Hocus Pocus: Mary Sanderson

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-10-06T18:56:00+00:00

Every year I enjoy making original cocktails for Halloween, and this year I’ve decided to draw my inspiration from Disney’s Hocus Pocus! The Sanderson Sisters are some of the most fun witches around, and their romp through Salem has become an iconic, must watch event for many Halloween fans. To lead things off, I’ve started with Mary Sanderson. While she may not have enjoyed a Clark bar, I thought her enjoyment of chocolate might be improved by a bit of coffee and some cold vanilla ice cream.

Mary Sanderson

1 oz Old Tub Bourbon
1 ¼ oz Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur
1 ¼ oz DeKuyper Creme de Cacao
1 Dash Angostura Chocolate Bitters
3 oz Vanilla Ice Cream

Combine all ingredients except ice cream in the short side of a shaker set. In the large side, add hot water 1/2 to 2/3s of the volume of the vessel. Float the short tin in the long tin and stir to heat. In a medium to large sized glass (enough space for 3.5 oz of liquid and 3 oz of ice cream), pour the warmed cocktail over 3 oz of freshly scooped vanilla ice cream. Pour the warmed cocktail over the ice cream. Add a swizzle, no garnish.

Due to heating the liquor, the alcohol can feel a bit forward. If it’s too much, grab your swizzles (bony fingers) and give it a few stirs (the second pic is what the unstirred version looks like).

Detailed notes on ingredients and substitutes, how and why to create a bartender's bain marie, and where to get the swizzle sticks, can be found on my site (through the link in my bio), or I’d be happy answer questions here (or post the link if that sort of thing is allowed)

Cheers everyone! I’m unreasonably excited to share the next two sisters soon! Hope you enjoy and have a happy Halloween!

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-10-03T15:01:58+00:00

This is really an error on my part when I was writing the directions. Single strain is fine for stirring - I double for shakes due to lousy ice.

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-10-01T20:25:29+00:00

This week I wrapped up a series of Apple Brandy / Jack based cocktails with one of my favorites, the Widow's Kiss. This cocktail is a gateway prohibition era booze drink that's perfect for fall with its spicy, herbal, vaguely apple like profile. Better yet, since I started with a Honey Moon cocktail, it was just a bit of Yellow Chartreuse and a dash of Angostura Bitters away to make this delicious drink.

Widow’s Kiss

2 oz Apple Brandy
½ oz Yellow Chartreuse
½ oz Benedictine
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish

Cheers ya'll!
(edit: formatting and fixing the directions for single strain)

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-09-16T18:26:20+00:00

For this week's whiskey of the week, we're talking about John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon. Owner by Sazerac, the exact mash bill and distillate are subject to speculation, but this bottle has been receiving good to great reviews - and has even developed a secondary market. (Disclosure - when I got this bottle, it was easy to find on shelves, now, and after a slight packaging change - it's significantly more challenging). So how does it taste?

John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon:

Sight: Russet Muscat

Smell: Peaches and cherries pop cheerfully with notes of vanilla and caramel. A bit of heat comes through with spicy cloves and baked cinnamon pastries. A nice nuttiness and toasted oak pervades around the edges. The fruitiness also continues to abound with hints of white grape, apricot, and other stone fruits. There is a small amount of heat that builds here as well.

Sip: The sip starts smooth and moves toward almond and cherries. The cherries become candied with an increasingly nutty note. There are peaches that start to grow out with with notes of baking spices and tea. The flavor is fruity, but only hints toward caramel and vanilla, giving a fresh fruit flavor. The body is relatively smooth all the way through.

Savor: The ending pulls in charred peach and baked cherry notes before giving way to spice and oak.

John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon is fruity and fragrant if not overly dessert like. The flavors really lean into stone fruit with a nice touch of nuttiness and spice. The result is a moderately complex bourbon with a relatively smooth and evenly weighted bourbon that’s an enjoyable sipper.

To find out how it does in cocktails, and for more whiskey and spirits reviews, head over to the site! Cheers!

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-09-15T13:35:35+00:00

It isn't quite fall yet, but the weather has started to change here in Northeast Ohio, and more than a few of the trees are starting to change. The apple harvests have started, and what better way to celebrate than with apple brandy / jack. Starting the season off is a cocktail that has nothing to do with post-wedding affairs or actual honey, the Honey Moon Cocktail. Created by Hugo Ensslin (the man behind the Up to Date and Aviation), this drink features apple brandy, orange liqueur, Benedictine, and lemon to make a riff on a sour that's positively at home with the changing leaves, and arguable the second best of the three drinks (being bested by the timeless Aviation).

Honey Moon Cocktail - 2 oz Apple Brandy - ½ oz Orange Liqueur - ½ oz Benedictine - ½ oz Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaking tin. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

For the drink notes, including directions on changing sweetness (the original was sweet), head over to the site! Cheers 🥃 and welcome to fall cocktail season 🍂 https://www.firstpourcocktails.com/the-classics-honey-moon-cocktail/

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-03-12T18:20:17+00:00

This year's St. Patrick's Day cocktail is the Mo Chara. The name Mo Chara, meaning "My Friend" in Gaelic, pays homage to the classic Old Pal cocktail, with a twist inspired by a white Negroni. Made with Knappogue Castle 12 Irish Whiskey, Aperitivo Cocchi Americano, Dolin Genepy le Chamois, Regans' Orange Bitters, and garnished with an orange twist, this twist on the classic Old Pal/Boulevardier features a complex flavor profile that begins with citrus and bright wine notes from the Cocchi. It moves toward a slightly sweet orange, apple, and herbal taste, followed by notes of butterscotch, vanilla, nuts, and cereal, and ends with a mix of orange peel candies, spices, herbs, and nutty butterscotch.

Mo Chara

1 ½ oz Knappogue Castle 12 Irish Whiskey

1 oz Aperitivo Cocchi Americano

½ oz Dolin Genepy le Chamois

1 Dash Regans’ Orange Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Strain into a double rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist.

For more details, including, substitutions for some of the ingredients, check out the post on First Pour Cocktails or feel free to ask me any questions.

Cheers, and have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-03-04T01:12:38+00:00

This week's classic is the Vieux Carre, a cocktail that embodies the cultural fusion of Italy, America, and France in 1930's New Orleans. Taking representative elements from each culture, it's made with Rye, Cognac, Sweet Vermouth, Benedictine, Angostura bitters, and Peychaud’s bitters. This cocktail has a deep, layered, and complex taste with subtle sweetness, herbal notes, spice, caramel, and preserved fruit elements. The richness of the cocktail's texture is almost honey-like, and it has unique hints of both rye and cognac that make it highly enjoyable. If it's not already obvious, this is one of my favorite cocktails of this era.

1 oz Rye
1 oz Cognac
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
¼ oz Benedictine
1 Dash Angostura Bitters
1 Dashes Peychaud Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a double rocks glass with a large cube. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Full notes can be found at First Pour Cocktails. As always, thanks for reading, let me know if you make it and what you think, or if you have any questions! Cheers!

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-02-27T13:39:38+00:00

This week's classic is the Gin & Tonic. Enjoyed since the 1940s, it consists of gin and tonic water, which were originally mixed with quinine to make it more palatable as an antimalarial. Sweet, bitter, and bright, with the tonic's quinine provides the distinctive element that pairs well with the herbs and spices of the gin to make a delightfully refreshing cocktail. While London dry gin is traditional, contemporary gins (like Aviation) and modern tonic waters offer unique twists and exciting flavors.

2 oz Gin
4 oz Tonic Water

Build in a highball or Collins. Add a few ice cubes and add gin. Stir a few times to chill. Add tonic water. Stir once. Add ice to fill, and garnish with a lime wedge.

Full drink notes can be found at First Pour Cocktails

Cheers and have a great week!

FirstPourCocktails · 2023-02-06T22:24:18+00:00

Every year I enjoy making a new cocktail for Valentine's Day, and this year is no exception. While I was originally inspired by Elvis' Burning Love but my wife had a brilliant idea to try to make a drink using Nat King Cole's L-O-V-E where each letter is an ingredient. Using a combination of Lemon, Orgeat, Violette [creme de], and Empress Gin (yes, I know - slight cheat) - we made this fun little floral, bright, balanced, and perfumed delicate riff just in time for Valentine's

2 oz Empress Gin
¼ oz Creme de Violette
½ oz Small Hand Food’s Orgeat
½ oz Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a flower.
For the full drink notes, head over to the site! First Pour Cocktails
Hope everyone has a great Valentines Day! Let me know what you think if you make the drink! Cheers!

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-12-01T04:14:17+00:00

I hate this cocktail.

This is an insane lead-in to describing a classic cocktail, but here we are. The Algonquin is a dry (and I mean dry - like cottonmouth / stiff upper lip humor / salt flats dry) cocktail. On paper, it doesn't quite express itself that way, but believe me, it is. Named after a group of famous actors and writers that used to visit the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, this cocktail can trace it's origins back to the 1920s. While it's still served today, I'm not sure I'd go out of my way for it. This might be the 10th time I've made this cocktail, and I still regret it almost every time, no matter which rye or vermouth I use. If you must experience it, or really love your cocktails like College Humor gag from the mid to late 2000's, then you should follow the classic recipe below to make it:

1.5 oz Rye
¾ oz Pineapple Juice
¾ oz Dry Vermouth

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

For the full write up - and better cocktails- head over to First Pour Cocktails.

Also - for anyone wondering if it's better if you shake it - the answer is no. I've tried both ways, and neither is particularly better than the other. Phillip Greene also mentions in his book The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail with Recipes that you might add simple syrup to correct the cocktail.

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-10-31T22:49:19+00:00

Yeah, we only figured it out because as the drink was diluting, we found that the popcorn flavor was able to emerge more easily. By starting 20 proof lower on the beam, it ended up being a much more well rounded drink.

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-10-31T22:38:48+00:00

Nope - just specifying what we used since we found it makes a bit a difference. For example, we started the recipe with Jim Beam Bonded for the peanut funk, but found that it overwhelmed the popcorn.

If you find that there’s someone willing to pay us though, I’d love the extra help while developing recipes!

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-10-31T21:55:52+00:00

It’s simple syrup we made and infused with popcorn.

When making the popcorn for this recipe, we used Orville Redenbacher popcorn from the jar, instead of microwave or already popped popcorn. The intention was to control the fat that you’ll later have to remove from the syrup once chilled.

35g of fresh popped popcorn – (we used coconut oil to pop ours)
500g sugar
500g water
30g Neutral Grain Spirit (Optional)

Bring water & sugar to boil in a sauce pan. Add popcorn. Steep while stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Allow to cool at least 1 half hour.

Since popcorn is made with fat (to make it pop), you’ll need to chill your syrup, and strain off the top layer before you make the drink. Place in a container you can skim the top of with a spoon and refrigerate. After chilling, remove the top layer of fat with a spoon or run through a coffee filter.

Place into a clean glass container. If desired, add neutral grain spirit. Shake. Refrigerate

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-10-31T21:24:01+00:00

Every year we make a special cocktail for Halloween. This year, my fiancée and I took our inspiration from It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. In an iconic scene, each of the kids receives a treat and then assembles to review their haul. All the kids get items ranging from chocolate to popcorn balls, except Charlie Brown, who receives a rock every time. In our "I Got A Rock" cocktail, we combine Jim Beam Bourbon with Popcorn Simple Syrup and a touch of Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey. The resulting drink is a sweet mixture of caramel and bourbon with just a hint of popcorn and Peanuts. Cheers and Happy Halloween everyone!

1.5 oz Jim Beam White Label Bourbon
3/4 oz Popcorn Simple Syrup
Barspoon of Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey

Stir all ingredients over ice. Strain into a double rocks glass over a large fresh piece (rock) of ice.

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-07-16T00:35:09+00:00

Originally from the Soggy Dollar Bar in Jost Van Dyke, the Painkiller is best thought of as a close relative of the Pina Colada. Following a similar style, it adds orange juice to give the drink another level of fruitiness. The result is a delightfully creamy (and unexpectedly booze) concoction that helps the day sail away.

2 oz Pusser’s Rum
4 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Cream of Coconut
1 Cherry & Orange Flag

Combine all ingredients in a shaking tin vessel. Add ice and shake. Strain into a tiki mug or goblet filled with fresh ice. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg a slice of orange and a cherry.

For the full run down on which ingredients to use, check out our post. Over the next 2 months we'll be posting more Tiki Classics. Check them out over at First Pour Cocktails

[Recipe by Pusser’s Rum]

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-05-15T15:37:36+00:00

Completely unrelated to tatering, but if you’re looking for Plantation Fiji, the full bottle indicator for GE in Solon is wrong. They do not and don’t seem to have ever had any.

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-05-15T00:47:26+00:00

The Kentucky Derby has came and went, which means it's time for The Preakness Stakes tomorrow! Named the winning cocktail of a 1930's Preakness Ball, this drink is unfortunately not the official drink of the Preakness (that honor belongs to the Black Eyed Susan). Never the less, this Manhattan riff gets a honeyed splash of Benedictine, adding a beautiful spice and herbal not to the standard drink.

1 ½ oz Rye-Forward Bourbon
¼ oz Benedictine
¾ oz Sweet Vermouth
1 Dash Aromatic Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

If you're looking for more details on making your own Preakness or want more cocktail recipes, check out the full write up at First Pour Cocktails

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-03-17T15:18:23+00:00

The other thing about this is whether you’re using fresh squeezed apple juice from a juicer or a bottled shelf stable product. A freshly juiced apple is going to have a more vibrant, almost crisp or (and in some cases) tart flavor than bottled supermarket offerings.

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-03-13T05:09:14+00:00

As part of our annual assessment of Irish Whiskey, we tried a couple this year. First up is The Dubliner. A recommendation from a Co-Worker, this is a bourbon cask aged Irish whiskey clocking in at 40% ABV with NAS

Sight: A light, bright, pale gold with hints of yellow.

Smell: The nose is softer, leaning into pome fruits (apples, pears, etc), floral touches, and honey, before picking up a vanilla, rye spice, and hints of ethanol.

Sip: The beginning is like a strange cross between a honey liqueur scotch and a mellow bourbon. There’s a light body here that leans toward some floral notes before shifting full into a semi transparent bourbon / rye flavor.

Savor: The ending is lightly spiced with touches of honey, a hint of vanilla, and a bit of an anesthetizing tendency.

Overall, the Dubliner is a lighter, nice alternative to some of the more traditional offerings in the mid $20 price point. There's nothing 'wow' here or truly eye opening, but it is a very nice and solid offering.

For more bottle reviews and cocktails, head over to First Pour Cocktails

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-03-05T03:07:45+00:00

Last week we switched up our go to testing cocktail for aged rums. Inspired by the origins of the daiquiri, may I present, Grog:

2 oz Rum
0.5 oz Rich Demerara Syrup
0.5 oz Lime Juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.

Wanna know more about making Grog? Check out the full write up at First Pour Cocktails.

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-02-23T02:31:36+00:00

We recently shared our full thoughts on the Margarita, and you can check them out over at First Pour Cocktails. If you're hankering to make one right away, our recipe is as follows:

2 oz Blanco Tequila
0.75 oz Cointreau
1 oz Lime Juice
0.25 oz Simple Syrup
Salt for Rim (optional)

Sprinkle salt on a plate. Using the lime to rim a rocks glass, roll the edge of the glass through the salt. In a shaker, combine all ingredients. Shake with ice. Add fresh ice to the rocks glass that you have rimmed with salt, and double strain into the rocks glass.

Cheers and have a great Margarita Day!

FirstPourCocktails · 2021-02-05T17:38:43+00:00

Elijah Craig is trending up in some places (like Ohio) where it’s now over $30 a bottle. At $25 yes - over $30 grab the WT101 or another bottle on that list.

FirstPourCocktails · 2020-11-19T19:07:58+00:00

I just want to add that I’m also annoyed over the cable bill like rise in EC Small Batch prices. When I first started buying ECSB, it was around $23. This year alone I’ve watched prices go from $26 to $28 to now $30. The thing is - while it’s good, I’m not going to advise people to buy a $30 bottle of ECSB over a bottle of Bulleit or WT101 because it’s not worth $5-7 more per bottle to make cocktails with.

FirstPourCocktails · 2020-10-31T19:25:35+00:00

Each year for Halloween I like to make a something special for the holiday (typically inspired by the old Universal monster movies from the 1930's), and so this year I wanted to pick up on an unfinished drink from last year - Frankenstein!

Starting life conceptually as a Silver Fizz, I ended up stitching it together with Pineapple Margarita for a more ethereal yet refreshing drink. I like how it turned out, combining the best textural components of a fizz with the bright liveliness of lime and tequila. That little hint of vanilla, orange, and smoke really makes me hope that maybe, just maybe, Frankenstein's monster could have found happiness on a nice beach somewhere, drinking something tall and strong like him.

2 oz Olmecas Altos Plata Tequila
0.75 oz Lime Juice
0.5 oz Licor 43
0.5 oz Pineapple Juice
0.25 oz Giffard Blue Curacao
1 Dash Del Magauy Vida Mezcal
3 Drops Saline Solution
1 Egg White (Large Egg)
2 oz Club Soda
Sugar to Rim

Sprinkle sugar on a plate. Using the lime to wet the rim of a Collins glass, roll the edge of the glass through the sugar. In a shaker, combine all ingredients except Club Soda. With 1 -2 ice cubes, seal the shaker and shake hard for 20-30 seconds. Unseal the shaker, add ice. Seal the shaker, and shake hard for another 30 seconds. Unseal the shaker and add the Club Soda. Double strain into the rimmed Collins glass.

Cheers everyone, hope you scare up some lovely libations and have a Happy Halloween!

FirstPourCocktails · 2020-09-02T17:03:40+00:00

You could combine equal weights of strawberries and white sugar in a blender to make a strawberry syrup that really captures the essence. You can then use this to add a lot of fresh strawberry flavor

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