The Brain Buster

About The Brain Buster

Meet the Empire Signature, the Brain Buster cocktail. This cocktail creates a powerful combination of flavors and blends them into a palatable cocktail that is sure to please. This cocktail will leave your head spinning and brain busted. Drinker beware, this cocktail packs a serious punch.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Absinthe

• 1 oz. Rye Whiskey

• 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth

• Dash of Angostura Bitters

• Dash of Lemon Juice

• Lemon Twist for garnish.

Cocktail Profile

• Rating:       4 Stars

• Served:      Up

• Strength:   Strong

• Difficulty:  Simple

• Flavor:       Spirit Forward

Method:

Combine all ingredients with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

The Death in the Afternoon

About The Death in the Afternoon

Also known as the Hemingway Champagne, the Death in the Afternoon is a powerful and decadent cocktail that crosses Champagne with Absinthe. Said to be invented in Left Bank, Paris by Hemingway himself along with a few sailors; this recipe first appeared in the 1930s in Hemingway’s books. The goal of the cocktail is to mix the spirits enough that the mixture becomes opalescent and milky.

"Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly." -Ernest Hemingway

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Absinthe

• Fill Champagne

Cocktail Profile

• Rating:       3.5 Stars

• Served:      Neat

• Strength:   Strong

• Difficulty:  Simple

• Flavor:       Spirit Forward

Method:

Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add chilled Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness.

The Zombie

About The Zombie

This recipe is probably the most complex cocktail on all of www.empiremixology.com. This cocktail is an original of Don the Beachcomber at his eponymous restaurant around the year 1934. It would later show up at the 1939 World’s Fair where it became popular on the East Coast. This cocktail is served with a strict limit of 2 per customer due to its high potency. The name originates from a businessman who had one and he returned to Donn’s restaurant and told him that it “made him a zombie all weekend.”

The name stuck and the rest is history. This recipe is highly complex and it is indeed a flammable cocktail so drink responsibly and remember safety when playing with fire. There is also a recipe for Donn’s Mix listed below which is an essential ingredient.

Ingredients:

• 1½ oz. Silver Rum

• 1½ oz. Dark Rum

• 1 oz Apricot Brandy

• Splash Overproof 151 Rum

• ½ oz. of Don’s Mix***

• 1 oz. Lime Juice

• 1 oz. Pineapple Juice

• 1 oz. Mango Juice

• ½ oz. Grenadine

• Dash of Angostura Bitters

For Donn’s Mix

• 3 Crushed Cinnamon Sticks

• 1 Cup of Sugar

• 1 Cup of Boiling Water

• 2 Cups of Grapefruit Juice

Cocktail Profile

• Rating:       4.5 Stars

• Served:      On the Rocks

• Strength:   Strong

• Difficulty:  Complex

• Flavor:       Tiki

Method:

Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice. Pour into glass with ice. You can float the 151 to create a longer lasting flame when lit.

For Donn’s Mix

• Bring 3 crushed cinnamon sticks, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

• Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and let sit for at least 2 hours before straining into a clean glass bottle.

• Then add 1 part of the syrup and 2 parts of fresh grapefruit juice together.

The Corpse Reviver №2

About The Corpse Reviver №2

The Corpse Reviver №2 as described in the Savoy Cocktail Book is the most commonly drunk of the corpse revivers. The dash of absinthe can either be added to the mix before shaking, or added to the cocktail glass and moved around until the glass has been coated with a layer of absinthe to give a subtle absinthe aroma and flavor to the drink. The Savoy №2 recipe noted that “Four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again.”

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Gin

• 1 oz. Triple Sec

• 1 oz. Lillet Blanc

• 1 oz. Lemon Juice

• Dash of Absinthe

• Orange Zest for Garnish

Cocktail Profile

• Rating:       4.0 Stars

• Served:      Neat

• Strength:   Strong

• Difficulty:  Simple

• Flavor:       Spirit Forward

Method:

Shake ingredients together in a mixer with ice. Strain into chilled glass. Garnish with orange zest.

The Tuxedo

About The Tuxedo

Related to the martini, the Tuxedo has had many variations since its inception in the 1880s. The cocktail is named after the Tuxedo Club in Orange County, New York where it was first mixed. Tuxedo Park, the planned community where the club was built, is itself a derivation of the Lenape word tucseto. The form of menswear by the same name originated at the same country club around the same time.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Gin

• 1 oz. Dry Vermouth

• ½ barspoon Maraschino Liqueur

• ¼ barspoon Absinthe

• 3 Dashes Orange Bitters

• Cherry and Lemon Zest for Garnish

Cocktail Profile

• Rating:       4 Stars

• Served:      Neat

• Strength:   Strong

• Difficulty:  Simple

• Flavor:       Spirit Forward

Method:

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry and a twist of lemon zest.

The Sazerac

About The Sazerac

The IBA Classic from the Big Easy makes a claim to be the oldest known American cocktail, with possible pre-Civil War origins. Although it can be a little tricky to make, this cocktail is typically a showcase drink for accomplished mixologists and is typically not in favor in the current bar scene. The Sazerac was named as the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2008.

Ingredients:

• .5 oz. Absinthe

• 2 oz. Cognac

• .5 oz. Simple Syrup

• 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

• 1 Lemon Twist for garnish

Cocktail Profile

• Rating:       3.5 Stars

• Served:      Neat

• Strength:   Strong

• Difficulty:  Complex

• Flavor:       Spirit

Method:

Rinse a chilled Old Fashioned glass with Absinthe, then fill with crushed ice. In a mixing glass (separate from the Old Fashioned glass), add all other ingredients and fill with ice. Stir until well chilled. Discard ice and excess absinthe in the Old Fashioned glass, and strain ingredients into glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

The Monkey Gland

About The Monkey Gland

Yeah what’s with the name right? It’s a long story about plastic surgery and monkey testicles so we’re just not going to go there. This cocktail is an IBA Classic; and probably the oddest titled one on the list. hailing from Paris, France at Harry’s New York Bar This cocktail can hit you hard with its powerful recipe and the addition of Absinthe. Have fun ordering this one at the bar and not sounding like a weirdo.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. Gin

• 1.5 Orange Juice

• Dash of Absinthe

• Dash of Grenadine

• Sugar to preference/taste.

Cocktail Profile

• Rating:       3.5 Stars

• Served:      Neat

• Strength:  Strong

• Difficulty: Complex

• Flavor:       Spirit

Method:

Add all ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a martini glass.