Umami Mart

When the holidays roll around, I reach for Cognac. The Sidecar is my all-time favorite cocktail for these times – a festive mix of Cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon. Nothing says, “Let’s Party!” like a shaken drink; and there is an old-timey, finger-snapping elegance to Cognac that always makes me feel like I’m hanging out with Daisy, Nick, […]

In honor of Umami Mart’s sixth anniversary/ lease-signing and the Japan Week celebration in NYC, this month we spotlight the Japanese Cocktail for Happy Hour. We will review the cocktail’s origins, its ingredients, and offer an improved adaptation that pays homage to Japan. Cocktail historian David Wondrich gives a through history of the libation in […]

Minty, refreshing, and undeniably potent, the Stinger cocktail is part reviver, part ultimate nightcap. The cocktail originates around the fin de siecle, but was not memorialized until Tom Bullock’s Ideal Bartender (1917). The Stinger was a favorite of the high society set who regularly had a brandy digestif after supper. The classic recipe is one […]

Over the last decade the cocktail renaissance has spread across the country and helped turn bartending from a mere side-job for college students and aspiring actors into an honorable profession. It has also resurrected previously unknown names like Jerry Thomas and Harry Johnson by turning them into prophet-like figures, and their recipes have become gospel […]

If you grew up in America, then chances are you’re familiar with the story of Elizabeth Griscom Ross, better known as Betsy Ross. If you didn’t, or if you had ADD during elementary school, the story basically goes like this: during the period when America was fighting for independence from the Brits, George Washington came […]

For the uninitiated, the term “flip” refers to a category of alcoholic drinks that involve a whole raw egg as an ingredient. So the Egg Nog is essentially a flip. Flips used to refer to hot beverages that had beer in them, whereby a hot poker was taken straight from the fire and dunked into […]

The #2 drink in the PDT Cocktail Book is the #3 Cup. If you like the Pimm’s Cup, then you cannot pass up this one, which appeared on the PDT menu in the spring of 2009. Created by former PDT bartender Gerry Corcoran, the drink’s name is a reference to the now defunct Pimm’s No. […]

Let’s face it, mid-winter is almost upon us and there is not a ground hog is sight. It is getting downright tundra cold out there and Mother Nature is sure to unleash a deep freeze. Some say one should think of a warm place like a tropical island when winter’s freeze is cutting through your […]

Sometimes I hear or read about something while going about my every day business and it inspires me to hit my liquor cabinet and create something. Sometimes it’s the other way around, where I’m playing around with different spirits and ingredients and I come across a combination I really enjoy. In the case of the […]

By Paystyle Originally posted on March 3, 2010 *I am especially fond of this post because it has reunited long lost family members (almost). Please make sure to read the comments. It’s incredible. In the world of mixology, there aren’t many cocktails based on Cognac relative to the other spirits.  I can count less than […]