Classy Cocktail Talk: Stirring a Moment of Happiness

With a glass (vintage, s’il vous plait!) in hand, the civilized set marks the end of business for yet another busy day. That moment when the day pauses and dresses up in soothing navy blue velvet best exemplifies those eternal instants of perfection to which the denizens of Dolldom aspire. For the cocktail hour is a most magical ceremony that when properly executed will regale you with an unabashed feeling of possibility. After an intense journée of mad productivity, who does not desire to reward the brain, the palate, and the soul with a delicious libation?

We at Dolldom insist that the perfect cocktail hour looks not unlike a witty evening spent with Myrna Loy and William Powell (and Asta!) in their Nick and Nora incarnations for The Thin Man.

Even tragic heroines played by Joan Crawford and Gloria Swanson honored the cocktail, although a tad too much.

Dolldom celebrates the promise of happiness that only a well-mixed drink can deliver with delightful variations of classic cocktails that not surprisingly are the faves of many of Dolldom’s favorite designers. The twist, you may add? It’s all in the details.

The Knitter’s Poisson

A favorite of knitting maven Uyek, creator of the kicky Lettuce dress and uncontested queen of the turban, The Knitter’s Poisson is a purist’s delight.

Ingredients:
2 ounces of gin. Dolldom suggests trying No. 209, San Francisco’s own gin.
A drop of water. Hetch Hetchy only please.
Five or six capers on a toothpick. One more for the bottom of the glass.

Chill the gin over ice in the freezer. Pour in a brandy glass, add a drop of water and one perfectly salty caper. Mix with your caper laden toothpick.

The M2M

A variation of The Greyhound, The M2M is nothing but inspired genius, just like the exquisite world of Mark G. Harris' Mode de M (M as in Mark, for the uninitiated), one that is rich with beads, rhinestone montées and iridescent silks.

Ingredients:
2 ounces of vodka
4 ounces of Ruby Red grapefruit juice
Pomegranate seeds

Chill the vodka over ice in the freezer. Add Ruby Red juice. Stir. Pour into a vintage cocktail glass and drop as many pomegranate seeds as your heart sees fit. Serve neat.

The B&G

(Beauty and Glamour)

The drink favored by Retros’ Liz Cole, The B&G is a playful way to give life to the vodka Martini with a twist.

Ingredients:
2 ounces of vodka
Sufficient white vermouth to bathe the inside of your mixing glass
Jumbo Lemonhead hard candy

Chill the vodka over ice in the freezer. Pour vermouth in your mixing glass, swirl around to cover its walls. Discard the rest. Pour chilled vodka and stir. Serve over a jumbo-sized Lemonhead hard candy. Float a paper-thin lime slice. Serve neat.

The Dr. Y

A drink that could only be served to those who are thirsty for life, The Dr. Y is a beautiful way to give the Cuban Mojito quite a make-over. If a Yatabazah wig can make any doll more beautiful, wait until you taste what basil and licorice will do for the rum-based standard.

Ingredients:
3 ounces of vodka
1 ounce of Metaxa Ouzo (Greek pastis)
10 basil leaves
2 ounces club soda
Juice from one lime
Paper thin lime slices

Mix the vodka and Ouzo over ice. Break the basil leaves with your fingers into the mix. Stir. Pour into a Collins glass and add club soda and lime juice. Stir well.

L’éléphant rose

For those of us who enjoy our cocktail while reading a favorite passage from a beloved book. But be careful, L’éléphant rose is sweet and comfortable as childhood but can have the same effects as overindulgent parents.

Ingredients:
2 dashes Maraschino
1 part bourbon
2 parts red vermouth
Five generous dashes of bitters

Bathe three large square ice cubes with the bitters and Maraschino. Add the bourbon and the vermouth and stir until well-chilled. Serve neat in a festive juice glass.

But truly, the ultimate cocktail moment has to be the one shared by Cary Grant an Eva Marie Saint on that sexy train in Hitchcock's North by Northwest.  May your next cocktail hour be as divine. ¡Salud!