Take Me to Saratoga
April 30, 2011
In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I discuss the Saratoga; a cocktail with two base liquors and one of my all-time favorites.
I'm trying to warm up the Fine Cooking audience to understanding cocktail classification.
Cocktails fall into many families and formats: sours, fizzes, flips, rickeys, and so on. With this nomenclature we can describe a drink without listing all the ingredients and quantities, no matter what someone has chosen to name it. For example, a Moscow Mule is just a vodka buck, and an Agricole Mule is a rhum agricole buck with mint.
The basic recipe is
The Saratoga
1 fl. oz. Rye Whiskey
1 fl. oz. VSOP Cognac
1 fl. oz. Sweet Vermouth
2-3 dashes Angostura BittersStir all ingredients over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Read the rest of the story here.
Huh. The Vieux Carre is basically a Saratoga with dashes of Benedictine and Peychaud. Never realized that.
Posted by: Nathan | April 30, 2011 at 11:22 AM
This has always been one of my favorites but one I hadn't made in a goodl long time. Thanks for the reminder. By the way, look for my interview of you to finally hit the site this coming week. Sorry for the delay.
Tim
Posted by: Tim | April 30, 2011 at 04:58 PM
What's ironic to me, is that every time I ask for this in Saratoga, I get blank stares. I did however, get the last bartender to make one for me and taste it herself. She was impressed...
Posted by: Blair Frodelius | April 30, 2011 at 06:31 PM
This doesn't even address the mystery of the other Saratoga -- the one Harry Johnson and others wrote about that contains pineapple syrup.
Posted by: Yarm | May 02, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Nope. I acknowledged that there is another one in the Fine Cooking post but didn't have time to get into all that.
Posted by: Camper English | May 02, 2011 at 01:04 PM
So which came first? The Saratoga or the Vieux Carre?
Posted by: Erik Adkins | May 03, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Isn't the Vieux Carre a relatively modern creation? I thought so.
Posted by: Camper English | May 03, 2011 at 01:17 PM