Thirsty Thursday - Cocktails of the Ritz Paris

For today's Thirsty Thursday, we are going to travel to Paris to visit Le Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris, a favorite watering hole of author, Ernest Hemingway. Unfortunately, the Bar Hemingway is temporarily closed along with the hotel for renovation until next year.

However, while we anxiously await the re-opening of both bar and hotel, thanks to this little gem of a book, which I gave to my husband for Christmas, written by Bar Hemingway bartender, Colin Peter Field (and charmingly illustrated by Yoko Ueta) many of the legendary drinks can be reproduced at home.

Here are recipes for a few classics (all recipes from The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris) :

Sidecar

5/10 Cognac

3/10 Cointreau

2/10 lemon juice

Pour the ingredients into a shaker. Serve in a cocktail glass.

Illustration by Yoko Ueta for The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris

Elegant

5/10 gin

4/10 dry vermouth

1/10 Grand Marnier

Pour the ingredients directly into a mixing glass. Stir well and pour into a cocktail glass.

Illustration by Yoko Ueta for The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris

Serendipiti

one sprig of mint

1/10 calvados

2/10 apple juice

champagne

In a tumbler, take on full sprig of mint, cut the bottom of the stalk off and place sprig in the glass. Add the calvados and muddle the two ingredients together, only slightly bruising the mint. Add plenty of ice cubes and the apple juice. Fill almost to the brim with champagne. Taste and say "Serendipiti"!

Illustration of "Death in The Gulf Stream" by Yoko Ueta from The Cocktails of the Ritz Paris

Invented by Ernest Hemingway himself, in Key West, Death in the Gulf Stream is made as follows according to Papa Hemingway:

"Take a tall thin water tumbler and fill it with finely cracked ice. Lace this broken debris with four good purple splashes of angostura, add the juice and crushed peel of on gree lime and fill glass almost full with Holland Gin...no sugar, no fancying. It's strong it's bitter, but so is English ale strong and bitter, in many cases. We don't add sugar to ale, and we don't need sugar in a Death in the Gulf Stream...Its tartness and its bitterness are its chief charm. It is reviving and refreshing; it cools the blood and inspires renewed interest in food, companions and life."