The namesake

Formulating a signature DIY cocktail

By BOURBON BELLE

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Wishing for a drink that you just haven't been able to find at your beloved watering hole? Or dreaming about making the perfect cocktail to suit a specific taste? It's surprisingly easy to concoct a well-balanced cocktail in the classic style, so long as you keep a few basic rules of thumb in mind.

One of the earliest known definitions of the term "cocktail" comes from the May 1806 issue of The Balance, and Columbian Repository, a Hudson, N.Y.-based weekly newspaper of yore: "Cocktail is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters ..."

So let's start with the spirit of your choice—Bourbon's as good as any. Next, you'll want to sweeten it up for balance. Let's go traditional and throw in some sweet vermouth. Following the cocktail "definition," we're going to add some bitters; Angostura bitters make for a traditional Manhattan. Now, let's make an original by including a flavor you'd like to impart into your drink. What goes well with Bourbon? How about ... peaches! Let's add a touch of peach liqueur—Mathilde Peches is my personal choice. And now you have your own twist on a traditional cocktail, made to suit your own flavor preferences.

Just remember: a spirit, a sweetener, a bitter (fresh citrus juice is also great for balancing out the sweetness) and water (in most cases, just consider the melting ice sufficient).

Cin-cin!

BOURBON BELLE

3 ounces Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

0.5 ounce Mathilde Peches Liqueur

0.5 ounce sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi or Cinzano preferred)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Fill a shaker with ice and add all ingredients. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

FOR MORE TIPS ON HOW TO INVENT YOUR OWN NAMESAKE COCKTAIL AT HOME, VISIT LUPECBOSTON.BLOGSPOT.COM.