Drink of the Week: The Parisian Cocktail

the Parisian Cocktail.A while ago, I picked up a half-size bottle of Mathilde brand cassis (black currant) liqueur. Often referred to with some pretension as “creme de cassis” in recipes, the distinction between creme de cassis and just plain cassis seems vague at best. Anyhow, though extremely sweet, my plain old cassis had a nice flavor and I decided it was time to give it a whirl in an appropriate cocktail setting.

Also known as the Paris Cocktail, the Parisian shows up in the 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book and Dale DeGroff’s much more recent The Craft of the Cocktail. However, a 2009 Savoy Stomp blog post by Erik Ellestad traces the drink to a slightly earlier 1929 recipe published by Harry MacElhone. He’s the “Harry” of Paris’s famed Harry’s New York Bar, so I guess this drink might actually be consumed by actual Parisians.

French cocktailing bonafides or not, I did find the original recipe a bit overly sweet. So, partly by accident and partly inspired by the slight monkeying with the recipe Mr. Ellestad performed, I came up with a version I prefer. It’s a bit lighter and more refreshing — and still plenty sweet; almost a high end gin and juice, if you will, even if this version has more vermouth than gin.

The Parisian Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces dry vermouth (aka French vermouth)
3/4 ounce cassis
3/4 ounce gin
1 lemon peel (optional, but I think very desirable, garnish)

Combine your liquids in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Since cassis is so fruity, the cocktail gods seem to agree that this drink demands to be shaken. Do so vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and, I say, add a traditional twist of lemon to cut the sweetness just a bit.

As for your toast, toast Paris, of course. People who’ve been there say it’s amazing and the rest of us have the dreams of Paris we get from the movies and what not. That’s pretty okay, too.

*****

If you want to try the classic version of the Paris/Parisian Cocktail, just use equal parts of all three primary ingredients, i.e., one ounce each. You’ll find that it’s a fairly tasty drink but very, very, sweet. Definitely use the lemon twist garnish in tha case. (Dale DeGroff suggests using his signature flamed lemon peel, if you’re feeling brave.)

Since I only have one brand of cassis and dry vermouth on hand, I didn’t get to play around with different brands as much as I might have. However, I did find that this version of the Parisian works very nicely with either Bombay Dry Gin or the very inexpensive, but still quite decent, Gordon’s Gin. The latter variation especially reminded me of a classier, more drinkable version of the first alcoholic beverage I ever consumed.

Yes, if you were ever wondering what Manischewitz Concord Grape would taste like if it were actually good, the Parisian Cocktail is close as you’re likely to get. And Paris, Las Vegas is as close to Paris as I’m likely to get any time soon. C’est la vie.

  

You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.

Movie Review: “Ted 2”

Starring
Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Jessica Barth, Giovanni Ribisi, Morgan Freeman
Director
Seth MacFarlane

“Ted 2” is a sweet but profane love letter to Universal Pictures. Writer/director/star Seth MacFarlane references several high-profile Universal properties, with the plot serving as the connective tissue. This naturally makes for a threadbare story, to be sure, but this is Seth MacFarlane we’re talking about. The man has never let story get in the way of a good joke, or even a bad one. To the surprise of no one, “Ted 2” has plenty of each.

The story begins at the wedding of magical, real-life teddy bear Ted (MacFarlane) and Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth). Ted’s best friend John (Mark Wahlberg) is happy for the couple, but still reeling from his recent divorce. Ted and Tami-Lyn have a perfect wedding day, but one year later, they are fighting nonstop. Ted suggests that having a baby might solve their problems (this is a terrible, terrible idea, for the record), but after their attempts to do in vitro or adopt fail, Ted finds his life unraveling as his creditors begin terminating his accounts on the grounds that the government doesn’t recognize him as a real person.

John and Ted retain a top-rate lawyer to fight for Ted’s civil rights, and he assigns it to his niece and junior attorney, Samantha (Amanda Seyfriend), who does the case pro bono. While they’re working on Ted’s defense, Ted stalker Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) conspires with the president of Hasbro to kidnap Ted pending him losing the case (as he will officially be considered property at that point), so they can use his mojo to mass produce “human” Teds.

Read the rest of this entry »

  

Coming Soon: A Moviegoer’s Guide to July

july

After a rather lackluster June with very few major releases (and even fewer that were any good), the summer season kicks back into high gear this July with a trio of highly-anticipated sequels, the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a handful of original comedies that could end up being the biggest surprises of the month.

“Terminator Genisys”

Who: Emilia Clarke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney and Jason Clarke
What: After finding himself in a new timeline, Kyle Reese teams up with Sarah Connor and an aging terminator to try and stop Judgement Day.
When: July 1st
Why: The “Terminator” movie franchise has been limping along for over a decade now, first with the terrible “Rise of the Machines,” and more recently with the failed reboot starring Christian Bale, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from trying to keep the series alive. So what makes this latest attempt any different? For starters, it has James Cameron’s official seal of approval, and it’s easy to see why, since the movie is tied very closely to the first two installments, playing with the time travel aspect in the same way that J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” did to reinvent the franchise. It still doesn’t look very good, but we’re willing to give it the benefit of the doubt because we love watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in full Terminator mode.

“Magic Mike XXL”

Who: Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello and Jada Pinkett Smith
What: Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.
When: July 1st
Why: One of the biggest complaints about the first “Magic Mike” was that it was a lot gloomier than moviegoers were expecting for a film about male strippers, and Channing Tatum has addressed those issues with the promise that the upcoming sequel will be a much lighter affair. Though it’s sad to see Matthew McConaughey isn’t involved in the project (he was, after all, one of the highlights of the first film), “Magic Mike XXL” doesn’t appear to be short on colorful characters, including bigger roles for supporting players like Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello, and the addition of Jada Pinkett Smith. And if the trailers are any indication, it hasn’t lost its self-mocking sense of humor, either.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pages: 1 2 3  

The Balding Blues: Will Hair Loss Become a Thing of the Past?

hair-248050_640

About four out of every ten men and women will experience hair loss in their lives but it seems that significant progress is being made and some experts think that at some point, the balding blues will be a thing of the past.

Read the rest of this entry »

  

Blu Tuesday: The Fisher King and My Dinner with Andre

Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.

“The Fisher King”

WHAT: Three years after giving some misguided advice on the radio led to a tragic event, former shock jock Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) gets a chance at redemption when he meets – and subsequently helps – a homeless man (Robin Williams) who was an unwitting victim of Jack’s mistake.

WHY: With the one-year anniversary of Robin Williams’ untimely death just around the corner, Criterion has given fans another excuse to celebrate the actor’s remarkable career by revisiting this 1991 dramedy that easily ranks as one of the finest live-action performances of Williams’ career. Though it’s about 20 minutes too long and a bit of a mess narratively, “The Fisher King” also happens to be one of director Terry Gilliam’s best films, not to mention his most accessible. The movie isn’t without Gilliam’s typical offbeat visual flair and penchant for the fantastical (as evidenced by the hallucinatory Red Knight sequences), but at its core is a sweet and occasionally funny story about humanity that’s difficult not to enjoy. Of course, none of it would work without Williams and Jeff Bridges, who form such a great chemistry that every scene they share together is fascinating to watch. Mercedes Ruehl also turns in some solid work as Bridges’ undyingly loyal girlfriend, though it’s hardly deserving of the Academy Award that the actress earned for the role. “The Fisher King” may be remembered more for those three performances than the film as a whole, but that doesn’t make it any less of a charming adult fairy tale.

EXTRAS: This Criterion release is packed with bonus material, including an audio commentary with director Terry Gilliam, new interviews with the cast and crew, a 2006 interview with actor Robin Williams, a new video essay featuring Jeff Bridges’ on-set photographs, deleted scenes with optional commentary and more.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“My Dinner with Andre”

WHAT: Actor and playwright Wallace Shawn sits down with his friend, theater director Andre Gregory, at a French restaurant in New York’s Upper West Side for a philosophical discussion about life, death and everything in between.

WHY: Louis Malle’s 1981 art-house classic has its share of admirers, but sadly, no amount of complimentary pieces written about the movie can change the fact that I’m not one of them. Though the idea of filming an entire dinner conversation between two friends is loaded with potential (and Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip” films probably come the closest to realizing that potential), the discussion at the center of “My Dinner with Andre” is perhaps the worst pseudo-intelligent dinner conversation ever recorded… unless you’re a pretentious, bohemian twat like Andre Gregory. Watching the film is like being cornered at a party by the most annoying person there, because Gregory’s New Age bullshit is so dry and uninteresting that it’ll have you thinking about ways to kill yourself. The usually charismatic Wallace Shawn hardly gets a word in edgewise, and when he finally does offer his response in the final 30 minutes, challenging all the philosophical crap that’s been spewed up until that point, it makes you wish that the rest of the movie wasn’t so horribly one-sided – or at the very least, that the elderly waiter serving Gregory’s blowhard would just drown him in a bowl of potato soup.

EXTRAS: In addition to a 2009 interview with actors/co-writers Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory conducted by filmmaker Noah Baumbach, there’s a 1982 episode of the BBC show “Arena” in which Shawn interviews director Louis Malle, as well as a booklet with an essay by film critic Amy Taubin and the prefaces written by Gregory and Shawn for the published version of the screenplay.

FINAL VERDICT: SKIP