Ms. Franky shaking Cognac cocktails. Photo Credit: Cheryl Juetten
The holiday season seems like a fitting time to bring up Cognac-based cocktails, something we at Night Owl like to shake and stir all year round and not just in December.
Does it seem rather fancy-pants to add Cognac to cocktails? Au contraire, mes amis! It’s a natural.
This aged French brandy, distilled from grapes, may not seem as rooted in classic cocktails as gin and American whiskies are, but Cognac has played a starring role in American cocktails from the get-go, especially ones originating in New Orleans, which isn’t a surprise given the Crescent City’s French heritage. As such, folks in New Orleans didn’t rely on the excuse of holidays to open a bottle of Cognac and getting mixing, and neither should you.
Examples of classic Cognac cocktails from the Big Easy include the Vieux Carre and the Sazerac. This last one may come as a surprise now that it’s now typically made with rye whiskey, though some historically minded craft bars will split the base between cognac and rye. Originally this spirit-forward cocktail was made with a full base of Cognac. That was back in the time before the phylloxera epidemic in the late 1800s in Europe that devastated grape vines and hence wine and brandy production. Whiskey came to the rescue of the Sazerac when Cognac was in short, precious supply.
Another classic cocktail to add to this grapey lineup is the Side Car, which was my introduction to revitalized classic cocktails back in the mid-1990s at the Beauty Bar in Manhattan. Enamored of ice-cold, viscous vodka martinis at the time, I was blown away by the Side Car, with its tang of fresh citrus and the headiness of a grape-based distillate, all served up in a cute coupe with a hardened sugar rim, not looking unlike the salted rim of a margarita. Drinking for me hasn’t been the same since. Thank you, Cognac!
There are plenty of other mixed drinks prepared with Cognac, such as the Side Car’s ancestor, the Brandy Crusta, also from New Orleans, and I gained access to a whole new repertoire of brandy cocktails when bartender extraordinaire and certified Cognac educator, Ms. Franky, who’s based in New York City, led an educational class on Cognac and cocktails for the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance’s Cocktail Club back in September, an event which I, Diana, helped organize.
Ms. Franky got the party started with the simplest and yet most elegant of drinks, a welcoming glass of Cognac and tonic with a lemon twist. No need, see, to get complicated and fussy with Cognac. For the other two drinks of the evening, Ms Franky revamped two classics, a Manhattan, swapping out the whiskey for Cognac, and a French 75, adding a suitably more French spirit for the English gin. This is what I really learned from Ms. Franky during her talk and demo: Enjoy Cognac now; don’t wait for a special occasion for it.
Urging you to do this may sound like an extravagant expense, like taking a bath in Champagne, or something like that, but there are decent Cognacs, very suitable for mixology, out there, which don’t cost much more than any other spirit you would use for making cocktails, between $40-$50. I, and many bartenders, are partial to Pierre Ferrand’s expressions of 1840 Original Formula and Ambre for this economic reason. Ask your local liquor store to get you a bottle or two and get mixing. You could even get really festive and make a punch, as I did for the holidays, or homemade eggnog.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!