arrScott Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Inspired by a New York Times article on trying to track down a "Frisco" cocktail, I spent a week playing around with the contents of my cabinet and came to two conclusions. Here's the Times article:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/dining/29tipsy.htmlConclusion 1: The Times writer didn't really try very hard, because about half the mixing books I own list a "San Francisco" cocktail that's exactly what he describes as being an obscure cocktail all but lost to memory.Conclusion 2: None of the "San Francisco" recipes in my books are very good, whereas the couple of variations of what the Times writer calls a "Frisco" are close to excellent. Using various bourbons instead of ryes, I found that this recipe is almost always a winner:1-1/2 oz bourbon1/2 oz Benedictine1/2 oz fresh lemon juiceShake with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist.Made with Bulleit, it's my new favorite drink, and I preferred it to a Manhattan with almost every bourbon I tried. It even turns out a serviceable cocktail with Jack Daniel's, which not every bourbon cocktail recipe does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcheer Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Sounds pretty good.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonneamie Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 after hearing me talk up that article, a friend who happened to have all the ingredients at hand, made me one. It was good, and I think it would be even better in the depths of winter to clear up one's catarrh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imbibehour Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Sounds good. Somewhat close to a Ward 8 except there is Benedictine and no OJ and Grenadine... For a moment there I thought I had seen something similar, but the Benedictine and just lemon with the Bourbon is new to me. Interesting... will have to try one. I am out of lemons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanG Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Just picked up a liter of Benedictine at the duty free... will have to give this a try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 If something has "Frisco" in the name, doesn't sour dough bread have to be involved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffRenner Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 Tried this this evening (with AAA 10*) and found it very nice, but too much lemon juice. Topped it with more bourbon and Benedictine to make it about half as much lemon juice and liked it better. I think it has the proportions of a classic cocktail, as opposed to so many of these new, "forced" cocktails. But I think I will play a bit more with the proportions.Strange how pale it is. I assume that the lemon juice bleaches it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Pollito Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 The only cocktail I had while living in sf, was a shot of fernet with a ginger back.:grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drunkard Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 I drink these all the time. In old cocktail books, it's often listed as a Frisco Sour, which I figure must have been a play on the Pisco Sour (not a bad drink in its own right - it was the house specialty at Hinky Dink's in Oakland, which went on to become Trader Vic's). Anyway, I make mine like this:2 oz Rittenhouse BIB1 oz Benedictineslice lemon peelShake everything real good and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist. I find this works much better than adding actual lemon juice, the peel and Benedictine provide just the right amount of honey/lemon notes that works beautifully with the rye. I've tried this with bourbon, and it's not really the same thing at all - definitely a rye drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 Although, I'm not much of a cocktail drinker, this drink does sound good. I don't have a bottle of Benedictine in the house, but I do have a bottle of B&B. Would ya'll see anything funky with trying that in the Benedictine's place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanG Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I drink these all the time. In old cocktail books, it's often listed as a Frisco Sour, which I figure must have been a play on the Pisco Sour (not a bad drink in its own right - it was the house specialty at Hinky Dink's in Oakland, which went on to become Trader Vic's). Anyway, I make mine like this:2 oz Rittenhouse BIB1 oz Benedictineslice lemon peelShake everything real good and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist. I find this works much better than adding actual lemon juice, the peel and Benedictine provide just the right amount of honey/lemon notes that works beautifully with the rye. I've tried this with bourbon, and it's not really the same thing at all - definitely a rye drink.Thanks Drunkard -- I tried your recipe with Rittenhouse and I liked it best! It was good with lemon juice too, but it deboozed the drink a little too much. With the lemon juice, I found that EC12 worked better than Gentleman Jack, Rittenhouse, or brandy (I was getting pretty drunk toward the end). Booker's worked well too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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