Tonight is catch-up night. A week into the Dale/David Project and we are already scrambling to stay on schedule. This is amazingly similar to how college was for me, always trying to keep up with the reading. But playing catch-up with academic reading isn't nearly as fun as trying to catch up on one's drinking.

For our mixing pleasure this evening we made the Brandy Crusta, which is yet another drink from the Dale that belongs in the New Orleans cocktail wrap-up. We also shook up three more "French" drinks; and Tipsy randomly selected the "Stella's Rose", a DDG original.

The Brandy Crusta was, according to Dale, invented by Joseph Santina at a bar in New Orleans called the Jewel of the South. What makes this drink unique is the thick sugar "crust" on the rim of the glass, followed by a very wide lemon peel garnish. The rest of the cocktail is Sidecar-like--brandy, cointreau and lemon juice--with the addition of a small amount of maraschino.

In Vintage Cocktails Ted Haigh shows an early recipe (from Jerry Thomas's 1862 Guide) that calls for Cognac, lemon juice, orange Curacao, and a dash of Boker's bitters. Haigh explains that this drink is significant as an "ancestor" cocktail, having begat the Sidecar, which begat the Margarita, etc. Haigh's formulation led Gary Regan to codify the broader category of "New Orleans Sours" in his Joy of Mixology.

The French 95 is a riff on the French 75 but uses Bourbon instead of gin/brandy, and orange juice in addition to lemon juice. It is topped with Champagne and is quite tasty.

The French Kiss is a simple preparation of equal parts sweet and dry vermouths, with a lemon peel garnish. I used Vya dry vermouth and Martini sweet vermouth. This was a refreshing wine cocktail and the lemon made a big contribution.

The French Connection is a drink that surprised me when I saw it, because I had "invented" this drink last year without knowing it had already been invented. The difference between my Sun King and the French Kiss is that mine is served on the rocks with a flamed lemon peel, making it a deconstructed postmodern Sidecar, and the French Connection is served neat in a warm snifter.