Even before I started making cocktail videos for YouTube, I made a lot of cocktails. Once I started my cocktail-focused YouTube channel I started making a LOT of cocktails. I can usually tell by looking at a cocktail recipe whether or not I’ll like it and as a rule, I don’t make cocktails unless I expect them to be at least 7 out of 10 on my rating scale. I have noticed that on average once or twice a year I discover a cocktail that’s new to me and is an instant favourite – a 9+ out of 10.
This year, my frontrunner for cocktail of the year is called L’Anniversaire (The Birthday). It was created in 2015 by Pier Schirru at Century Club in London, England and it caught my eye because it combines elements of an old fashioned and a Manhattan. The original recipe I found is as follows:
50 ml Cognac
10 ml Drambuie
5 ml Italian red bitter liqueur
20 ml Antica Formula or other well aged sweet vermouth
10 ml Raisin sugar syrup
If you watch the video I made, you’ll see I made a few substitutions:
The brandy I used isn’t technically a cognac – it’s Martell’s “Blue Swift” which is their VSOP cognac which is then finished in bourbon casks. Because of the strict laws surrounding what can be called cognac, the finishing means this can’t be marketed as cognac. But it’s really good.
Instead of Drambuie, I used a whisky and rum liqueur that I’d made myself. For the “red bitter liqueur” I used an Australian bitter citrus aperitivo from the Saint Felix Distillery. For the vermouth I used an Australian vermouth from Maidenii which had been barrel aged for 7 years. Instead of a raisin sugar syrup, I used a spiced apple brown sugar syup I’d made.
Something I didn’t realise when I was making the video is the name of the cocktail is probably taken from a Marc Chagall painting. So that’s nice.
Birthday (L’anniversaire), 1915
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