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Seasonal Recipes

Our short list of must-trys for the season.

Blackthorne Cocktail

Recipe adapted from Tom Bullock's 1917 "The Ideal Bartender", the first cocktail book published by an African American author. Bullock is part of a rich legacy of Black pre-prohibition bartenders. This low proof, sessionable stirred cocktail has great depth and would be a welcomed enhancer to almost any meal.

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Bottle of Cocktail

Recipe adapted from Tom Bullock's 1917 "The Ideal Bartender", the first cocktail book published by an African American author. Bullock is part of a rich legacy of Black pre-prohibition bartenders. This recipe is a batched improved Old Fashioned, and aptly named a bottle of cocktail, as historically the Old Fashioned was the original cocktail.

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East India Cocktail

Recipe adapted from Tom Bullock's 1917 "The Ideal Bartender", the first cocktail book published by an African American author. Bullock is part of a rich legacy of Black pre-prohibition bartenders. This boozy, yet nuanced cocktail is a perfect afternoon sipper, or a cocktail that pairs well with a cheese board after dinner.

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Dealer's Choice

Explore cocktail varieties for more recipe ideas.

Citrusy

Citrusy

Spirit Forward

Spirit Forward

Effervescent

Effervescent

Bitter

Bitter

Cocktail Basics

Our recipes use 1:1 (one-to-one) syrups, meaning equal parts sugar and water by weight. The easiest of these is Simple Syrup.

Combine equal parts of granulated sugar and boiling water removed from heat.
Stir until dissolved, let cool before using.
Keep covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Be creative! Use botanical tea instead of plain water to create a flavored syrup. For a more robust syrup, try turbinado sugar.

More Syrup Recipes

Shaking and stirring each have particular effects on a cocktail. Some basics of these techniques:

Shaking

Aims to chill, aerate, and add water to a cocktail. The ingredients to be shaken are combined (almost always with ice) in your preferred cocktail shaker. The shake should be firm and energetic, and the ice should strike each end of the tin as the shaker moves back and forth. "Double strain" with a hawthorne strainer and a tea strainer after shaking to catch tiny ice chips.

Stirring

Is used to amalgamate, chill, and add water to a cocktail without aeration. This is done in a stirring vessel with a bar spoon. The aim is to smoothly spin the ingredients—without causing air bubbles—until proper dilution and temperature are achieved. Strain with a julep strainer, but if you don’t have one a hawthorne strainer can be substituted.

In general, both a dash (from Bittercube 5 oz bottles) or dropper (from Bittercube 1 oz bottles) are equivalent to slightly less than one ml of bitters. However, follow the instructions below for an accurate measurement.

Dispensing bitters from a 1 oz bottle

Squeeze the bulb of the dropper twice, filling it to about three-quarters of its capacity. The bitters should not enter the bulb. Release the bitters by squeezing the bulb repeatedly until the dropper is empty.

Dispensing bitters from a 5 oz bottle

Holding the neck of the bottle and using one fluid movement, swing the bottle until upside down. With a downward thrust, expel a dash of bitters from the bottle.

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Experimentation Is Key

Try the classics, but don’t be afraid to experiment. Train your palate to recognize a well-balanced cocktail. Swap lemon and line, spirits, syrups, and-or bitters to create many cocktail variations.

Beyond Cocktails

Bitters are concentrated complex flavors, and their use isn’t limited to cocktails. Use Orange Bitters in a wheat beer; try Cherry Bark Vanilla as a replacement for vanilla extract; put Jamaican No. 2 in a vinaigrette; add Jamaican No. 1 to gingerbread. The possibilities are endless!