The Approve Cocktail gave Ryan and I another chance at the drink which became a swampy mess a few days ago. In fact the only difference between the Appetizer No. 3 and last nights Mr. Boston’s recipe is the quantities of the three ingredients.
Like the No. 3, the Approve Cocktail consists of “Old Mr. Boston’s Whiskey,” Bitters and Curacao. In anticipation of this recipe, we stopped off at Total Wine during our apple shopping trip to pick up a bottle of clear Curacao. After enjoying the free wine tasting our once quick stop turned into another $100 spree. Those tastings are dangerous!
Mr. Boston’s illustrious editor, Leo Cotton, continues to drive us a little batty with his lack of clarity. While the Appetizer No. 3 clearly notes the use of 1 jigger of Whiskey, 2 dashes of bitters and 3 dashes Curacao, the Approve Cocktail recipe muddies the water.
Firstly, the recipe asks for 3/4 wine glass Old Mr. Boston Whiskey. Modern small red wine glasses hold an average of 9 ounces. Three quarters of that amount would be more than 3 times the total volume of the Approve’s noted 3 ounce cocktail serving glass.
The handy glass guide at the back of the book has several options to choose from in the wine glass category. The smallest noted wine glass, a Port Desert wine glass, is said to be 2 – 3 ounces. The Claret glass which is noted as being used for Chianti or Burgundy is 4 ounces as is the glass for Rhine wine.
Since the end glass is supposed to be 3 ounces, Ryan and I decided that a jigger of Whiskey would do the trick for this recipe. It happens to be 3/4 of a 2 ounce Port wine glass 🙂
If you have been a frequent follower of our adventure, you might remember that we weren’t sure which type of Whiskey to use for The Appetizer No. 3 since Old Mr. Boston Whiskey isn’t available. Well… I happened to be thumbing around for another drink that involved Ginger Ale (we already opened the can and didn’t want it to go to waste 🙂 ) and voilà ! I discovered a recipe named the Bourbon Highball whose ingredients include a drink of Old Mr. Boston Whiskey. Seems pretty straight forward from there on I’d say.
Now the only question is which Bourbon to use. Mr. Boston’s Whiskey advertisement clearly shows 100 proof. The only Bourbon I can think of with that high of a proof is Wild Turkey 101. Unfortunately, while we didn’t have any more Wild Turkey in the house, we did have a bottle of Evan Williams Black Bourbon to experiment with.
At 86 proof, Evan Williams made for a stiff but highly enjoyable drink. If I had to guess, I’d think that the Approve would be too strong using Wild Turkey. The ice melt of this drink is negligible and mixing 101 with 1/2 teaspoon of 90 proof bitters and another 1/2 teaspoon of 70 proof Curacao would make for a crazy 3 ounces! As it was, the 86 proof Evan Williams made me feel warm and fuzzy in no time.
If you enjoy Old Fashioned Cocktails, chances are good you’d like the Approve Cocktail. This Whiskey forward drink goes down easily and offers a very slight sweetness to enhance the Bourbon. We approve – pun intended!
It’s still lovely outside here in Las Vegas, so I’m going to sip on tomorrows post in the sun. I need to recharge before Monday madness gets going. Happy Sunday 🙂