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All cocktails Brainstorm

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Brainstorm

Classic/vintage · Nightcap/sipping · Short and stirred

3.8 122 ratings

Ingredients

2 oz Irish whiskey
1/4 oz Bénédictine D.O.M.
1/4 oz Dry vermouth

How to make

Serve in a old-fashioned glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

Method

  1. 3 STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour profile

29.8% alc./vol. · 1.6 standard drinks · 167 calories

History

Dry vermouth balances Bénédictine's sweet notes over a spirituous Irish whiskey base.

Recipes for Mixed Drinks, published in 1917 by Hugo R. Ensslin, contains a recipe for the BRAIN STORM COCKTAIL. It calls for 1 drink of Irish Whiskey, 2 dashes Benedictine, 2 dashes French Vermouth, and a cube of ice and orange peel. This Old Fashioned glass drink is to be served with a small bar spoon. The Brainstorm also appears in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book, which lists the ingredients as ½ Wineglass Irish Whisky, 2 Dashes Bénédictine, and 2 Dashes French Vermouth, with the instruction to "Squeeze orange peel on top. Stir well and strain into cocktail glass."