Feature image via The Gothamist.
Rachel Maddow. Alcohol. Can you think of two things that make youΒ happier, especially when those two things are combined?
Without further ado, I present to you, Rachel Maddow Cocktail Recipes!Β Sometimes when I watch Rachel Maddow, I wish I could remember to lookΒ up the cocktail she’s making because it looks really good, but then IΒ never do. Maybe you’re like me and you’ve been living in constantΒ regret, but don’t worry, I found ten of them for you! There’s even aΒ bonus bitters + champagne combo at the bottom, you lucky dog you.
Now remember: shake really, really, really well because biceps andΒ cold drinks are sexy, and never, never, never eat the garnish.
The Frisco
The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 years old in May. This drink is toΒ honor the most famous landmark of perhaps the gayest city ever.
Ingredients:
2 oz of Rye
1/2 oz of lemon juice (from real, actual lemons)
1/2 oz of Benedictine
Ice Cubes
Directions:
1. You’re supposed to shake a Frisco (you’re supposed to shakeΒ anything with fruit juice in it), but Rachel prefers to stir it. SoΒ we’re going with Rachel.
2. Pour into a cocktail glass and enjoy!
The French 75
This drink, named for a French missile shell, is perfect for eatingΒ brunch while reading Rachel’s book, Drift.
Ingredients:
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 1/2 oz Booze (Some people make it with gin, other people make itΒ with cognac. Itβs traditional and therefore more correct to make itΒ with gin, but certain cable television news hosts prefer it withΒ cognac)
Directions:
1. Shake shake shake that up with ice.
2. Strain into a champagne glass.
3. Top with champagne.
4. Add the lemon twist (don’t eat the garnish!) and serve.
Cameronβs Kick
This is a classic cocktail that appears in the legendary SavoyΒ cocktail book from the 1930s. Don’t you feel fancy?
Ingredients:
1 oz Scotch Whisky
1 oz Irish Whiskey
1/2 oz Orgeat Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
Directions:
1. Shake over ice for about a million years.
2. Strain into cocktail glass.
3. Garnish with an orange twist.
Gin Sling
Rachel made this to commemorate the SCOTUS ruling on healthcare, butΒ you should make this to commemorate that time Autostraddle was brokenΒ and you got an error message.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz Gin
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
3 dashes of Agnostura Bitters
Directions:
1. Shake the ever-loving life out of it.
2. Pour over ice.
3. Top it off with club soda.
4. Garnish with a lemon peel, wheel or wedge.
Maddow’s Pina Colada Improvement
Sometimes Pina Coladas come out of slushie machines and you drink themΒ out of plastic boots in Vegas, or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, thisΒ sounds much better.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Light Rum
1 oz 8-year-old Bacardi or other nice medium-bodied Amber Rum
1.5 oz Orgeat Syrup (Tessier is best)
4 oz Pineapple Juice
Directions:
1. Blend with ice.
2. Without straining, serve in a short glass.
3. Garnish with pineapple wedge and a tiny umbrella.
4. Serve with short, fat straws.
Corpse Reviver II
This drink was once believed to bring people back from the dead. So,Β that’s pretty exciting, right?
Ingredients:
2 oz Gin
2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
2 oz Cointreau
2 oz Lillet Blanc
2 drops of absinthe
Directions:
1. Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously.
2. Pour into a glass and enjoy your return to the land of the living.
Rachel’s Gin and Tonic
A classic, made even better because Rachel Maddow has put her mark on it.
Ingredients:
Ice
1 Lime
Tonic water
1 1/2 oz Gin
1 oz Cynar
Directions:
1. Fill a highball glass with ice and add 1 lime, cut into quarters.
2. Add 1 1/2 oz of gin.
3. Pour in tonic water until glass is almost full.
4. Add 1 oz of Cynar.
5. Garnish with an orange wedge (optional).
The Rickey
Enjoy Washington D.C.’s official drink, which also happens to be oneΒ of the easy and cheap. Coincidence?
Ingredients:
Ice
Seltzer or club soda
Your choice of booze (gin, bourbon, or rye are good choices)
Directions:
1. Fill a highball glass 2/3 with ice.
2. Add 2 oz of booze
3. Cut a lime in half and squeeze the juice of each half into theΒ glass. Then drop the lime halves into the glass.
4. Add a bit more ice and fill the remainder of the glass withΒ seltzer, then sip.
The Last Word
This is a classic Prohibition era drink that was once forgotten. AsΒ soon as you hear a drink is from the Prohibition era, it makes it soΒ much cooler, don’t you think?
Ingredients:
Equal parts —
Gin
Fresh Lime Juice
Maraschino Liqueur (Rachel recommends Luxardo brand)
Green Chartreuse
Directions:
1. Shake well with ice for longer than you think you should.
2. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
The Gatsby
This drink has the highest ratio of deliciousness to effort, meaningΒ it’s easy aaaand tasty.
Ingredients:
2 oz Heavy Cream (or half & half, if cream seems too rich)
3/4 oz Amaretto
3/4 oz Light Creme de Cacao
Directions:
1. Pour ingredients into a shaker with ice.
2. Shake it like you mean it for a really, really long time. WarmΒ cream drinks are gross and will ruin your life.
3. Strain into a small, stemmed glass.
Bitters bonus:
To celebrate the end of Angostura Bitters shortages, Rachel made thisΒ amazing bitters drink. Yum!
Champagne Cocktail
Soak a sugar cube in Angostura Bitters, then top with champagne. ServeΒ in champagne flute.
I don’t like alcohol, but I do love how much Rachel Maddow loves showing us alcohol. Thanks for posting this to perk up the depressingly Ezra-Klein-filled week.
(He seems like a nice enough fellow, he’s just no Rachel.)
I really should have ended this article with “Now, go to prison!”
3 weeks ago, I thought to myself, I wonder why Autostraddle hasn’t done a Rachel Maddow drinking post yet…. I think you read my mind (a little creepy, gotta say). This is awesome! Thanks!
I’m going to print this out. Do you think a recipe box on my bar is too much?
All the recipes! In one place!! Love!
I want to make all of these! That photo of Rachel with a surplus of Angostura bitters is adorable.
I like that you and Sarah have matching tie photos.
They may have both been taken in the same 5 minute span.
like a “before and after”
Grrr, argh, too bad I started my morning with “I’m never drinking again”.
Thanks for the recipes.
Thanks for the gratuitous pics of Rachel.
I only wish I could find an appropriate “Hey Girl, It’s Rachel Maddow” quote to go with this article.
I AM GOING TO MAKE ALL OF THESE THANK YOU RACHEL AND SARAH!
I have a recipe for a similar champagne cocktail. Place one sugar cube in bottom of flute, cover with bitters, add 1/2 shot of bourbon, fill flute with champagne.
In my opinion, there are two things that can be added to anything and will always improve it: bourbon, and sexy dykes who know their drinks.
Dr Maddow is number 1 on my “5 celebrities you can sleep with” agreement with my girlfriend.
I’m not even gay and I’d sleep with her..only I respect her way too much! But I’m crazy about her!
My go-to drink is always bourbon or gin with club soda and lime. Now that I know it has a name, it feels so much more fancy!
Love this.