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After publishing the recipe last Saturday as “The April Signature Cocktail” a little research was done. The cocktail itself is served everywhere and has been done for almost 200 years but it requires a bit more looking at. Using the LCBO local published prices:
CUVEE RARE CHAMPAGNE NV (PIPER HEIDSIECK)
VINTAGES 643734 | 750 mL bottle
Price: $ 129.00
PIPER HEIDSIECK BRUT CHAMPAGNE
LCBO 462432 | 750 mL bottle
Price: $ 49.95
REMY MARTIN VSOP COGNAC
LCBO 4101 | 750 mL bottle
Price: $ 89.95
this cocktail can cost a bit.
My first taste was at the Chateau Lauier where 2 each with 1 appetizer and 1 dessert came to over $150.00 with tip. How decadent.
The recipe as shown Saturday is the version served at the Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco.
Using LCBO Ontario liquor prices the raw materials to mix this drink will be at least $12.00 at the low end to over $20.00. The Chateau Laurier lounge, Zoe’s in Ottawa is a bargain at only $20.00.
At home I have been mixing this cocktail using a domestic sparkling wine from Magnotta. An Ontario VQA wine Magnotta 2008 Brut at around $10.00 per bottle makes an excellent substitute. In my home version I am using the Remy Martin but would like to hear of anyone with experience using a lower cost brandy. This all keeps the cost of this delightful cocktail at a manageable level.
Royal Cocktail
The Champagne Cocktail has been around for a long time. It is one of the most enduring cocktails with good reason. It’s fabulous. What better cocktail for the April Signature Cocktail to commemorate the Royal Wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince Andrew.
4oz. (120 ml) Piper-Heidsieck champagne
3/4 oz. Remy Martn VSOP cognac
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 sugar cube
Put a drop or two of the bitters on the sugar cube, pour in the cognac and then the champagne. Serve with a twist of lime or lemon.
The Champagne Cocktail History
References to this drink are found as early as 1862 in The Bon Vivant’s Companion and Jerry Thomas’s How to Mix Drinks
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 or 2 dashes bitters
Piece of lemon peel
Champagne
Fill tumbler 1/3 full broken ice. Fill balance with wine. Shake well and serve.
Thomas later published an updated edition in 1887 removing the shaking and crushed ice . The recipe is similar to ours but adds an ice cube and stirs. Serve with a lemon peel.
On St Patrick’s day what is more fitting than Irish Coffee? March’s signature cocktail The Irish Coffee made with 2 oz. of Jameson whiskey, 4 oz. coffee, 3 sugar cubes topped with whipped whipping cream.
Watch the video.
St Patricks Day Signature Cocktail Irish Coffee
In a preheated glass or mug place 3 sugar cubes and pour on 4 oz of hot coffee and stir. Mix in 1 1/2 to 2 oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey and top with unsweetened lightly whipped whipping cream. That’s it. Enjoy
This cocktail is generally attributed to Joseph Sheridan, a head chef at Foynes, County Limerick. It is believed that Stanton Delaplane, a travel writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, brought Irish coffee to the United States after drinking it at Shannon Airport.
