Champagne Martini

At the first annual Las Vegas Bar Olympics last summer, Rio Suite Hotel and Casino F&B vp Craig Gilbert, sommelier Barrie Levin and beverage manager Dan Collins won for this spectacular concoction.

1 oz. Finlandia
1/4 oz. Chambord
Peachtree Schnapps
Korbel Brut Champagne
Chill a Martini glass. Fill a spray bottle with Peachtree Schnapps. In a Martini shaker, add ice, Finlandia and Chambord. Liberally fill inner surface of Martini glass with schnapps. Add contents of cocktail shaker and fill remainder of glass with cold champagne. Float one petal from a red rose on the surface and serve.

Cocoito
Our constant correspondent, Bill Davis, now of The Starfish, Lancaster, PA, sends in his updated version of the Mojito.
1/2 oz. Captain Morgan Parrot Bay
1 1/2 oz. Bacardi
1 teaspoon bar sugar
splash pineapple juice
sprig of mint
Pour all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake and chill until sugar is dissolved. Strain and serve up with 1 twist of lime.

Bloody Navel
What is it with repulsive images for cocktails? Perhaps we should ask Eliot Silverstone, bar manager at the Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring, MD, who sent in this recipe.
1 oz. Bacardi Rum
3/4 oz. Dekuyper Peachtree Schnapps
2 oz. orange juice
1 oz. sour mix
splash grenadine
Pour all except grenadine into shaker glass with ice, pour into ice-filled highball glass and swirl in grenadine. Top with cherry.

Cinnamon Snap
Ocean Spray suggests you add some hot cranberry cocktails to your bar menu. Here’s one.
4 oz. Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
1 oz. Southern Comfort
3/4 oz. Cinnamon Schnapps
Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan or microwave. Serve in a mug.

Falling Leaves
In Holyoke, MA, Cheers is used as a resource in the monthly staff meetings at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, reports vp operations Joseph Richter. Add this one to your menu next fall, he suggests.
1 oz. Myers’s Dark Rum
1/2 oz. chambord
dash grenadine
5 oz. orange juice
Fill a red wine goblet with ice. Add orange juice and pour the Myers’s into the center of the glass. It will sink to the bottom. Add the chambord and then the grenadine the same way, and they will also layer on the bottom of the glass. Do not stir, but garnish with an orange slice and cinnamon stick.

Ille de Plaisir
Alexandre Gabriel of Cognac Pierre Ferrand offers this heady recipe for those looking to add cognac to the cocktail revolution.
1 1/2 oz. cognac
1/2 oz. Kaniche Rum
1/4 oz. sugar syrup
1/4 oz. vanilla extract
1 teaspoon heavy cream
Mix all ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker and pour into a chilled Old-Fashioned glass.

Number 2
Bill Kelly of Charlie’s Other Brother, Easthampton, NJ, says the bartenders and waitstaff love Cheers and sends in this recipe as proof.
1/2 oz. Southern Comfort
1/2 oz. Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
1/2 oz. triple sec
cranberry juice
juice of 2 lime wedges
Combine all over ice and shake. Strain and serve up on the rocks.

CPR
Thomas Gazarato, lounge manager at the Holiday Inn in Gaylord, MI, offers up this fruity concoction.
1 oz. De Kuyper Crantasia Schnapps
1 oz. DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps
1 oz. DeKuyper Razzmatazz Schnapps
2 oz. cranberry juice
2 oz. orange juice
Pour all into a tall glass over ice.