Well, I think seven months is long enough for a hiatus, don't you? Tonight I offer the "Anthony Wayne", a drink I myself have concocted. The burden is this, my lords and ladies: 1/4 applejack, 3/4 Pimm's, 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters; stir over ice and garnish with a maraschino cherry. Merry and short with dash, just like the General himself. I'm sure someone has hit on this happy combination before, but I doubt they thought to name it for that august personage. This is the man who led bayonet charges at Stony Point and Green Spring and one of the few to earn a congressional medal during the Revolutionary War. A great Pennsylvanian and for fighting the "dandy-o". Three cheers for Mad Anthony Wayne!

Opening Cocktail

Wow, was that stilted. I can't believe that last post. Back to business, finally.

This time the subject at hand is the Opening Cocktail, a promising mixture of grenadine, italian vermouth and rye whiskey. Alas, the reality falls far short. The drink was heavy, sweet and not much else. Perhaps a bit of soda water would lighten the load. Here's the recipe as it appears in The Official Mixer's Manual: "1/4 Grenadine, 1/4 Italian Vermouth, 1/2 Rye Whiskey. Stir well in ice and strain into glass."

Odd also that there is no garnish. Perhaps a shot of soda water and a cherry is the thing.

It's too bad that the inauguration of my music collection online should be heralded by such a threadbare cocktail; perhaps the sounds of Benny Goodman will inspire someone to rehabilitate this drink and find the inner truth that I couldn't discover.

Surely rye whiskey captures the spirit of Mr. Goodman's jazz: mellow, refined but not fancy, holding infinite nuance.

Swing, dammit!

Back to the Main Event

Those of you who ask "What's all this about pub crawls and cider tasting? What about the cocktails?" ask justly. The author is not the most consistent of social animals; his orbit is what you might call eccentric, perhaps even decaying... Though in periods so gradually diminishing as to be indetectable over the life of the body, he hopes. Occasionally he takes a few more turns around the brighter stars, the places of light and life, in order to take in the warmth he cannot emit.

And so, finally we swing back to the subject of cocktails and the Official Mixer's Manual. The next on the list is the Claridge Cocktail: in my version the star is Stone Barn Brandy Works apricot liqueur, a delightful surprise in a category that promises little more than artificial colors and sweetness. Stone Barn's concoction is anything but predictable and sweet; the liquid has a beautiful, sunny orange color, with a lightness in the nose and a refreshing tartness. Even the bottle is attractive, an elegant, elongated shape with a stylish label.

The second important ingredient is the gin; in this case, the only stuff in the house was the Hendrick's gin in the squat black bottle, an excellent spirit, though perhaps not quite as adaptable as Gordon's London Dry. I added four tablespoons of the gin, two of the apricot liqueur, two of Cinzano's dry vermouth, and two of Cointreau. This was poured over ice and stirred thoroughly, then strained into a glass. I added a cherry.

The result was very agreeable; not particularly complex, but light and sweet without a syrupy undertone and with a pleasant citrus flavor. Celeste found it a bit too predictable, but in cocktails, predictably pleasant is not always a disadvantage. It's definitely not what you'd call a masculine drink; it is the sort of flavor that glorifies an ebullient mood and comments ironically on a deflated one.

Here's the recipe as printed in the manual: "1/3 gin, 1/3 french vermouth, 1/6 apricot brandy, 1/6 cointreau. Stir well in ice and strain. Add a cherry. "

You may notice that the recipe calls for apricot brandy, yet I used apricot liqueur. In the great majority of instances, older recipes specify apricot brandy when they mean an apricot liqueur. This means that a neutral spirit is blended with syrup to create a sweet, usually heavier drink, as opposed to a brandy or eau de vie, a normally clear spirit that takes its flavor solely from the distilled fruit; they are light and can be almost medicinal in their dryer forms. Common examples are grappa and slivovitz plum brandy. This rule holds for many other older mentions of fruit "brandies". See the Cocktail DB for more information on this confusing usage.

On the subject of cherries: Mr. Duffy has specified a green cherry in his recipe for Zombies. I have never seen such a thing except in the online marketplace. Does anybody know a local source for this garnish? It's a drink I would like to rehabilitate, but in order to put it in context and establish a starting point for my deviation, the proper thing seems to follow the earliest recipe I can find, in this case Mr. Duffy's.

Another cherry: the chocolate-covered variety, the sort of thing you see at the holidays and in German groceries. You can also drink it at Bushwhacker. Their variety is liquid and is packaged in a pint glass; it is a delicious compound of a rich chocolate stout and Blue Mountain cherry cider. Go down at your next opportunity and have at least one.

Barbur World Foods

This Middle Eastern grocery in Southwest has become something of a standby for me. They carry the items you would expect to find, i.e. labne cheese, flatbreads, turkish delight, all kinds of olive oil, teas, regional cereal grains... But they also have an excellent produce department and meat counter, and there's a deli where you can buy all kinds of wonderful offerings: fatayer, kibbe bites and bulgur pilaf, to name just a few. And their prices on most items are quite reasonable.

But the secret of the place is its beer. Occasionally you will see a customer stride purposefully to the back of the store and disappear. You expect them to turn, maybe study the chip shelves, but they seem to walk right through the back wall.

At either back corner there is a swinging door, darkly colored and very inconspicuous, essentially a secret panel. Behind them is a large room, a walk-in cooler stocked with an impressive selection of beers and ciders. I even found a large pint-plus bottle of Hitachino red ale in there, the first time I've ever seen it in that size bottle and only the second place I've seen it on the shelf, after Uwajamiya in Raleigh Hills. There's German beers, Asian beers, regional beers, Dutch, French, Belgian... They even have my new favorite Schlinkerla Rauchbier. And all in a nice roomy space on open shelves. No squatting in front of foggy cooler doors, no sharing the aisle with people that want to study cheese labels. Just rank after rank of carefully chilled beer.

Their wine selection is also quite respectable, and if you study the cooking and juice aisles carefully you'll probably come away with some flavorful and inexpensive mixers. For one thing, they carry large, inexpensive bottles of lime and lemon juice, an item I hate to buy in American groceries and liquor stores because it's always packaged in a tiny, impractical container and always seems too expensive. At Barbur Foods they're considered a staple and offered in staple sizes and prices.

But probably the greatest revelation is the easy access to wine-bottle sized units of grenadine syrup. True, the label says "Pomegranate Syrup", but that is precisely what grenadine syrup is. And a big bottle costs between five and seven dollars.

Drop in sometime and see what they have to offer. I guarantee you'll leave with more than was on your list. Perhaps you'll even chat with Mr. Attar, the owner, who also operates the very fine Ya Hala restaurant out in Montavilla. Don't hesitate to ask him ingredient or food questions; he likes to mingle with his customers.

Pub Crawl

We had a wonderful time. I had the honor to join Noelle and Celeste at Bushwhacker after some errands of my own. The crowd was almost frightening, with more crammed in the little garage than I've ever seen. Strange and poignant to think how cavernous the room looked when we came in for our first drink and wondered if they would make it past the first month of operation. The deafening noise of happy and engaged drinkers tells us for certain that that time of uncertainty is over. We sampled an excellent, officially unavailable cider, Burro Loco, with a musty, down-home kind of flavor. This only because we were fortuitously close to Jeff and Erin, the proprietor/operators, when they found a moment to pour themselves a drink.

We escaped to Stone Barn Brandy Works (location on Google maps, website), where the very personable owner showed us their brand-new German still and talked about heads and rye whiskey. Their own is excellent and clear because it does not age in a barrel. Celeste bought a bottle of a very tart and mysterious apricot liquer (bottle, label) and we sampled maybe a half-dozen other offerings. Please visit these people and buy their spirits; it's almost too good to be true that a small distiller and cider maker are this close together and it's our responsibility as thirsty Portlanders to maintain a good consumer-producer relationship with them.

Then it was on to Beermongers on SE 12th (Google maps, site). This place, too, was filled with noisy Saturday-night walla and we were forced into the ghetto behind the main space, near the bathroom. Never mind, they had one of my new favorite beers, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, a dark, heavy beer that tastes like a campfire.

At Apex (map, site) I felt it was important to have more German beer and ordered the Spaten Dunkel. Perhaps not the most adventuresome choice, but steady and calming after the giddiness of the rauchbier.

This concluded our tour, after which it was home and time for one more beverage. I made mine a mug full of the very fine Duché de Longueville Antoinette (available at Bushwhacker and Barbur World Foods; if you visit the latter you will find the ciders in their immense but well-hidden beer cooler. Walk to the back of the store behind the drink coolers and you'll find the door). The hangover in the wee hours was intense, but the next morning I was fine. This proves, to me at any rate, that good beverages have a salutary effect when enjoyed in moderation, and in excess are much less likely to torture the penitent. At any rate, I will certainly have cause to repent some time very soon, hopefully with more of you to join me.

Pub Crawl

We would start at Bushwhacker Cider at SE 12th and Powell, then walk north to BeerMongers on SE 11th and Division, then cross to Apex. We could eat at Bushwhacker if we order Lonesome's pizza. Bushwhacker customers receive a discount and they deliver.

The neighborhood is well-served by Trimet, with buses running on Milwaukie, Powell and Division. Most of the buses run pretty late during the week and even on Saturdays, with 19 Woodstock/Glisan the earliest to stop running. They all make their last stop downtown around 12 midnight. And of course, there's always taxis.

Cracked Ice

I've posted at least one recipe that calls for this ingredient, so here's how to crack ice: obtain this spring steel tool (underside, topside) and a clean cloth bag. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I found the tool. I do remember that the liquor store in Mountain Park had a pretty good selection of bar tools. You can try Kobos or Kitchen Kaboodle, but this is really one of those things you're more likely to see in a liquor store. You may have to do some calling around if you want to visit a store. Or you can simply order one online. Drop the ice in the bag and twist it shut so the ice is tightly wrapped. Then tap the ice with the tool. Hold the handle loosely so that the head snaps down on the bag. Dump the cracked ice into your tumbler and pour the ingredients over it. If you can't find the tool or don't want to locate one, a wooden spoon would probably serve.

Clover Leaf Cocktail

1/3 Grenadine, 2/3 Gin, White of 1 Egg, Juice of 1/2 Lime. Shake well in cracked ice and strain, putting a mint leaf on top.

I mixed this with real grenadine (hereafter used to distinguish pomegranate-flavored grenadine syrups from the mysterious red glop that Rose's markets). The result was very agreeable, with a classy pale violet color and white foam on top. The flavor was good but quite sweet, and moderated by the egg white.




This drink is practically identical to the Clover Club, which I mixed with Rose's. The results are dramatically different.

Clover Club Cocktail

1/3 Grenadine, 2/3 Gin, White of 1 Egg, Juice of 1/2 Lime. Shake well with cracked ice, strain and serve.

Made with Rose's Grenadine, it looks disgusting, with an artificial red color topped by a pink foam, and the taste confirms what your eyes tell you. Made with real grenadine, the taste would be pleasant if you like sweet drinks with lots of fragrance and you're not put off by egg whites. The Clover Leaf I made with real grenadine was a very handsome drink, classy in an old-fashioned way and something I'd be proud to serve to a guest.

Grenadine Syrup

Grenadine: supposedly, historically, ostensibly, pomegranate syrup, from the French word for pomegranate, a reference to its resemblance to a grenade or bomb. In reality, a disgusting bright-red syrup marketed under the Rose's label that is used to make Roy Rogers and Shirley Temples and wreck otherwise perfectly reputable drinks like Zombies and Tequila Sunrises.

Do not buy this evil syrup. Just buy pomegranate juice in concentrate, combine it with sugar and a little lime juice over gentle heat, and bottle it. This was the recipe I used: 1 c. pomegranate juice (pure, from concentrate), 1/4 c. white refined sugar, 1 tsp. lime juice. It is very tasty, tart and sweet at the same time with a beautiful deep ruby color. The Clover Leaf Cocktail I made with it was startlingly pleasant, in contrast to the Clover Club (same drink, without the sprig of mint) made with Rose's, which tasted like Robitussin and gin.

Malta

I stumbled on this drink while I was reading the Wikipedia article on malt. It is a soft drink made by brewing malt as for beer, but without fermentation. The drink is then sweetened. It is popular in the Caribbean region. The Wikipedia article refers to the practice of mixing it with condensed or evaporated milk. I have not sampled this version. It is very good cold, either chilled or over ice. Dashen Groceries on NE Glisan carries the Hatuey brand; they're the only place yet of four I've visited that carries the drink.

Its flavor has been compared to molasses; it may also be described as the flavor of Ovaltine malt in soda form.

Picon Cocktail

1/2 Amer Picon, 1/2 French Vermouth

I used Torani Amer (in Cocktail DB). It is a very syrupy drink and just not my style for a cocktail base. I can't imagine Amer Picon is that much different.

Martini (Sweet)

2/3 Tom Gin, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, 2 dashes Gum Syrup, 1 dash Orange Bitters. Stir well with ice, strain and serve with a cherry.

Celeste made a cocktail very similar to the above recipe (pictured) and called it a Union League. But we both think, without verifying on the Cocktail DB, that that cocktail is made with port. The cocktail she made contained 2/3 Tom Gin, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, a splash Blood Orange Bitters and an orange slice. It is very good and sweet but not heavy.

Breakfast Cocktail

1/3 Grenadine, 2/3 Dry Gin, White of 1 Egg. Shake well in ice and strain.

Looks and tastes like gin and Pepto-Bismol. I used Rose's Grenadine; perhaps a home-made Grenadine of pomegranate juice and syrup would improve the killing sweetness.

The gin was Hendrick's. Also, I beat the egg white before transferring it to the tumbler. If you shake the ingredients without beating the white first, a very unappetizing string of egg white remains in the drink. To separate the white, just crack an egg and tip the yolk back and forth between the two shell halves. Let the white fall into a bowl.

Lone Tree Cocktail

1/3 Italian Vermouth, 1/3 French Vermouth, 1/3 Dry Gin, 2 Dashes Orange Bitters. Stir well with cracked ice and strain. Add a cherry. Similar to Cooperstown Cocktail. Light and sweet with plenty of aroma, also a good-looking drink.

Gazette Cocktail

1 Teaspoonful syrup, 1 Teaspoonful Lemon Juice, 1/2 Italian Vermouth, 1/2 Brandy. Stir well in ice and strain into glass.

Not particularly interesting but drinkable. A bit more lemon juice may improve it. Celeste called it "boozy".

Corpse Reviver No. 1 Cocktail

1/4 Italian Vermouth, 1/4 Apple Brandy or Calvados, 1/2 Brandy. Stir well in ice and strain into glass.

Don't drink too many or the process is reversed. They are good.

Old Etonian Cocktail

2 dashes Orange Bitters, 2 dashes Crème de Noyau, 1/2 London Gin, 1/2 Kina Lillet. Stir well in ice and strain. Squeeze Orange Peel on top.

Made exactly as the Fairbanks No. 2 Cocktail, except with Lillet instead of dry vermouth. Celeste preferred it to the Fairbanks.

Fairbanks No. 2 Cocktail

2 dashes Crème de Noyau, 2 dashes Orange Bitters, 1/3 French Vermouth, 2/3 Dry Gin. Stir well in ice and strain. Add a cherry.

The cousin of the Old Etonian Cocktail, with French Vermouth instead of Lillet. I did not taste this one, but Celeste did. She preferred the Old Etonian and the sweeter taste of the Lillet.

Bushwhacker

We've been customers at Bushwhacker since their opening night. Aside from the fact that they're the only cidery around, their prices are reasonable, they're knowledgeable and they pour an honest pint. Just recently they offered their own cider and will again soon. Visit their website to join their mailing list. (Be patient, the page takes a while to load). Or better yet, just visit the pub and try a taster. See also my post on a neighborhood walking loop that includes the pub.

View SE Walks in a larger map

Excellent French Cider

Available at Bushwhacker: a light, very tasty French cider and a steal at around $7 per bottle. Please stop in and have them open a bottle. While you're there, try some of their ciders on tap.

Frank Sullivan Cocktail

Perfect for those of you trying to avoid responsibilities, sex, whatever.

1/4 lemon juice

1/4 Kina Lillet

1/4 Cointreau

1/4 Brandy

Shake well over ice and strain into glass.

It is very good.

Glass

Sometimes you run across outmoded ingredients in drink recipes; sometimes the units of measurement themselves are outmoded or obscure. Case in point: the designation "glass" in the Cablegram post. In this case I think it's safe to assume that Duffy means a glass used to serve whiskey, or a shot glass; a shot glass could hold 1, 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 ounces (the 1 1/2 ounce glass is also called a "jigger"). Legally, a "shot" is one ounce. I sometimes interpret "glass" as one ounce in this context, if 1 1/2 ounces seems like too much. Taste should be the guide in interpreting any drink recipe.

"Drink" is another indefinite amount that appears in many old recipes. Since it's used mainly with spirits, I apply the "glass" rule: the actual amount is in the neighborhood of 1 1/2 to 1 ounce, depending on preference.

I've used this online dictionary of measurement units before. Its scope is broad, so you may not find a lot that refers to bartending specifically, but it has helped me in the past.

Cablegram

Juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 tbsp. powdered sugar, 1 glass rye whiskey. Stir well in ice, strain and fill with ginger ale. One of my favorites and a good standby. As Johnny Twennies said when his jaded photographer asked him if he even had cable tv service: "Sure, I get cables all the time!"

London Cocktail

2 Dashes Orange Bitters, 2 Dashes Syrup, 2 Dashes Maraschino, 2/3 Dry Gin. Stir well in ice and strain. Twist of Lemon Peel. Powerful and highly aromatic, lots of sweetness in the nose. Nice clean look.

Kup's Indispensable Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters, 1/8 Italian Vermouth, 1/4 French Vermouth, 5/8 Dry Gin. Stir well in ice and strain. Squeeze Orange Peel on top. Cousin to Journalist Cocktail. Powerful and complicated with a smooth transition between flavors.

Jupiter Cocktail

1 Teaspoonful Orange Juice, 1 Teaspoonful Parfait Amour Liqueur, 1/3 French Vermouth, 2/3 Dry Gin. Stir well in ice and strain. Twist of Lemon Peel. A bit two-dimensional, with first sip overpowered by gin and lower levels dominated by raw sweetness of Parfait Amour, like a predictable twist ending. Could be improved by slightly more orange juice to add depth.

Journalist Cocktail

2 Dashes Lemon Juice, 2 Dashes Curaçao, 1 Dash Angostura Bitters, 1/6 French Vermouth, 1/6 Italian Vermouth, 2/3 Dry Gin. Stir well in ice and strain. Powerful but complex, lots going on in sharp citrus of bitters and mellow citrus of vermouth. Thumbs up.

Jack Withers Cocktail

Juice of 1/2 Orange, 1/3 French Vermouth, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, 1/3 Dry Gin. Stir well in ice and strain. Rich, sweet drink, similar to Satan's Whiskers but not as heavy.

Jack Pine Cocktail

Juice of 1/2 Orange, 1 Slice Pineapple, 3/4 Dry Gin, 1/4 French Vermouth. Shake well in ice and strain. Powerful. I transferred the fruit to the serving glass to soften the taste of the gin and the acid of the orange. Tasty with sweet fundament in pineapple.

Ink Street Cocktail

1/2 Rye Whiskey, 1/4 Orange Juice, 1/4 Lemon Juice. Shake well and strain. Tart verging on sour. Use sweet oranges.

Imperial Cocktail

1/2 French Vermouth, 1/2 Gin, 1 Dash Angostura Bitters, 1 Dash Maraschino. Stir well with cracked ice, strain and serve with an Olive. Barely distinguishable from a dry martini but for whiff of maraschino.

Hawaiian Cocktail

4 Parts Gin, 2 Parts Orange Juice, 1 Part Curaçao (or any other of the Orange Liqueurs). Shake well and strain. (I used Cointreau for Orange Liqueur). Rich orange flavor masked a bit by gin, still a pleasant drink.

Cooperstown Cocktail

1/3 Gin, 1/3 French Vermouth, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, 1 Sprig of Fresh Mint. Stir well with cracked ice and strain. Add a Cherry. Nice clean flavor, warmth of Italian Vermouth punched up by mint. Attractive.

Commodore Cocktail

1 Teaspoonful Syrup, 2 Dashes Orange Bitters, Juice of 1/2 Lime or 1/4 Lemon, 1 Glass Rye Whiskey. Shake well and strain into glass. Tart, light.

Bronx Cocktail

1/2 Dry Gin, 1/4 French Vermouth, 1/4 Italian Vermouth, Juice of 1/4 Orange. Shake well with cracked ice and strain. Nice orangey flavor, fairly heavy.

Manhasset

1 1/2 oz. whiskey, 1/4 oz. sweet vermouth, 1/4 oz. dry vermouth, 1 oz. lemon juice. Shake and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. (The Bartender's Black Book by Stephen Kittredge Cunningham)

Celeste liked it, I didn't. It tasted like lemon juice spiked with whiskey.

Manhattan (Dry)

2/3 Whiskey, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Stir well with cracked ice, strain and serve with an Olive and a twist of lemon peel on top. (Official Mixer's Manual p. 119)

Celeste made this with rye; I prefer it to bourbon for its lighter flavor.

We drank them and I thought about Gerry Rafferty who had just died. I was sad because I'd only recently acquainted myself with his album City to City and it had been steadily growing on me. The track Baker Street was a fixture of my childhood, ever-present as it was on local radio. So long Gerry; the world is diminished.

Diabolo Cocktail

Diabolo Cocktail: 2/3 Dubonnet, 1/3 gin, 2 dashes Orgeat Syrup. Stir well in ice and strain into glass. (Official Mixer's Manual p. 193). I didn't care for this one. I added a bit too much Orgeat and it made the drink too sweet. Aside from that, I didn't like the way the gin and Dubonnet mixed. A bit less Orgeat would have made it more drinkable.

Face the Music and Dance

I've been knocking out my brains trying to think of a way to share Messrs. Duffy and Craddock's cocktail recipes and have hit on this expedient as the least painful.

I found a little book called the Official Mixer's Manual in one of Portland's many second-hand shops. It had no jacket and and an unassuming cloth binding. The print and paper quality was low; I'd never heard of the publisher. It looked like the kind of thing a book club would send you. But hidden inside was a store of knowledge from a gone time.

Patrick Gavin Duffy waited on some of the great personages of the late 19th and early 20th century: Oscar Wilde, William Jennings Bryan, Cecil B. DeMille. He believed the bartender should wear a jacket with a flower in his lapel and serve the customer's drink rapidly and with a minimum of conversation. He disdained the label "professor" or "mixologist" for bartenders, calling them "nonsense". He was that species of quiet tradesman whose sense of professional pride and tradition were mixed in an ideal proportion.

I took all this in at a glance, then read the following words: "With very few exceptions, cocktails should be stirred and not shaken. A stirred cocktail is clear and fresh and retains its vitality. A shaken cocktail is muddy in appearance and has had so much ice diluted into it that it is a very insipid affair."

Enter The Savoy Cocktail Book, by the justly famous Harry Craddock, late of the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London. When Alex and I were living off SE 37th and Franklin this was our guide in things cocktail. It fairly screamed homburgs, slicked-back hair and martini pitchers. There is no arguing with the guide's influence, authenticity and value as a document.

Imagine my dismay, then, when I noticed that practically every recipe calls for a shaken cocktail! Not only that, but Mr. Craddock pleads with us to "Shake the shaker as hard as you can: don't just rock it: you are trying to wake it up, not send it to sleep!"

What the devil am I supposed to do now? As I write it becomes clear: listen to the words of the immortal Cole Porter: "Life's too mysterious, don't take it serious." Then mix in a dash of common sense. I think Mr. Duffy's advice is good, what he says makes sense. So I would follow it. On the other hand, if you shake a drink as Mr. Craddock advised, and you like it, then tant mieux.

I am not a "foodie". I hate that term. I am not even an expert. I am interested in the history that these recipes represent and I detect a sour note in our national music these days, a lack of swing. This makes me very sad. We are Americans, we must swing. Sometime, we must swing. This is not to say all must be swing, no, no. But you must be able to hear that jazz.

This also means somewhere, somehow, someone must be able to laugh and have a drink at the same time.

If you can find a copy of The Official Mixer's Manual by Patrick Gavin Duffy, Alta Publications 1934, and The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock, Constable & Co. 1930 (newer editions exist; Pavilion published an edition of TSCB in 1999), buy them. I've seen both titles on Amazon moderately- to modestly-priced.

Also, bookmark the Cocktail DB, a comprehensive resource for anyone researching these cocktails. The publishers have provided not only detailed descriptions of drink ingredients, but photo galleries of past and present examples in the bottle; pretty important when you're looking for something in the liquor store. Not only that, but some of the labels display really beautiful graphic design. They have also published their bibliography, an impressive list of cocktail guides past and present, starting in 1755 (!). It's available as a PDF.

You might also find the Oregon Liquor Control Commission's liquor search useful. It's a database of available drinks and the stores that carry them. Not every liquor store participates in the program, so it's not comprehensive, but it's a good place to start if you're looking for one particular ingredient.