Ampersand Cocktail
Stir; strain; up.
Appears in The Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book (1935) as two dashes orange bitters, equal parts brandy, tom gin, and Italian vermouth, and two dashes curaçao on top.
- Solid but not mind-blowing.
- MUST TRY
- Made with tea-infused M&R. Would probably be worth trying with Carpano Antica.
- Warday's Cocktail — Gin, Calvados, Sweet vermouth, Herbal liqueur
- The Pretender — Old Tom Gin, Rye, Sweet vermouth, Crème de mure, Bitters, Lemon peel
- Death & Taxes (Michael Madrusan) — Blended Scotch, Gin, Sweet vermouth, Bénédictine, Orange bitters, Lemon peel
- The Phrasemaker — Dry vermouth, Rye, Old Tom Gin, Bénédictine, Bitters, Pineapple syrup
- Anabasis — Gin, Armagnac, Curaçao, Aromatized wine, Absinthe, Lemon peel
Ransom, Remy and Carpano Antica -- while these great tastes should taste great together, this drink is missing an acid component that a couple of extra shots of bitters can't help. I have dry Curaçao but I'm not sure that would do the trickk
May want to add a bassoon (or slightly less) of triple sec (or equivalent, eg Grand Mariner)
Although some sites list the publishing date for the Ampersand as 1934 or 1935, the very same recipe is found in 1931's "Old Waldorf Bar Days" by A.S. Crocket as well.
It is a solid base cocktail recipe, although not one of my top picks. Worth exploring with different vermouth or Old Tom gins. Per the original recipe's call for curacao, I used 1/2 tsp (level for my main mixing barspoon which has a smaller spoon) of Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, with other components being Hayman's Old Tom, Carpano Antica, Courvoisier VSOP, and Regan's. It started sweet, but transitioned to juniper and a drier bitter orange finish. If I try it again I will use Carpano Classico or Cocchi di Torino, and possibly Ransom's Old Tom to explore the flavor range possible.
