Cocktail Of The Week : Income Tax

"Cocktail Of The Week" tries to come to you every Thursday, so that you can be prepared for cocktailing on the weekend.  This Thursday happens to be April 15th, tax day of course, so what better cocktail to feature than the Income Tax?  The Income Tax is an old drink and was featured in the "Savoy Cocktail Book" (1930.)

According to Seattle cocktail expert and writer Robert Hess, no one really knows why this drink is called The Income Tax Cocktail, and we can only assume it is so named because it numbs the pain of filing a tax return!

If you have heard of The Bronx cocktail, then you may recognize the Income Tax as a Bronx cocktail with the addition of bitters.
Do yourself a favor, and squeeze the 3/4 ounce of orange juice from a fresh orange.   You will appreciate the difference!



Income Tax
1 1/4 oz Gin
3/4 oz orange juice
1/4 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
dash of Angostura bitters

Add to a cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake or stir until very cold, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Cocktail Of The Week : Pegu Club

"The favorite cocktail of the Pegu Club, Burma,

"The favorite cocktail of the Pegu Club, Burma,
and one that has traveled, and is asked for, round the world."
Harry Craddock

The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930)

Pegu Club
2 oz Gin

1 oz Triple Sec

1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
Angostura Bitters to taste

Combine in a shaker with ice. Shake well until very cold and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This cocktail is easy to make and is quite refreshing.  Use a straight-forward Gin like Gordons, Beefeater, or Tanqueray.  There is no need to pull out an expensive or nuanced gin for this cocktail.  Cointreau is a very good Triple Sec.  Use a fresh lime.

Cocktail Of The Week : Birdie Cocktail

"Spring is sprung, the grass is ris.
I wonders where the birdies is."

Ahhh.... Spring.
The season filled with hope, renewal, poetry, daffodils, longer evenings, blossoms, birdsong, newborn lambs and, of course, fat girls in flip flops.  What better time for one or more Birdie cocktails, to help us forget the sight of so many untanned legs and un-pedicured toes.

Birdie Cocktail

1 1/2 oz Light Rum
1/4 oz Triple Sec or Curacao
1/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1/4 oz Orange Juice
1/4 oz Pomegranate Juice or Grenadine

Combine in a shaker with ice. Shake well until very cold and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a orange peel.

This easy cocktail uses readily available ingredients and of course, becomes more sophisticated when using fresh ingredients and high quality spirits.  Cruzan makes a fine inexpensive white rum, and Cointreau is a very good Triple Sec.  Those small six-packs of Dole pineapple juice are convenient, but if you happen upon a fragrant pineapple at Guercio's or your local market, you can easily get a few ounces of juice when you slice it up.  Use a fresh orange, especially for the peel, which you can strip off with your vegetable peeler. Then cut cut the orange in half and squeeze a bit with your hands - no need to dirty up tools for a quarter ounce of juice.  Squeeze the peel over your drink to express the oils into it, before dropping it in.