Faces of Elmer, or Angel Face vs. Whiskey Sour

How do you decide between two outstanding cocktails?  I don't know because I haven't ran across that scenario yet.  One of these was good - the other was fantastic.

The first one I had was called an Angel Face.  Basically three one ounce portions of hooch shaken over ice and poured into an appealing glass.  I found this to be more of a shot than an all day cocktail...obviously, not a shot at three ounces (or maybe, depending on your mood), but  a shot nevertheless.  It was a fine drink - very enjoyable.  I would definitely have this one again.

Angel Face Ingredients

One word about the apricot brandy.  I did some research on this, and found that true apricot brandy wouldn't have worked in this drink.  True apricot brandy is a) too expensive and b) too dry - more of an eau de vie.  What this concoction calls for is a neutral spirit that's been sweetened and flavored by some artificial means.  You'll find several brands on the market that aren't very good (probably why apricot brandy's gotten a bad rap for so long), but from what I've read, the two brands to try focusing in on are Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot or Marie Brizard Apry.  For the Angel Face, I used the latter.

Angel Face

1 oz. Gin

1 oz. Apricot brandy

1 oz. Calvados

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Angel Face and Whiskey Sour

Now moving on to the Whiskey Sour.  This cocktail needs simple syrup.  They sell simple syrup.  They also sell UFO Detectors.  I like to make my own simple syrup, and because of their fondness of pop-by's, do my own UFO detectin' (aluminium foil, 2 inch speaker, magnet, some cashews, and a 9 volt battery - the blinky lights are entirely at your option).  I've never understood why someone would buy simple syrup - it's soooo easy to make - 1 part water, and 1 part sugar.  Boil until the sugar is dissolved, and let it cool.  That's it.  See?  Simple!  This will last about a month in your fridge - more if you add a little bit of vodka to it.  Personally, I leave the vodka out, and make smaller batches when I need it.

1 part sugar and 1 part water

Fire

Sugar and water mixed - notice the sugar isn't yet dissolved

Boiling - sugar is dissolved

The egg cooker on the right will not affect the finished product in the middle

Whiskey Sour

1.5 oz. Bourbon Whiskey

1 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

0.5 oz. Simple Sugar

Dash egg white (Optional)

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well (If egg white is used, shake a little harder to foam up the egg white). Strain into a cocktail glass.

If served ‘On the rocks’, strain ingredients into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. 
Garnish with half orange slice and a maraschino cherry.

The stars of a Whiskey Sour

I tried it with and without the egg white.  I found that adding the egg only added a foam to the drink, and perhaps a little bit of fullness to it - not enough of an advantage to go through the hassle for me.

Now the secret of a great Whiskey Sour is, of course, the whiskey!  I chose Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Sour Mash Bourbon.  This stuff is fantastic, and at a great price.  It doesn't have the alcohol "burn" that some whiskeys have, and fills your mouth instead of being sharp...try it, and you'll see what I mean.  Nice spiciness too.  But we're not here to review whiskey, we're here to review cocktails, so...

For me, the Angel Face had too much alcohol in it - that's probably why I thought it was more of a shot.  It certainly wasn't something I'd want to drink all day because I couldn't!  The Whiskey Sour however, I could sip from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed, which I should really speak with the wife about trying one day...I'll let you know how that turns out...

Anyway...the winner of this match is...the Whiskey Sour!

The Winner!  Aww...looks like it's smiling at ya, doesn't it?

The Ingredients
For the Angel Face:
Gin - Citadelle
Apricot Brandy - Marie Brizard Apry
Calvados - Berneroy V.S.O.P. Calvados

For the Whiskey Sour:
Bourbon Whiskey - Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel 
Fresh Lemon

Up Next - TSA Pats Down 007, or Aviation vs. Vesper

The Drinks That Fun Forgot, or Americano vs. White Lady

From the title, you can tell that there was no real winner in this installment, so let's just move on to the next.  Thanks for dropping by.  See you next time.




























Kidding.  I wish.  Man - how did these two drinks make it to the IBA list?  I know, classics and all, but wow these are scary bad!  Maybe I just built up expectations.  I hadn't tried either of these before, but was looking so forward to them.  I read that the Americano got its name because it was so loved by Americans visiting Italy - any drink that's loved by Americans has to be awesome, right?  Look at the Old Fashioned!  Coca-Cola!  Starbucks!  The Americano is not Starbucks worthy, my friends.

Americano Ingredients

Americano

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. Red Vermouth

Splash of Soda Water

Mix the ingredients directly in an old-fashioned glass filled with ice-cubes, add a splash of soda water and garnish with half orange slice.

Seriously you guys?  I've never eaten pencil shavings, but if I ever do, I would imagine that they would taste exactly like the Americano.  I tried adjusting portions of ingredients, but there was nothing I did that made this thing taste better except to leave all of the parts out, and adding gin, tonic, and lime to the glass - then it was truly a great drink, but something different altogether.

Things in the White Lady

White Lady

1.3 oz. Gin

1 oz. Triple Sec

0.7 oz. Lemon Juice

Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into large cocktail glass.

The competitors

The White Lady was okay, but nothing I'd order, or want to order - its sourness was over powering.  It wasn't bitter like the Americano-oh-no, but just sour.  If I want that, I'll suck a lemon and do a gin shot, thank you very much.  Anyway, another bust however, the White Lady wins because it wasn't quite as bad as the American-void-o.

The least worse of two

Maybe my ingredients weren't the best?  Let me know your thoughts!

Ingredients
For Americano:
Campari - Campari
Red Vermouth - Martini & Rossi Rosato
Soda Water - Canada Dry

For White Lady:
Gin - Citadelle
Triple Sec - Cointreau
Fresh Lemon

Up next... Faces of Elmer, or Angel Face vs. Whiskey Sour