Here's a brandy-based classic that dates to at least 1930: the Bombay Cocktail. I first tasted this drink several months ago at Bar Agricole in San Francisco. Medium-bodied and full of flavor without coming on too aggressive, the Bombay Cocktail offers a glimpse at another time, when brandy was one of the regents of the cocktail kingdom. More

As I mentioned in my hangover helper post on Wednesday, the hair of the dog has long been considered an effective means of treating this kind of self-inflicted wound. Here's an 1887 version of a morning fog cutter, from that year's edition of Jerry Thomas' Bar-Tender's Guide: the Morning Glory Cocktail. More

When it gets cold out and my nose gets sniffly, I happily turn to the curing power of a hot toddy. My standby recipe is from an older version of a Gourmet cookbook for hot buttered rum that combines lemon juice, maple sugar, rum, boiling water and is dotted with a pat of butter. But I wanted to add a spicy element to the mix, using ginger tea as a base for the cocktail, which provides a tiny ginger burn at the back of the throat. More

A marriage of the Cosmopolitan and the Kir Royale, Champagne gets dressed up with cranberry juice and Triple Sec. Alcoholic, slightly sweet, and slightly tart, and you'll be thankful you took a few sips of this festive cocktail. More

If there's been one simple message that's come out of the Four Loko hullaballoo, it's that mixing caffeine and alcohol is a bad idea. Now that this preliminary is out of the way, let's get down to doing that very thing. There are plenty of versions of the Hot Coffee Grog floating around in the booze world. Some contain cream or butter (or, in one tiki-fied version, coconut cream), and some are laced with a range of liqueurs. More

Making spiced rum is deliriously easy. Simply take your desired mix of spices and other ingredients, pop them in a bottle of rum for, oh, two days, then taste. Need the spice mix a bit stronger? Let it sit a day or two more, or, edit the taste profile as you go, adding more of an ingredient if you wish to push it forward. More

As with most cocktails, the origins of the Sidecar are hazy (be suspicious of those who state with certainty when or where the Sidecar was first mixed), but this entrancing mixture of brandy, lemon juice and orange liqueur started making the rounds in the most fashionable watering holes in London and Paris during the 1920s. Very simple in structure, the Sidecar is complex enough in flavor to satisfy even the most jaded palates, but not so over-the-top with mixological gewgaws as to frighten away the casual tippler. More

[Photographs: kretyen] Recipe adapted from Mercadito Restaurant's Day of the Dead menu.... More

In general, bourbon tends to work best in cocktails when its flavor can stand front and center, lightly adorned by trace amounts of other ingredients. Here's a drink that fits the bill: the Appetizer No. 4. More

[Illustration: Helen Jane Hearn] Zombies are called zombies because they are seriously alcohol laden. According to the original Zombie recipe, there are the equivalent of seven and a half ounces of alcohol in a just one Zombie. This would compare... More