(Cocktail recipe) The Chinese

1 1/2 oz Jamaica rum
1 tsp triple sec
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
1 tbsp grenadine syrup
1 dash bitters

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

Lately I've been giving Chris various reprints of old bar books (and by reprints, I mean someone dismantled the old books and scanned, then printed them) for birthdays and Christmas.  Occasionally I'll dig through them to find something interesting.  My most recent discovery was the Chinese, so named for its color - it looks like traditional red Chinese lacquer.  It's not overly sweet, but is very balanced, and it's all booze...so drink carefully!



(Chris's Note) The Jamaica Rum that this recipe calls for is a style of rum, not necessarily rum from Jamaica.  Unfortunately, like many old liquors and liqueurs that are no longer produced we're not really sure what it tasted like.  The best approximation we can deduce is a dark Navy rum (Cruzan Black Strap, Goslings Black Seal, Kracken) mixed with a gold rum.  In order to achieve this easily I would increase the Rum to 1/1 oz pour.  You may need to adjust the triple sec, bitters, and Maraschino accordingly by teaspoon to balance the rum you chose to use.  The finished product should taste completely smooth and balanced when it hits the tongue like a fine Chinese Lacquer finish.

(Cocktail recipe) Uncle Tails Jazzy Juice (Sangria)

Make in 1 quart pitcher

20 oz fairly dry red table wine
10 oz of brandy/cognac or cointreau/triple sec
add a few ounces of fresh fruit
black cherries
orange slices
apple slices

If you want to make this in a larger quantity for a party use a gallon pitcher but make sure 75% of it is wine or you will knock everyone on their ass.

If you want to make this as a wine cooler sub half the wine for ginger ale/club soda or 7-up

Mix in pitcher add fruit slices. The ideal concoction is to freeze some of the cherries ahead of time to use as ice and just add them to the glass. If you let it sit overnight it tastes better as the fruit juices will mix and mingle. Pour into a Collins glass making sure each glass gets some fruit slices over ice or not and garnish with an orange slice. Enjoy on a hot day or any time.