's just too sweet, and the flavor isn't particularly good. 

If you needed a champagne or sparkling wine drink, I'd stick with the Velvet Champagne d'Amour.

On the bright side, this weekend should be filled with St. Patrick's Day parties, Irish Coffees, and more warm weather.  Have a great weekend, stay safe...we'll be back on Sunday with new drinks for next week!

Drink Three - The Sidecar

This snow covered landscape has been with us for too long.  I'm all for snow; I'm all for large amounts of snowfall.  I just can't do this non-melting winter.  Seriously, none of the snow surrounding my house has melted to any significant degree since the turn of the new year.

I know I have nothing to complain about compared to my friends in places like DC - but still - I just want some 40 degree days to turn the tide.  Is that too much to ask?

Well, in honor of the snow (not really), I'm going to make the Sidecar - a classic cocktail that was likely first made in Paris.  This is our third drink in The First Six cocktails, before veering off into drinks unknown (it's so exciting!).

I've never had a Sidecar cocktail before, and I'm not really sure what it's all about.  I know that it's main component is cognac.  Cognac is region-specific brandy, in the same way that champagne is region specific sparkling wine.  There are some other rules - namely - the grapes used to make cognac must be "at least 90% Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche or Colombard grapes."

And, admittedly, I just tasted brandy of any kind, cognac or otherwise, for the first time last week. 

I was at the liquor store, buying various alcohol and mixers for the blog, and realized I had no brandy in my liquor supply.  I bought a bottle of Germain-Robin "Fine Alambic Brandy."  I was told to drink it like scotch, which I did.  I placed a small ice cube in the glass, and filled the glass with enough brandy to easily cover the cube (the ice cube was about a centimeter on all sides).  I let the cube melt away into the brandy before taking a sip.

It was excellent to drink.  I found it a little fruitier than the scotch that I'm used to drinking.  It is made from grapes after all.

When I was at the store though, the guy helping me explained that if I'm making drinks with brandy or cognac, that I should use something different, something of lower quality.  I didn't go well quality on you or anything, but did go down a price point.  I picked up some Very Special Hennessy. 

The Recipe

Sidecar

The Ultimate Bar Book, page 138

Lemon wedge
Superfine sugar
1 1/2 ounces Cognac (or brandy)
3/4 ounce Cointreau (or triple sec)
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist

Rub the rim of a chilled cocktail glass with the lemon wedge and rim with sugar.  Shake the liquid vigorously with ice.  Strain into the prepared cocktail glass.  Twist the lemon peel over the top of the drink, and drop it in.

You already know that I'm using Hennessy for the drink, but what I haven't told you is that I'm going a bit off script and using Grand Marnier in the place of Cointreau.  You can see the Grand Marnier in the picture above.  I've checked around on the trusty internet to see what kind of difference this might make, and for a novice like me, I don't think it'll matter too much.

So how's it taste...

I'll just say that this drink is dangerously good.  I could down these at a really fast clip.  There's a sweet flavor and a tartness, neither of which is too harsh.  On a warm day, this drink would go down quickly.  It's deceivingly strong though.  It has more alcohol than either the Manhattan or the Martini.  The lemon juice cuts down the alcohol flavors, but each of the contributing alcohols is 80 proof.

I offered my buddy Eric a sip.  He tried it and requested his own Sidecar drink.  It's good, it's very good.  This will have to brought back out in the summer.

Update (2/22/10): I forgot to mention how much this drink reminded me of a margarita, but perhaps less astringent.  I don't know how this drink faded out of fashion.