Hotel Du Pont Cocktail Recipes

This austere cocktail, as elegant and proper as the hotel it's named after, has long been associated with the Wilmington, Del., landmark, which still stands. This version of the drink is served at Le Cavalier at the Green Room, the hotel's new restaurant, which recently opened. It was devised by Tyler Akin, a Wilmington native and Philadelphia chef who is running the kitchen and is a partner in the restaurant.

Provided by Robert Simonson

Categories     cocktails

Yield 1 drink

Number Of Ingredients 5

• Ingredients

The big question when preparing an Alaska cocktail is the choice of gin. Though most bars make it with London Dry gin, the earliest known recipe for the drink calls for Old Tom gin, a sweeter form of the spirit that was common in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This is the recipe found in "Drinks," a 1913 book by the bartender Jacques Straub, and favored by Jim Kearns, an owner of Slowly Shirley, a cocktail bar in Greenwich Village. "The orange bitters adds a nice, dry, citric note to the end, keeping the cocktail from becoming too sweet," Mr. Kearns said. While Straub's instructions do not call for a lemon twist, Mr. Kearns added it anyway, because it "complements the orange bitters so nicely.

Provided by Robert Simonson

Categories     cocktails

Yield 1 drink

Number Of Ingredients 4

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 234, UnsaturatedFat 0 grams, Carbohydrate 7 grams, Fat 0 grams, Protein 0 grams, SaturatedFat 0 grams, Sodium 3 milligrams, Sugar 7 grams

• Ingredients

Now that a reformulated Dubonnet has been introduced in the United States, a cocktail is in order. The most famous one is this mix of Dubonnet and London dry gin; this recipe is endorsed by Lynn House, a bartender and brand representative for Heaven Hill, the distiller that makes Dubonnet in the United States. She helped reconfigure the American recipe for Dubonnet. This cocktail is a bit stronger than that reportedly preferred by Queen Elizabeth II, who opts for two parts Dubonnet to one part gin. The recipe works equally well on the rocks. Another old cocktail that once went by the same name calls for dry sherry instead of gin. It is also worth a try.

Provided by Robert Simonson

Categories     cocktails

Yield 1 drink

Number Of Ingredients 3

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 147, UnsaturatedFat 0 grams, Carbohydrate 1 gram, Protein 0 grams, Sodium 3 milligrams, Sugar 0 grams

• Ingredients

White port with tonic is a common drink throughout Portugal. The light-bodied and fruity wine pairs well with the bitterness of tonic, creating a happy, easygoing drink. A 1-to-2 ratio works best here; you don't want to use too much tonic or the gentle flavors of the port will be overwhelmed. Choice of tonic is a matter of preference. Canada Dry makes for a livelier mix, but the lighter Q Tonic leads to a more elegant drink. La Taberna in Napa, Calif., tops the drink with a lime wedge, but I find a lemon a more harmonious companion.

Provided by Robert Simonson

Time 2m

Yield 1 drink

Number Of Ingredients 3

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 99, UnsaturatedFat 0 grams, Carbohydrate 14 grams, Fat 0 grams, Fiber 0 grams, Protein 0 grams, SaturatedFat 0 grams, Sodium 14 milligrams, Sugar 11 grams

• Ingredients