Cocktail College

Manuel "Manny" De Avila, the Los Angeles based brand ambassador for Don Julio, joins us today to examine why there are relatively few classic tequila cocktails, and explain how to reimagine classics made with other spirits using tequila. Listen on, or read below, to learn Manny's recipes — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe!Tequila White Negroni Recipe Ingredients1 ¼ ounces Don Julio Alma Miel1 ½ ounces Ancho Reyes Verde Chili Poblano Liqueur½ ounce Salers Aperitif¼ ounce Blanc vermouthGarnish: lemon twistDirectionsAdd all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.Stir until chilled.Strain into a chilled rocks glass over a large ice cube.Garnish with lemon twist.Tequila Espresso Martini Recipe Ingredients 1 ½ ounces Don Julio 70 Cristalino1 ounce Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur¾ ounce cold brew cordial¼ ounce Ancho Reyes ClassicFew dashes Chocolate Mole BittersDirections Add all ingredients to a shaking tin with ice.Shake long and hard.Strain into a chilled coupe glass.📧Get in touch: cocktailcollege@vinepair.com  🍸Follow us:VinePair: https://www.instagram.com/vinepair/Manny: https://www.instagram.com/mannythebarkeep/Tim: https://www.instagram.com/timmckirdy 

Sebastian Tollius, beverage director of New York's Eleven Madison Park, joins us today to re-examine one of the world's most iconic cocktails: the Manhattan. More than 100 episodes have passed since we first covered this drink, and on this go-round, we're diving into both bourbon and rye recipes, modern interpretations, dubious histories, cocktail carts, and much, much more. Listen on, or read below, to learn Sebastian's Manhattan recipe(s) — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe!Rye Manhattan Recipe Ingredients Angostura Bitters: 4 dashes (precision dasher) or 2 dashes in regular bottle2 ½ ounces Michter’s rye1 ounce Carpano Antica sweet vermouthGarnish: brandied cherryDirections Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.Stir until chilled.Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora or coupe glass.Garnish with a brandied cherry.Bourbon Manhattan Recipe Ingredients Angostura Bitters: 6 dashes (precision dasher) or 3 dashes in regular bottle2 ½ ounces Buffalo Trace1 ounce Carpano Antica sweet vermouthGarnish: brandied cherryDirections Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.Stir until chilled.Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora or coupe glass.Garnish with a brandied cherry.Bedford and Grand Recipe Ingredients 2 dashes orange bitters1 teaspoon Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur½ ounce fino sherry¾ ounce Barolo Chinato2 ounces Michter’s ryeGarnish: lemon twistDirections Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.Stir until chilled.Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora.Express and discard lemon twist.📧Get in touch: cocktailcollege@vinepair.com  🍸Follow us:VinePair: https://www.instagram.com/vinepair/Sebastian: https://www.instagram.com/tollius_/Tim: https://www.instagram.com/timmckirdy 

Cocktail or category of cocktails? That’s the big debate at Cocktail College today, as we welcome Amy Racine, the beverage director for JF Restaurants, to explore the Champagne Cocktail. The IBA classes today’s drink as a “contemporary classic,” listing its ingredients as chilled Champagne, Cognac, Angostura bitters, a sugar cube, and — curiously — a few drops of Grand Marnier. That interesting final component aside, it would seem to confirm this as being a cocktail instead of a category. But as we’ll soon get into with Amy, riffs abound and are easily achieved by switching up the base spirit and tweaking a few other ingredients. Listen on, or read below, to learn Amy's Champagne Cocktail recipe — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe! Amy Racine's Champagne Cocktail Recipe Ingredients 1 brown sugar cube 1 dash Angostura bitters 1 dash orange bitters 1 ½ ounces chilled VSOP Cognac 3 ounces chilled Champagne Garnish: orange and lemon peel Directions Add brown sugar cube to a chilled AP glass or flute. Soak cube with orange and Angostura bitters. Add Cognac and top with Champagne. Express and discard an orange and lemon twist. 📧Get in touch: cocktailcollege@vinepair.com   🍸Follow us:VinePair: https://www.instagram.com/vinepair/ Amy Racine: https://www.instagram.com/amyracine/ Tim: https://www.instagram.com/timmckirdy 

Diamonds, rubies, and emeralds in a glass? That's right, it's The Bijou — a one-stop shop for those seeking boozy, stirred, "up" cocktails, and another use for that bottle of Green Chartreuse you spent so long hunting down. Here to give us the virtual low-down is Adam Fournier, beverage director of Spago Beverly Hills. Listen on, or read below, to learn Adam's top tips and experience his very own "Bougie Bijou" recipe — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe!Adam Fournier's Bougie Bijou RecipeIngredients ¼ ounce Charteuse Elixir Vegetal½ ounce Chartreuse VEP Green¾ ounce Cocchi di Torino sweet vermouth1 ½ ounces Navy Strength Gin, such as PlymouthAngostura Orange BittersGarnish: Kirschwasser-soaked cherriesDirections Add all liquid ingredients to a mixing glass and stir until chilled.Strain into a freezer-chilled vintage glass, such as a coupe.Garnish with a Kirschwasser-soaked cherry.📧Get in touch: cocktailcollege@vinepair.com  🍸Follow us:VinePair: https://www.instagram.com/vinepair/Adam Fournier: https://www.instagram.com/bottledinbondla/Tim: https://www.instagram.com/timmckirdy 

We're diving into the history, styles, community, and culture of flair bartending today, with Lindsay Palumbo, a certified flair bartender, instructor, and competitor who plies her trade at the Circa Hotel and Casino on Las Vegas’s Fremont Street. Listen on for Blue Blazers, TGI Fridays, and a certain actor with the initials TC — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe!📧Get in touch: cocktailcollege@vinepair.com  🍸Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/timmckirdy  

Joining us on Cocktail College today is Aaron Goldfarb, a longtime VinePair contributor and author of the recently released “Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits.” As the names of both today’s episode and Aaron’s newest book suggest, this episode will take us on a historical deep dive, and shed light on one of the most fascinating facets of modern drinks culture: vintage cocktails. Listen on (or read below) to discover Aaron’s ultimate vintage cocktail recipe — and don’t forget to like, review and subscribe!  Aaron Goldfarb’s 1953 Vintage Vesper Recipe  Ingredients - 3 parts 1953 Gordon’s Gin - 1 part 1953 Smirnoff Vodka - ½ part Kina Lillet   Directions 1. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. 2. Stir until well-chilled. 3. Strain into a vintage cocktail glass.  📧Get in touch: cocktailcollege@vinepair.com  📕Get your copy: “Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits”  🍸Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/timmckirdy   

Fred Astaire in a glass? That’s right folks, it’s the world’s most underrated cocktail, serially disregarded by “serious” drinkers. But not us — not here at Cocktail College! To the Vodka Martini, we’re devoting more than an hour of hot takes, technical insight, and cultural analysis with none other than Tony Abou-Ganim. Calling in from Las Vegas, the author of “Vodka Distilled: The Modern Mixologist on Vodka and Vodka Cocktails" teaches us to leave our prejudices at the door and embrace the very spirit of hospitality. Listen on (or read below) to learn Tony’s Vodka Martini recipe — and don’t forget to like, review, and subscribe!  Tony Abou-Ganim’s Vodka Martini Recipe  Ingredients + Description:  Choose your favorite vodka; opt to drink it straight out of the freezer or stirred (or shaken) with ice, and with or without vermouth. Garnish with — you’ve guessed it — whatever you feel like in the moment. Just make sure the glassware is on point!  Helen David Relief Fund:  TAG Spirits: https://tagspiritsawards.com/the-helen-david-relief-fund/ USBG: https://www.usbgfoundation.org/hdrf IG: https://www.instagram.com/thehdrf/?hl=en   

Live from Brooklyn’s Sunken Harbor Club, we proudly present: The Fog Cutter… and so much more! That’s right, it’s an episode of firsts and threes: the first Cocktail College recorded in front of a (sell-out) crowd; our first time featuring three guests (and audience questions); not one, not two, but three cocktails (at least one of which contains three base spirits, and a sherry float for good measure). Get ready for Garret Richard on the Fog Cutter, Scarlet Fog, and advanced cocktail techniques; Carlos Perez on his very own Brain Fog riff; and St. John Frizell on that drink’s newly launched, eponymous mug — a Sunken Harbor Club first!  Garret Richard’s Fog Cutter Recipe  Ingredients - 1 orange wheel - 1 ounce Denizen White rum - ¾ ounce brandy (Capurro Pisco) - ¼ ounce Ford’s Gin - ½ ounce fresh lemon juice - 1 teaspoon Orgeat (Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29) - Lemon punch syrup (mix of oleo saccharum, fresh lemon juice, sugar, and citric acid) - Almond extract - Saline solution - Float: ½ ounce Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry  Directions 1. Muddle orange wheel in a Collins glass and set aside. 2. Add rum, pisco, gin, lemon juice, orgeat, lemon punch, almond extract, and saline solution to a mixing tin. 3. Flash blend with ice. 4. Add to Collins glass with muddled orange. 5. Fill with crushed ice and top with sherry float. 6. Garnish with generous mint sprig, orchid, and serve with a straw.  (Note: We plan to update this recipe with more exact quantities for some of the ingredients — stay tuned!)  **Trader Vic’s Fog Cutter Recipe**  Ingredients - 2 ounces Puerto Rican rum - 1 ounce brandy - ½ ounce gin - 1 ounce orange juice - 2 ounces lemon juice - Float: sherry  Directions 1. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with cracked ice. 2. Shake until well chilled. 3. Pour into a tall glass with ice. 4. Top with sherry float and serve with a straw.  (For Don the Beachcomber’s version, replace brandy with pisco.) Order Here:  Tropical Standard: Cocktail Techniques & Reinvented Recipes (SIGNED COPY)  Brain Fog Mug (Limited Edition)  

It's another historical deep dive today, as we cast our gaze hundreds of years into the past to explore punches, something the Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails describes as "the foundational drink of modern mixology and the first mixed drink based on spirits to gain global popularity.” Helping us do so is Tural Hasanov, the director of Arts Club and Punch Room at the Tampa EDITION. Listen on to learn Tural's top tips on all things sour, sweet, strong, and weak — and don't forget to like, review, and subscribe!