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Tequini

Light golden cocktail in a martini glass

The Tequini is just what it sounds like – a tequila-based martini. It basically replaces the gin from a gin martini recipe, except that it adds a dash of bitters to marry the tequila and dry vermouth. This drink is a fun and delicious alternative to a plain martini. It’s sophisticated and a bit of ... Read the full article →

Serpentine

Yellowish cocktail with a lemon slice garnish

The Serpentine is a grown up cocktail that features rum, brandy and sweet vermouth, with lemon juice to marry them all together. While sweet vermouth definitely doesn’t have everyone’s blessing, this is one recipe that blends it into the whole nicely. Enjoy a Serpentine the next time you’re in the mood for a Sidecar. If ... Read the full article →

Spicy Martini

Reddish cocktail against white background with lime garnish

The Spicy Martini is just what it sounds like: gin, vermouth and the hot sauce of your choice. You may be worried about drinking hot sauce straight up, but don’t be. You see, this drink packs six freakin’ ounces of hard liquor. So while the hot sauce may at first make steam come out of ... Read the full article →

Loch Lomond

Three Loch Lomond cocktails on a bar

The Loch Lomond is so named because it features drambuie and dcotch. The vermouth tends to bring out the black licorice aftertaste of the Drambuie. The overall flavor is complex and just a touch sweet. Loch Lomonds are made for sipping and savoring. Don’t waste good scotch on this cocktail – as long as it’s ... Read the full article →

Even Pair

Even Pair cocktail on a bar

The Even Pair adds a touch of pear liqueur to gin, vermouth and tonic water, making it something like a gin and tonic modified with fruity and herbal notes. But we’re talking pear for the fruit, so this is a very delicate flavor – not like citrus, for example. Try an Even Pair the next ... Read the full article →

Haymaker

A Haymaker cocktail

The Haymaker cocktail blends orange and lime flavors with whiskey and vermouth. The flavor is complex, starting with fruity notes but ending on the smokiness of the whiskey. This drink is one you can easily mix in a pitcher and serve over ice to guests, which makes it a nice choice for parties. It’s also ... Read the full article →

Oakland Cocktail

Orange cocktail in a martini glass

The Oakland Cocktail is like a cross between a Screwdriver and a vodka martini. It mixes vodka with a little dry vermouth and a little orange juice, preferably fresh squeezed. It’s a strong cocktail with an intriguing flavor from the mix of orange juice and vermouth. Enjoy an Oakland Cocktail next time you’re in the ... Read the full article →

Betty Paige

The Betty Paige cocktail against white backdrop

No, the Betty Paige cocktail is not named after the famous pin-up model, Bettie Page – note the different spelling. This drink blends a touch of cherry with the herbal and bitter notes of gin and dry vermouth. This drink is considered a little frou-frou, but it’s actually not as sweet and fruity as it ... Read the full article →

Old Flame

Old Flame cocktail with cherry against white background

The Old Flame cocktail has a nostalgic feel, as you might expect from the name. Dale DeGroff invented it almost by accident: he’d chosen Negronis to serve with a dinner, and the people he served it to didn’t like the bitters-based flavor. He asked the bartender to add in orange juice and Cointreau, and the ... Read the full article →

Raspberry Blush

Raspberry Blush cocktail with lemon and cherry garnish

The Raspberry Blush has a liquor combination that might strike you as odd: dark rum and dry vermouth. Most people aren’t familiar with good vermouth, so it has an undeserved reputation for being gross. When it’s good, it’s basically an herbed, spiced wine that lends itself to cocktails that will emphasize either the wine flavor ... Read the full article →

Satan’s Whiskers

Satan's Whiskers cocktail with a bottle of vermouth

You hate vermouth. You especially hate sweet vermouth. That’s okay, it’s just one of those flavors people either love or hate. I mention this because the Satan’s Whiskers cocktail boasts two ounces of the stuff, in dry and sweet forms. That said, this cocktail surprises some vermouth haters, proving to be one of the only ... Read the full article →

Lawnmower

Greenish cocktail with ice in cocktail glass against white background

The Lawnmower cocktail is a bit of an odd combination. It’s one of those drinks that often has to grow on a person, though some people love it right off the bat. The main flavors are melon, peach and lemon-lime, and the marrying ingredient is dry vermouth. That is, the dry vermouth’s herbal notes are ... Read the full article →

King of Noble

king-of-noble

The King of Noble cocktail recipe looks similar to a dry gin martini at a glance, but with some additional ingredients that make it sweeter and fruitier. It starts with the usual proportions of gin and vermouth, but to that it adds a touch of apple brandy and triple sec. The end result tastes very ... Read the full article →

Garlic Martini

garlicmartini

If the traditional dry gin martini isn’t cutting it for you anymore, maybe it’s time for a garlic martini. Or maybe you just love garlic. Or maybe you’re trying to scare away vampires. In fact, even though this is a perfectly sophisticated cocktail perfect for any occasion, I’ve tagged it “Halloween” just because it would ... Read the full article →

Queen Victoria

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People tend to have very strong feelings about the cinnamon-herbal taste of sweet vermouth, so I don’t recommend serving the Queen Victoria cocktail to unsuspecting guests. In most cocktails where it appears, it’s a lesser ingredient. Not so in this the Queen Victoria, where it appears in an amount equal to the cognac, making it ... Read the full article →

Raquet Club

raquet

The Raquet Club is not far off from a true martini. It comes with a healthy amount of vermouth, which makes it less dry than the traditional gin martini, which is very dry indeed. The Raquet Club cocktail also adds a couple of dashes of orange bitters to shake up the flavor. If you like ... Read the full article →

Kriss

Kriss-cocktail

The Kriss is a cognac-based cocktail along the lines of the Stinger. It’s long and strong, and not too sweet with the vermouth to balance out the amaretto. It’s ideal for sipping along at your leisure or with a meal. You can also toss these back on a long night of partying, but cognac cocktails ... Read the full article →

Dirty Martini

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The Dirty Martini is a simple variation on the traditional dry martini – it just adds a little bit of olive brine, which clouds the cocktail (hence the name “dirty martini”). If you like a martini with an olive garnish, you’ll probably love this drink. The olive brine adds a wonderful salty flavor that stands ... Read the full article →

Negroni

iStock_negroni

Unlike some drinks that include bitters, the Negroni tastes bitter. Some people love that about it, others wonder how anyone could find it drinkable. The flavor of the drink reminds me of pink grapefruit juice, except with that mild bitterness overlaying it. Maybe an apt comparison would be with the white meat of a grapefruit, ... Read the full article →

Dry Martini

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The Dry Martini is a simple classic. It features just three ingredients – vermouth, gin and your choice of garnish – and a fascinating taste that’s hard to classify. It’s herbal and a little bit tangy, which is why it goes equally well with an olive or lemon twist for garnish. There are no mixers ... Read the full article →

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