No sidecars, Glen?

That is an interesting drink menu, though. If you decide to do something like that again, might I suggest that you include some champagne cocktails? There are a few that I've run across in my reading (such as the French 75) that I'd like to try, but I'm not going to purchase a whole bottle (or even a 375 ml bottle) just for one cocktail. It seems to me that a party setting like yours is ideal for that kind of experimentation.

What references have you found useful? The one that I find myself looking at for the "definitive" versions of cocktails is *Straight Up or On the Rocks* (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0865476012/104-3756542-2933565?v=glance) . I also have a book John and Marty gave me that has some interesting newer cocktails, but I'm at work right now and blanking on the title: perhaps I can look it up when I get home.

Oh, yeah: happy birthday.

I think I was missing an ingredient in my bar for the Sidecar (triple sec?). But it definitely is a suggestion for next time.

We thought about buying a bottle of champagne so I could indulge in one of my favorites, the Black Velvet (1 part champagne, 1 part Guinness). The French 75 sounds like an interesting drink as well.

My current book of choice is Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century by Paul Harrington. I've been working through it and trying not to go too wild in buying some of the more esoteric ingredients, although I'll admit to now having a bottle of Campari that I'm sure will be with us for awhile, as it is way too bitter for my taste. Maybe I'll discover something that uses it that I like. Same for the Absente, which I really need to give another chance in its traditional serving.

I think the cannonical Sidecar is Cointreau, lime juice and brandy: I believe triple sec and sour mix are variants.
(I think you know this, but a sort of running joke among Mike, myself, and some other folks is to test the bartenders at various places by asking for a Sidecar. Mega points for being able to make it without consulting the big pop-up book: some points for looking it up on their own without asking me. I've been to a fair number of places where they actually do ask me how to make one. ("Hey. You're the bartender.") I've actually been making threats to print up a new batch of business cards with the recipe for that, and some other obscure drinks, on the back.)
I also was intending to ask you if you had seen Toby Cecchini's *Cosmopolitan* (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767912098/qid=1092081190/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-1811947-3636867). I bought a copy at Half-Price when it first came out, and thought it was probably worth the trade paper price.

Happy B irthday.

And, I didn't even know there was such a thing as maraschino liquer. The world just got a little bit better.

"I hate to be left out of things, you know..." You don't say.

I find myself thinking of the line from "Alice's Restaurant", slightly adapted:
>And three people do it, three, can you imagine,
>three people walking in, ordering a Sidecar,
>and walking out. They may think it's an
>organization.

And that's what it is: the Bring Back the Sidecar Organization, and all you have to do is order a Sidecar the next time you walk into a bar.
Time to get to work on those business cards.
Would you drop me your physical address in private mail, Glen?

==Dwight

Following up to myself:

Sidecar:
1 oz. brandy or cognac
juice of 1/2 lemon (or 1/2 lime)
1/2 oz. Cointreau
Pour into an ice-filled shaker, shake, strain into a cocktail glass.
--from Straight Up or On the Rocks by William Grimes.

Toby Cecchini in Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life gives this recipe:
8 parts brandy
3 parts triple sec or Cointreau
3 parts fresh lemon juice
Shake in an ice-filled shaker for 10 seconds, strain and serve in chilled cocktail glasses rimmed with sugar.

Since it came up the other night:
French 75
1 1/2 oz. gin
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon powdered sugar
4 oz. champagne
twist of lemon
Mix gin, lemon juice, and sugar in collins glass half-filled with crushed ice. Top up with chilled champagne and add a twist of lemon.
--from Straight Up or On the Rocks

"...a bottle of Campari that I'm sure will be with us for awhile, as it is way too bitter for my taste."

Perhaps we should add this to the list:
Negroni
3 parts Campari
3 parts sweet vermouth, Carpano Antica Formula or Martini & Rossi
8 parts gin
Combine all three ingredients in a shaker filled liberally with ice. Stir until exterior beads with frost. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with orange slice. Squeeze a lemon twist above it, rim the glass with the peel, and either dip it and throw it out, or drop it in.
--Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life. Cecchini is adamant about this being stirred, not shaken.
(Grimes gives the proportions as 2 oz. gin, 1 oz. each Campari and sweet vermouth, pour over ice in a glass and garnish with orange slice.)

Also, you could try just straight Campari and soda: I undertand that's quite good, though you may have to experiment to get the proportions right for your taste.

==Dwight

I hate to be left out of things, you know, so last night, while waiting for Jill to meet me at the restaurant, I bellied up to the bar and asked for a sidecar, then watched with amused delight as the bartender had to go ask her friend what was in it. On the downhill side, he was into the variants, so it was brandy, triple sec and sour mix and was way too sweet. To add insult to the drink, she got some sugar packets and emptied them onto a plate and dusted the rim of the glass with them before serving it to me. I drank it, just to see what the bastard version was like, but next time I think a fuss will have to be made.

I actually found it at a Maryland liquor store, but that wouldn't help you if you don't live near Rockville, MD. I did a search on my favorite online liquor store, and sure enough they carry it as well:

http://www.internetwines.com/rws18082.html

where did you find the maraschino liquer?