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Tipples → Mixed Drinks → Slings → Cocktails → Plain Cocktails

Brandy Cocktail

Terminus post quem: circa A.D. 1855 ↔ Terminus ante quem: A.D. 1862

Have the folowwing items:

Service-ware

• 4½ fl-oz. glass Cocktail goblet
• 4-inch beverage napkin

Tools

• cuting board
• paring knife
• glass mixing pitcher^*
   (Yarai^tm or similar)
• jigger-and-pony measure
   [2 fl-oz. by 1 fl-oz. / ~60 ml. by ~30 ml.]
• 3-to-1 split pony
   [¾ fl-oz. by ¼ fl-oz. / ~22.5 ml. by ~7.5 ml.]
• ice scoop
• stirrer
   (stainless-steel chopstick^* - or long, narrow spoon)
• Hawthorne strainer

Ingredients

• lemon (whole, for zest-cutting)
   (Citrus limon: Eureka or Santa Theresa)
• gentian bitters
   : Angostura™ Aromatic
• 50° Brix simple syrup
• French-style brandywine
    #1: Ferrand^™ 1840-style 3-Star Cognac brandywine;
    #2: Raynal^™ V.S.O.P. 5-Star French brandywine
• method ice (also called 'cracked ice')
   (half the size of service ice)
  

Instructions

1. Chill the cocktail goblet.
2. Cut a ~1” wide and ~3” long strip of lemon zest with minimal pith and reserve it.
3. Set the mixing pitcher in the work area. Into it goes:
• • gentian bitters — 2 dashes
   [1 scruplespoonfull / ¼ tsp. / ~1.25 ml.]
• • simple syrup — ¼ ponyfull
   [¼ fl-oz. / ~7.5 ml.]
• • French-style brandywine — 1 jiggerfull
   [2 poniesfull / 2 fl-oz. / ~60 ml.]
4. Set the chilled, empty goblet in the work area.
5. Take the mixing pitcher to the ice. Into it is added:
• • method ice — ⅔ fill
6. Set the mixing pitcher back in the work area.
7. Smoothly stir the ingredients for at least thirty seconds to mix and chill-dilute without letting aeration bruise the velvet of the liquor.
8. Fit the Hawthorne strainer into the mixing pitcher and strain the drink through the strainer into the goblet.
9. Garnish the drink with:
• • lemon zest (reserved in step #2) — 1 strip
   (twisted zest-side-down over the drink, rubbed on the rim, and put into the drink).
10. Serve the drink on the napkin.

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