Brainstorm (straight-up)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (14 ratings)
  • Brainstorm (straight-up) Image

    Brainstorm (straight-up)

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Brainstorm (straight-up) image

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Irish whiskey
1⁄2 oz Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
1⁄2 oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A reproportioned version of the pre-Prohibition classic Brainstorm, served straight-up rather than on-the-rocks.

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History:

The Brainstorm is a classic which first appeared in Hugo R. Ensslin's 1917 Recipes for Mixed Drinks (2nd Edition) [It may have also appeared in his 1916 first edition.] and, like so many of Ensslin's recipes, was repeated in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

Both vintage books stipulate that this cocktail is served on-the-rocks. The now more popular straight-up version (recipe above) originated in 2022 by Al Sotack at Jupiter Disco, a science fiction-inspired cocktail bar in Brooklyn, New York City, USA.

BRAIN STORM COCKTAIL
Cube of Ice
2 dash Bénédictine
1 piece Orange Peel
2 dashes French Vermouth
1 drink of Irish whiskey
Use an Old Fashioned Cocktail glass and serve with a small bar spoon in glass.

Hugo R. Ensslin, Recipes For Mixed Drinks, 1917

Nutrition:

One serving of Brainstorm (straight-up) contains 200 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.8 standard drinks
  • 28.61% alc./vol. (28.61° proof)
  • 25.7 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 2 comments for Brainstorm (straight-up).
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Frederic D.’s Avatar Frederic D.
2nd September 2024 at 02:34
One of these perfectly fine, but also rather unremarkable drinks. Obviously the quality and character of your whiskey will have a huge impact here.
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Andy Parnell-Hopkinson’s Avatar Andy Parnell-Hopkinson
14th October 2023 at 19:49
I love Bene but a touch too sweet.
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