recipes
2 oz vodka
¾ oz Small Hand Foods Ginger Syrup
¾ oz lime juice
seltzer to fill
Combine all ingredients except seltzer in mixing tins with ice and roll back and forth to chill. Add seltzer and pour everything into a copper mug. Garnish with a mint sprig.
adapted from Wes Price, Cock & Bull Hollywood, c.1944
2 oz bourbon
½ oz Small Hand Foods Gum Syrup
several mint leaves
Place all ingredients into a julep cup without ice. Press mint several times with a bar spoon to release the oils. Fill with crushed ice and stir until outside of cup is frosted with condensation. Garnish with several sprigs of mint, “spanked” between the palms to release the aroma.
2 oz silver tequila
1 oz lime juice
¾ oz Small Hand Foods Grenadine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters
Shake all ingredients vigorously over ice and strain into a double old-fashioned glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a slice of lime.
adapted from Charles H. Baker Jr., The Gentleman’s Companion, 1939, by Erik Adkins, Heaven’s Dog, 2010
1½ oz aged Jamaican rum
¾ oz fresh lime juice (save a spent lime half)
½ oz Small Hand Foods Orgeat
½ oz Cointreau or good orange curaçao
1 barspoon cane syrup (optional)
Put all ingredients into mixing tins with ice including the spent lime half. Shake vigorously, then pour entire contents into a double old-fashioned glass. Arrange the lime half skin side up and floating on top. “Spank” a sprig of mint by smacking it between your palms, then garnish the cocktail. The lime half and mint sprig are meant to look like a deserted island and palm tree.
adapted from Trader Vic’s, Oakland, 1944
The reason I started Small Hand Foods!
1½ oz aged rum
¾ oz Small Hand Foods Pineapple Gum Syrup
½ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz Bénédictine
½ oz Madeira
Shake all ingredients vigorously in mixing tins and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg on top.
Brooke Arthur, Range, San Francisco, 2009
1 fresh strawberry
2 oz bourbon
½ oz Small Hand Foods Ginger Syrup
¾ oz lemon juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
seltzer to fill
Muddle strawberry in the bottom of a mixing tin. Add remaining ingredients except for seltzer and shake well over ice. Strain into a tall glass over fresh ice. Top with seltzer. Garnish with a strawberry.
adapted from Erick Castro, Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco, 2009
2 oz brandy
½ oz Small Hand Foods Orgeat
2 dashes aromatic bitters
Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist or freshly grated nutmeg.
adapted from Jerry Thomas, How To Mix Drinks, 1862
Created to commemorate the first visit by the Japanese Consulate to the US Embassy in 1860, which is why it is called the Japanese yet contains no Japanese ingredients.
2 oz applejack or Calvados
½ oz Small Hand Foods Grenadine
½ oz fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients vigorously over ice, then strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lime twist.
adapted from Jacques Straub, Drinks, 1914
1½ oz rye whiskey
¼ oz Small Hand Foods Grenadine
¾ oz dry vermouth
2 dashes each Angostura bitters, orange bitters and absinthe
Stir everything together over ice. Strain into a rocks glass over a large piece of ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Thad Vogler, Bar Agricole, 2011
2 oz aged Old Tom gin
1 barspoon Small Hand Foods Gum Syrup
1 barspoon maraschino liqueur
2 dashes The Bitter Truth Repeal Day bitters
Stir all ingredients together over ice and strain into in a rocks glass over a large piece of ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Thad Vogler, Bar Agricole, 2011
