Godfather
35 ml Scotch whisky, 35 ml Amaretto, 237 ml Ice
Penicillin
Smoke, honey and ginger - a hot toddy's cool cousin.
Modern Classic
Medium
6 min
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 720 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 720 ml line. Scotch whisky - A blend for the body of the drink
- 240 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 240 ml line. Lemon juice
- 240 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 240 ml line. Honey syrup
- 12 slices Ginger
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Mezcal - Floated on top for the smoke - an Islay whisky does the same job
- 12 pieces Crystallised ginger (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Shake the whisky, lemon, honey and ginger, strain over ice, then float the smoky spirit.
Method
Batch (12 drinks)Batch (12 drinks) - about 1.3 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Muddle a slice of fresh ginger in the bottom of a shaker.
- Add the blended whisky, lemon juice, honey syrup and ice, and shake hard for 12 seconds.
- Double strain over one large cube in a rocks glass.
- Float the mezcal - pour it slowly over the back of a spoon so it sits on top - and add a piece of crystallised ginger.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Penicillin
Sam Ross made this at Milk & Honey in New York in 2005 and it became a modern classic almost immediately, which is rare enough that people still talk about it. The float of smoky spirit on top is the clever bit: you smell the smoke before you taste the honey, so the drink introduces itself.
Getting it right
The two-pour trick is what lifts this above a whiskey sour with honey in it, and it is worth being patient with: pour the smoky spirit over the back of a barspoon held just above the surface, and let it spread across the top instead of stirring in. Fresh ginger is much better than ground, and a single thin coin of it is enough - more than that and the drink turns fiery.
Tasting notes
Honeyed and lemony up front, warming ginger in the middle, and a drift of campfire smoke at the end that ties the whole thing together. The most comforting strong drink in the book.
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