#199 Cocktail: Monkey Gland No.1 and 2

     I chose to put both cocktails in the same post, because they have the same name, it's the same colour and the only difference is the taste and the liqueurs used.. In the first one its Benedictine and in the second one it's the Absinth.
      The Monkey Gland is a cocktail of gin, orange juice, grenadine and absinthe named after a surgical technique of grafting monkey testicle tissue into humans. The practice was started by Dr Serge Voronoff, and was intended to produce longevity.
      The Monkey Gland was created in the 1920s by Harry MacElhone, owner of Harry's New York Bar in Paris, France. (Wikipedia)

Monkey Gland No.1

2 ounces Gin

1 ounce fresh orange juice

Benedictine to taste

Grenadine to taste

Monkey Gland No.2

2 1/2 ounces Gin

3/4 ounce fresh orange juice

Absinth to taste

Grenadine to taste

#198 Cocktail: Margarita

  Well, what can you have on a hot day like today ( 33 degrees Celsius) than a wonderful and refreshing Margarita.
   Let's take a look at this oft-told tales:
     1. Daniel Negrete for his girlfriend, Margarita, whenn he was the manager of the Garci Crespo Hotel in Puebla, Maxico, 1936. Apparently Margarita liked to eat salt with ever she drank, so the salt rim made in unnecessary for her to keep reaching for the salt bowl
     2. Vern Underwood, a tequila distributor for Jose Cuervo, made Johnnie Durlesser, a bartender of Los Angeles restaurant the Tail of the Cock, as being the man who re-created a drink he'd had in Mexico, dubbing it the Margarita.
     3. Jazz musician Teddy Stauffer, among oters, attributed the drink to Margarita Sames of San Antonio, Texas. This claim was backed up by Helen Thompson, who wrote, in Texas Monthly magazine in 1991, that socialite Sames, noting that she didn't like weak drinks or weak men, claimed to have created the drink for Nicky Hilton - one of the Hotel Hilton, of course, and coincidentally, the owner of the Tail of the Cock at that time.
     We can continue with these stories regarding the invention of the cocktail, but the most important thing is that, at some point in time, someone, somewhere, mixed this, and created one of the most iconic drinks of all times.

1 1/2/ ounce Tequila

1 ounce triple sec

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

#197 Cocktail: Millionaire No.4

  The cocktail was made by Ted Haigh ( Dr. Cocktail) by altering the ratios of another famous cocktail, Millionaire No.1 from the "Savoy Cocktail Book" (1930) by Harry Craddock.
  The cocktail was made specially for Gaz Regan and his wife Mardee "on one glorious weekend", as the author says.
   Since the Doc already altered the ratios, Gaz Regan didn't make any change to the recipe. Just be careful the you need a large cocktail glass for this one, cause the quantity is over 6 ounces.

2 ounces Myers's rum

1 ounce sloe gin

1 ounce apricot brandy

1 ounce fresh lime juice

#196 Cocktail: Modernista

     The cocktail is adapted from a recipe by Ted Haigh (Dr. Cocktail), who in turn adapted it from the formula for the Modern Cocktail in Craddock's "Savoy Cocktail Book" .
      In it's recipe, Ted Haigh uses a teaspoon  of absinth, but Gaz Regan prefers only two drops. Is better to experiment with the quantity of absinth, because it can overpower the taste of the cocktail. But if you are an absinth fan, then a teaspoon might be on your taste.
      Just as a note, it is not one of my favorite cocktails. I find the combination of scotch, rum and lemon juice not that pleasant. But it's just my taste.

2 ounces scotch

1/2 ounce Jamaican  rum

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

orange bitters to taste

absinth to taste

#195 Cocktail: Maurice

    The cocktail was adapted from a recipe in Harry Craddock's "Savoy Cocktail Book. This is almost the same recipe as the one for the Bronx cocktail, the only new part added here is the 2 dashes of Absinthe, that really makes a difference in the taste of the cocktail. Careful not to use more than 2 dashes, because the taste of absinthe will really overpower the entire taste of the cocktail

2 ounces gin

1/4 ounce dry vermouth

1/4 ounce sweet vermouth

1 ounce fresh orange juice

1-2 dashes absinthe

#194 Cocktail: Muddy Waters

   A really tasty and simple to make summer cocktail.
   Created by Jimmy Daukas of Maryland, this drink was introduced to Gaz Regan by his friend, Doug Land. The name comes from the use of the dark rum in a, clear and shinny drink. It's imperative to use Myers's rum to get the exact flavor that Daukas intended for this Highball.

3 to 4 lime wedges

2 ounces Myers's dark rum

3 ounce fresh grapefruit juice

#193 Cocktail: Mauresque

     One of the most simple cocktails to make and in the same time very tasty, even for the people who do not enjoy the absinth that much.
      Mauresque is French for "moorish". Pronounced 'Mor-Esk', this classic drink is very popular in the South of France. This cocktail is a classic French apéritif very common all over France. Pastis is probably one of the most popular beverage in the country. It was originally created by French soldiers serving in the Bataillon d’Afrique during the Algerian campaign of 1830s – 40s. The Mauresque is often drunk by women instead of pure Pastis.And orgeat is a syrup made from almonds. In the past, it was made from orge (bailey), hence its name. ( www.socialandcocktail.co.uk )

2 ounces Absinthe

1 ounce orgeat syrup

chilled water

#192 Cocktail: Martinez

      Thought to be the ‘Father’ of the Martini, or at least acknowledged to have had a huge amount of influence on it, the Martinez’s origins belong in a cloudy haze of uncertainty.
      It most likely started life sometime in the 1860’s or 70’s, but is first known to have been published in O.H. Byron’s The Modern Bartender, in 1884. Byron’s succinct summary of the Martinez states that it is the “same as Manhattan, only you substitute the gin for whisky.” The difficulty in this very simple statement is that he gives two versions of the Manhattan and no suggestion of which the Martinez is to follow; both a dry and sweet Manhattan were recorded. In the years since, this has added greatly to the confusion. ( www.ginfoundry.com )

       The most recognized version of the classic recipe, as printed in an 1887 revised (and posthumously published) edition of Jerry Thomas’ book How To Make Drinks or the Bon Vivant’s Companion, substitutes Old Tom Gin for whiskey to create something approximating a gin Manhattan

      2 ounces gin

1 ounce sweet vermouth

1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur

Angostura bitters to taste

#191 Cocktail: Massa Mojito

    The cocktail is adapted after a recipe from the Pizzicato Restaurannt in Philadelphia. This is a variation of the, well known, Mojito, but the difference her is that the base spirit is limoncello, and more specifically , the Villa Massa limoncello.
    Unfortunately I didn't have Villa Massa Limoncello and I used Pallini Limoncello, a more sweeter version, so I had to cut a little from the amount of sugar used in the cocktail.
     In any case, the cocktail is delightful

2 1/2 ounce Villa Massa Limoncello 

1 to 2 teaspoon of sugar

15 to 20 fresh mint leaves 

4 lemon wedges

club soda

#190 Cocktail: Mai Tai

        Victor J. Bergeron claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944 at his restaurant, Trader Vic's, in California. Trader Vic's rival, Don the Beachcomber, claimed to have created it in 1933 at his then-new bar named for himself (later a famous restaurant) in Hollywood. Don the Beachcomber's recipe is more complex than that of Vic's and tastes quite different.
       The Trader Vic's story of its invention is that the Trader (Victor J. Bergeron) created it one afternoon for some friends who were visiting from Tahiti. One of those friends, Carrie Guild, tasted it and cried out: "Maita'i roa ae!" (literally "very good!", figuratively "Out of this world! The best!")—hence the name.[5]
       In 1953 the Matson Navigation Company (now Matson, Inc.) commissioned Victor Bergeron to create a drink for their new Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Victor then made a variation on the Mai Tai recipe adding pineapple juice; this variant is still served today at the hotel
      The Mai Tai became such a popular cocktail in the 1950s–60s that many restaurants, particularly tiki-themed restaurants or bars, served them. The Mai Tai was also prominently featured in the Elvis Presley film Blue Hawaii.
     Today, the Mai Tai is synonymous with Tiki culture both past and present.

1 ounce dark rum

1 ounce light rum

1/2 ounce triple sec

3/4 ounce orgeat syrup

1 ounce fresh lime juice

#189 Cocktail: Maiden's Prayer

   The cocktail is adapted from Harry Craddock's 1930 "Savoy Cocktail Book" recipe.
   Well, there is the name. And with cocktails, there is usually a story attached to the name. In this case, the story starts with an ultra-popular 19th century musical piece “The Maiden’s Prayer” about the purity of young women. All good. But with cocktail types being what they are, someone in the early 20th century decided to give the name to a cocktail with, perhaps, a lascivious wink. To make matters worse, the name was applied to multiple different (and sometimes god-awful) drinks, one of which Esquire, in 1949, suggested be “served on the edge of the couch”. Ugh. Maybe they should have called that cocktail “The Lecher’s Quest”. In any event, confusion and sleaze do not make for popular cocktails (well maybe a little sleaze, but certainly not confusion). But there are good versions of the Maiden’s Prayer, you just need to look in the right places. (www.putneyfarm.com)

1 ounce gin

1 ounce triple sec

1/2 fresh lemon juice

1/2 fresh orange juice

Angostura bitters to taste

#188 Cocktail: Mudslide

    The cocktail is in the duos and trios category of cocktails, which means cocktails made with 2 or 3 different liqueurs with a spirit base.
     Mudslide is a colloquial term for mudflow, the most rapid and fluid type of earth movement.
     The original Mudslide was allegedly invented during the 1950s at the Wreck Bar on Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. In its heyday—and in the bars of chain restaurants where this cocktail still appears—the frozen drink was often made with a mix that came in a plastic bottle.
( www.drinks.seriouseats.com)

2 ounces vodka

1 ounce Kahlua

1 ounce Baileys Irish Cream

#187 Cocktail: Mojito

     Some historians contend that African slaves who worked in the Cuban sugar cane fields during the 19th century were instrumental in the cocktail's origin. Guarapo, the sugar cane juice often used in Mojitos, was a popular drink among the slaves who named it. It never originally contained lime juice.
     There are several theories behind the origin of the name Mojito: one such theory holds that name relates to mojo, a Cuban seasoning made from lime and used to flavour dishes. Another theory is that the name Mojito is simply a derivative of mojadito (Spanish for "a little wet"), the diminutive of mojado ("wet"). Due to the vast influence of immigration from the Canary Islands, the term probably came from the mojo creole marinades adapted in Cuba using citrus (as opposed to traditional Isleno types).
    The Mojito has routinely been presented as a favorite drink of author Ernest Hemingway. It has also often been said that Ernest Hemingway made the bar called La Bodeguita del Medio famous when he became one of its regulars and wrote "My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita" on a wall of the bar.

4 lime wedges

2 to 3 teaspoons granulated sugar

8 to 10 fresh mint leaves

2 ounces white rum

club soda