Cognac is called a drink with a masculine character. This is true because the taste palette, aroma and rich accents create a bouquet of strict, seasoned notes. This is what alcohol is considered to be for gentlemen. No wonder that it was grape brandy that became the ingredient without which it is hard to imagine both a youth party and a status business dinner. However, few people know, but cognac-based cocktails serve as a kind of buffer between frankly weak drinks and more status analogues with a strong and rich aftertaste. The article will tell you what kind of drinks there are with the participation of grape brandy and what can be prepared from the list below at home.
What is cognac and why is it in demand in the preparation of cocktails
Cognac belongs to the category of extremely strong alcoholic drinks with high aging and rich taste. This is a kind of brandy, which, unlike, for example, vodka or whiskey, has a taste of flavor. Together with other components, this allows you to create a ready-made palette and emphasize the features of other ingredients. In other cases, additional components of the drink can soften the initially bright taste of cognac. So, for example, adding 2 measures of cola to a glass with grape brandy can significantly change the taste of the drink and make it more tender.
Authentic cognac is produced in France on the territory of Charente, its strength is 43-45 degrees.
Champagne Cocktail
This drink is known due to the fact that its author Harry Johnson invented the recipe, which has remained unchanged since the late 1880s. The classic cognac-based cocktail includes champagne, brown sugar and bitter bitter. The latter was often replaced by absinthe based on wormwood, this makes the cocktail very strong and intoxicating, but there are milder options for the original drink. In particular, the recipe looks like this:
- put a cube of brown sugar at the bottom of the glass on a high leg;
- add from 5 to 10 milliliters of bitter tincture and wait until sugar absorbs the bitter;
- pour cognac into the glass, give it a few seconds of aging;
- add champagne, then serve.
Original drink with a rich palette of taste. Sugar rarely dissolves completely, so worrying about the taste of a cognac-based cocktail is not worth it; the result will be pretty sweet and tart.
Coarnado
Simple cognac-based cocktails do not have to be unnecessarily “cheap”. So, for example, “Coarnado” is perfect for a social event, since it refers more to low-alcohol drinks. In its basis, in addition to alcohol, there are also cream, banana, peach liquor. The original taste of cognac blend alcohol is easily lost in this tenderness and the drink can be called feminine. A familiar recipe looks like this:
- add half a banana, 40 ml cream, 20 ml peach liquor to the blender;
- pour 20 ml of cognac on the bottom of the martini glass;
- add thoroughly whipped ingredients;
- garnish the drink with chocolate chips;
- Serve chilled and do not mix, it is recommended to drink through a tube.
The classic of cognac-based cocktails is almost always easy. In this case, peach liquor can be replaced with any other. So, for example, using chocolate is also a smart idea. Cognac and coffee-based cocktails add bitterness and invigorating notes to the original drink. All this is quite feasible at home, the ingredients can be found in almost any minibar.
Alba
There is hardly a bartender who has never been able to cook Alba. This brandy-based fruit cocktail will become a real decoration for any lady, because it combines tart taste, delicate aftertaste, original notes and attractive appearance. In this classic recipe has undergone a lot of changes. Somewhere, this drink is prepared with the use of limoncello, other bartenders use orange liquor, as required by an authentic list of ingredients, which can be represented as follows:
- add 20 ml of orange liquor, 40 ml of cognac, 10 ml of raspberry syrup to the shaker;
- the drink is served chilled, for this you need to first cool the glass for cocktails or add crumbs of ice to the shaker;
- the drink should be filtered to avoid sediment;
- the glass can be decorated with a slice of orange or mint.
At the same time, lime juice is often added to the cocktail or currant syrup is used as a sweet note. There are a lot of variations of the drink, and almost all of them have the right to life, the choice remains with the connoisseur.
"White pleasure"
The most common version of a gentle, soft cocktail based on cream and banana. It is also available in a mass of variations, among which there are even those in which there is no trace of the classic recipe. Such a cocktail based on cognac at home can be prepared by almost anyone, it does not even require a shaker. To present the real recipe for "White pleasure" in this way:
- in a tall glass you need to add 250 grams of cream ice cream or ice cream;
- let the ice cream melt a little;
- pour milk in a volume of 130 ml;
- add 40 ml of brandy.
If the connoisseur of cocktails still has a blender, then a whole banana should be added here, and then thoroughly beat the drink. However, as already indicated above, the drink often suffered a recipe change. So, for example, vanilla syrup or coconut liquor is often used as a supplement in the amount of 20 milliliters.
"Green Dragon"
A very strong and tart cocktail based on absinthe rather than cognac itself. It is served quite rarely, since real tincture is not common, and fake can absolutely ruin the taste. However, the drink still has its own connoisseurs. You can imagine his recipe in this way:
- pour 10 ml of absinthe, 40 ml of cognac and 10 ml of mint liquor into the shaker;
- add a crumb of ice;
- mix thoroughly, and then pour into a stack;
- serve burning.
Sometimes connoisseurs add cane sugar, pre-soaked in bitter, to the drink. In this case, the drink should be served in a martini glass, allowing the sugar to dissolve a little. In the end, this impregnated cube needs to be eaten. Cocktails based on cognac and apple juice are a rarity, but not in this case. A green dragon can be served with, for example, cider in order to soften the astringency of the bitter.
Cognac with cola or coffee
Such a drink can not be called a cocktail in the usual sense of the word. In addition, both options have a lot of opponents, who argue that the addition of alcohol to soda or coffee can completely ruin the taste of both drinks. In any case, the connoisseur should know about the proportions necessary for such cocktails:
- Cognac with cola. Often, a 2 to 1 ratio is used, since the cola eliminates the tart taste of cognac.
- Cognac with coffee. Here, a 4 to 1 ratio is used, since alcohol should complement the drink, and not be its basis.
As you can see, there are a lot of options, everyone will find something for themselves.