Amoth.us

Recipes

The Cocktail Notebook

Carl Amoth’s bar

The bar book—house standards worth keeping, and the works in progress still finding their balance.

Contents15 sections›

The Craft

A short field guide to building a drink. Learn the handful of forces a cocktail balances and you can read any recipe here—scale it, fix it, or invent your own.

Balance: strong, sour, sweet

Almost every shaken drink is a tension between three things—the spirit (strong), the citrus (sour), and the sweetener (sweet)—with ice melt (weak) as a quiet fourth. Get the ratio right and the rest is detail. A few templates carry most of the canon:

When a drink is off, this is the first place to look—nine times in ten it is too sweet, short on acid, or under-diluted.

Bridges: make the parts connect

Disparate ingredients need a shared note so they read as one drink instead of three things in a glass. Bitters, an amaro, an herbal or nutty liqueur, or a complementary syrup can be the thread. In the Penicillin, ginger and honey bridge the Scotch and the smoke. Across the walnut drinks here, nocino is the connective tissue—the thing that ties whiskey, apple, and coffee together.

Seasoning: acid, salt, bitters

Borrow from the kitchen. Acid brightens. A dash of bitters adds complexity without changing the structure. A pinch of salt—or a drop of saline—suppresses bitterness and lifts everything else, which is why a little goes into a drink like the Saltmarsh. These are the levers you pull when the bones are right but it tastes flat.

Technique is an ingredient

How you chill it matters as much as what goes in. Shake anything with citrus, juice, or egg—it comes out cold, aerated, and bright. Stir anything all-spirit—it comes out cold, silky, and clear. Egg white or aquafaba adds body and softens acid. Crushed ice dilutes fast and tames boozy or bitter drinks. The same spec, shaken when it wanted stirring, tastes wrong.

When it tastes off

Using this notebook

Every recipe here is built for two. Use the serving stepper to scale—the colored amounts rescale and round to bar-friendly measures, and your last choice is remembered. Tap an ingredient or a step to check it off as you go, and keep the screen awake from Contents & search.

House Standards—Sours & Shaken

The drinks that have earned their place. Adjust servings and the measurements rescale; tap a step to check it off.

House Standards—Old Fashioneds

House Standards—Martinis

House Standards—Tiki & Tropical

House Standards—Tall & Refreshing

House Standards—Punches & Nightcaps

Works in Progress—Sours & Shaken

New cocktails crafted in collaboration, built from the current shelf. Specs are starting points—taste and adjust. Photos coming soon.

Works in Progress—Old Fashioneds

Works in Progress—Negronis & Boulevardiers

Works in Progress—Martinis

Works in Progress—Tiki & Tropical

Works in Progress—Tall & Refreshing

Works in Progress—After-Dinner

House Components

Make-ahead syrups and purées the cocktails call for.