Father’s Day Hummingbird Recipe.
Stirred. Shaken. You Decide!
For Father's Day we began thinking about cocktails and associated gifts!
We wanted to make the fathers in our world feel as special as the mothers did just a few weeks ago. Since Saturday is the unofficial Hummingbird recipe day, we began searching for “father favorites.” A light bulb went off—most of our fathers have enjoyed their cocktails over time, so here are a few recipes for Dad favorites. A Dad favorite through generations, we can’t ignore is “scotch on the rocks” …which also got us thinking that a nice bottle of scotch, or Dad’s favorite whiskey would make a great gift.
We start off our Dad cocktails with a tried and true favorite. The Old Fashioned, which gained popularity during the late 1800s.
Old Fashioned
1 sugar cube
2 dashes bitters; Angostura Bitters are recommended in many old fashioned recipes, however other brands are also good, and you can substitute Aperol or Campari for the bitter/sweet flavor that is signature to this cocktail
2 ounces of bourbon or rye. I use bourbon, but if your Dad is a rye drinker, go for it. My advice is to get the best, smoothest whiskey.
Among bourbons, I use Woodford Reserve, because I know my husband likes that one a lot, but other bourbons such as Maker's Mark, Bulleit, or Knob Creek are all good. Use the one you and yours like best!
Orange twist
Prepare the cocktail in an Old Fashioned glass.
Muddle the sugar cube and bitters with one bar spoon of water at the bottom of a chilled rocks glass. (If using simple syrup, combine bitters and one bar spoon of syrup.) Add bourbon or rye. Stir.
Add ice. One large ice cube, or three or four smaller cubes are recommended. I usually use about 6-7 medium size ice cubes (from the refrigerator ice cube maker!) Stir until mixed and chilled, about 30 seconds.
Rub the oils of the orange peel on the rim and drop the peel in the glass.
Serves 1
Extra Dry Vodka Martini
Dry vermouth
Your favorite vodka
Large green martini olives, 3 per martini, placed in a bowl
Ice
Set your martini glass and stainless steel shaker out ready for use. If you don’t have a martini shaker, a not too large glass pitcher will also work.
Fill the shaker with ice cubes. Pour vodka into the shaker at least 2/3 of the way to the top. Set aside for just a moment.
Pour approximately 1/2 shot of vermouth into the martini glass. Swirl around, coating the inside of the glass as far to the top as you can, and spill out, leaving no collected vermouth in the bottom of the glass.
The shaker should feel ice cold to the touch and you should see condensation on the outside. With the lid on, do a combo shake-stir which is a less than vigorous shake, while swirling the vodka around in the shaker at the same time. This should take less than one minute.
Pour the vodka (with no ice—this is straight up) into the martini glass. Place 3 olives on a toothpick. Do not dry them. Put the olive-pick into the glass and serve. If you don’t have toothpicks you can add the 3 olives individually to the glass.
Makes 1 martini.
Favorite vodkas: Kettle One and Grey Goose.
Rated best dry vermouth for vodka martinis: Dolin, Noilly , Martini & Rossi, Vya, and from the East End, VerVino from Channing Daughters (Bridgehampton).
Martini olives should be large, green and firm. We prefer Santa Barbara or Silver Palate, but there are many good selections—with or without pimentos—we prefer without.
Scotch on the Rocks
Really good scotch!
Ice
A proper scotch glass or tumbler.
Optional: one twist of lemon per glass
The quality of the scotch is what makes the drink. My scotch drinking Dads all drink it on the rocks with no twist.
All prefer single malt scotches.
Here are the hands down favorite brands that are great but don’t totally break the bank: Macallan, Oban, and Balvenie.
Place 4-5 large cubes into a scotch glass.
Fill the glass above half way with scotch.
Add lemon twist if desired and serve.
Serves 1
