The Commodore

Whenever Indian summer comes (we’ve had a nonstop one in LA this year), you might be thinking of shifting gears a bit, prepping for the richer late-autumn drinks but not quite there. When it’s 79 and clear as the country, a manhattan may feel a little too heavy, even though the calendar says it’s fall.

The limes of late summer are turning yellow, but don’t toss them into the compost pile. They’re perfect now for a Commodore.

Never had a Commodore?

Over at Doc’s Cocktail db, the preferred recipe is:

4/5 rye whisky (2 1/2 oz, 7 cl, 5/8 gills)
1/5 fresh lime juice (1/2 oz, 2 cl, 1/8 gills)
2 dashes orange bitters per cocktail
sugar to taste

Bourbon is OK too. Basically 4 parts whiskey to one part lime, orange bitters and sugar to taste. Tangy!

Here’s a recipe for a more esoteric Commodore, not quite a parasol drink but a little fruitier: the Commodore No. 1.

1 1/2 oz blended whiskey
1/2 oz strawberry liqueur
1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz orange juice
dash orange bitters

No instructions; we figure if you’re at this site you already know how to mix these.

The Whiskey Sour

It is shockingly bad form to drink whisky at any time at all before noon.
–Alma Whitaker, Bacchus Behave! The Lost Art of Polite Drinking, p. 27

~~~

But never mind that. This is October, and the stretch from waking to noon will hopefully be mercifully short anyway.

We are always reticent to tell others what they should drink. But Joy at The Drawing Room yesterday recommended a parting Whiskey Sour, and we were quite pleased with it. Whiskyish and citrusy, it suited the moment perfectly. The sun shone through the door gently as the day’s final rays do, and there it was: a perfect Jim Beam Whiskey Sour, backlit.

It may have been years since you’ve had a Whiskey Sour. You may even have never had one before. Let us refresh your memory:

Whiskey Sour

Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain

1 oz fresh lemon juice (3 cl, 1/4 gills)
1/2 tsp sugar (2 dashes)
1 1/2 oz rye or Bourbon whiskey (4.5 cl, 3/8 gills)
1/2 orange juice (optional) (1 1/2 oz, 4.5 cl, 3/8 gills)

Add lemon wedge, cherry
Serve in a sour glass (4.0 oz)

nihil obstat: The Cocktail Database (cocktaildb.com)

Citrus, whiskey….what’s not to love? It will work well with your sleek Bach/Busoni partita on the Bose and the autumn Santa Ana rolling across the sunshine. It is a fitting drink with which to honor the season—the American whiskey makes it so—and yet tangy enough for fall. The sour glass—think half an hourglass—is the essential stemware. And its shape is a good reminder: you should sip your Whiskey Sour over a minimum of half an hour.

Use a good whiskey. And this is a particularly nasty week to drive anywhere, so lose your keys.

The Jimmy Walker

Last night I was out with some friends at at least one enemy and I had just ordered the usual when someone ordered a Jimmy Walker.

Thinking that this was a relative of a Johnny Walker, I didn’t give it a second thought. But when our drinks came, the Jimmy Walker was almost the color of Campari in a cocktail glass, I asked, “What the hell’s in that, anyway?”

Here’s what’s in it:

Bourbon (a couple of ounces)
sweet vermouth (half an ounce)
a little lemon juice
a little grenadine

Or, if you like, try the cocktail db’s version.

Second round, I still hadn’t made a move to say, “I got this round,” or anything rash like that. I was still in complete control of my faculties, darlin’. But I did try a Jimmy Walker. I’d call it, no offense, a sturdy lady’s cocktail, but that’s just nodding to taste—definitely, the alcohol is there, and definitely, it demands slow sippin’.

Place names: the place

A couple of posts over at mainbrace featuring local watering holes:

Dave's and The Roost (Atwater and Glendale)
Taix (Echo Park)
The Roost (Atwater)

These are all within about two miles of Los Feliz.