The Flip
I made this with Dry Sack Sherry, one of several possible bases prescribed by DeGroff. He also says that the Flip can be made with cognac or other brandy, or even whiskeys. Beat a small to medium egg (about 1 1/2 ounces worth) and drop that into 2 ounces of sherry in a mixing glass. Add an ounce of simple syrup and five ice cubes to that lot and shake like hell. Strain the mess into a small cocktail glass or wine glass (I used my beloved Reidel port glasses), and dust the top with fresh nutmeg.
This is another one of those absolutely weird drinks that is worth trying simply because it is unlike anything you’ve ever had before. Like a watery eggnog. I don’t know when it is appropriate to have a Flip since it’s kind of a winter drink (nutmeg, sweet-ish) and yet kind of refreshing in a funny tasting way. It’s an age-old cocktail so you’d think you could order this in your better prepared hotel bars. I think if you are attending some kind of Edgar Allan Poe Festival, the Flip would fit right in. Poe the man always struck me as a cross between gritty London docks and dusty Tombstone streets.
When I was a teen, my grandfather Ralph sent me a book of Poe writings. Ralph had enclosed a note: “Edgar Allan Poe was a first cousin of Cynia Poe, who was your great-great-grandmother Lacy’s sister. That makes you a shirt-tail relation of some kind or other.” For a long while after that note I tried to use my relation to a reputed opium-puffing whack job to explain some pretty wild ideas. It turns out Poe WASN’T a drug addicted madman though, so what’s my excuse now?
The Whisky Sour
Apparently a sour can be made with rum as well, or even vodka. But why? The Essential Cocktail says bourbon is the current default, and being a Maker’s Mark Ambassador, you don’t have to tell me twice.
It’s lemonade with a little bourbon kick. Well, I like lemonade and I love bourbon. This is a little, simple drink with a good amount of alcohol so it could be dangerous. I always thought a whisky sour was one of those drinks old guys had when they had long lost the use of their tastebuds. Whisky isn’t the friendliest of spirits and too much lemon can be like tiny fists punching the crap out of your tongue. Yet the silky peacemaker that is simple syrup not only gets these pugilists to the bargaining table, she manages to have them happily clapping each other on the back and lighting each other’s cigars as they tumble down your throat to warm your innards. If you have one Whisky Sour, you will order another.
