Randy Wong: Double Bassist, Arts Educator, and Researcher

Recently I have been on somewhat of a brandy kick, perhaps because of all the Alfred Hitchcock movies we’ve been watching in Ran Blake‘s Film Noir class at NEC. (Hitchcock often has his characters drink brandy in his films… see The Rope, Strangers on a Train, and others).

The Sidecar and the Daisy

I first started getting into cocktails back in 2006 (not so long ago, I guess), and the Sidecar was the what got me into it… thanks, Cleve for the introduction! The Sidecar, as you probably know, consists of brandy, cointreau, and fresh lemon juice, in equal parts. As I got more into the tiki side of cocktails, I kinda forgot about the Sidecar…

…Until I learned about the Daisy. Which some say is the forerunner to the Sidecar. Same basic idea, except in different proportions, and with yellow chartreuse as the sweetener instead of cointreau. John said that the golden ratio depends on where you live; in Boston it’s 2 – 1/2 – 1/2, and in NYC it’s 2 – 3/4 – 3/4. (That is, for that basic recipe. Jerry Thomas calls for curacao, Jamaican rum, and gomme syrup. Other recipes add grenadine in addition to the chartreuse). Yellow chartreuse is something I still haven’t acquired for my home bar, which means that Jerry Thomas’s recipe is more accessible for my own tinkering.

Here’s the Jerry Thomas recipe:

3 or 4 dashes gum syrup
2 or 3 dashes of Curaçao liqueur
The juice of half a small lemon
1 small wine-glass of brandy
2 dashes of Jamaican rum

I’ll post some variations when I got some worthy ones.

The Japanese

The Japanese is a really old cocktail, and very easy to make: 2 oz. brandy and 1/2 oz. orgeat, with a dash or two of Angostura bitters.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been experimenting with Falernum, and one of the batches I made came out a little more almond-y than I wanted. So, in it went into my Japanese. Actually, I decided to call it a Vietnamese, in honor of the lime sour I added (many Vietnamese dishes use fresh limes).

The Vietnamese
2 oz cognac
1 oz falernum
1 oz orgeat
.5 oz lime sour

Shake with rocks and double strain.

Please share your wisdom with me and post some Daisy, Sidecar, or Japanese-inspired cocktail recipes for me to make! Thanks!