Feature image via The Gothamist.

Rachel Maddow. Alcohol. Can you think of two things that make you happier, especially when those two things are combined?

Without further ado, I present to you, Rachel Maddow Cocktail Recipes! Sometimes when I watch Rachel Maddow, I wish I could remember to look up the cocktail she’s making because it looks really good, but then I never do. Maybe you’re like me and you’ve been living in constant regret, but don’t worry, I found ten of them for you! There’s even a bonus bitters + champagne combo at the bottom, you lucky dog you.

Now remember: shake really, really, really well because biceps and cold drinks are sexy, and never, never, never eat the garnish.

Maybe you’ll look like this after drinking all ten of these. via flickr

The Frisco

The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 years old in May. This drink is to honor the most famous landmark of perhaps the gayest city ever.

Ingredients:

2 oz of Rye
1/2 oz of lemon juice (from real, actual lemons)
1/2 oz of Benedictine
Ice Cubes

Directions:

1. You’re supposed to shake a Frisco (you’re supposed to shake anything with fruit juice in it), but Rachel prefers to stir it. So we’re going with Rachel.

2. Pour into a cocktail glass and enjoy!

The French 75

This drink, named for a French missile shell, is perfect for eating brunch while reading Rachel’s book, Drift.

Ingredients:

1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 1/2 oz Booze (Some people make it with gin, other people make it with cognac. It’s traditional and therefore more correct to make it with gin, but certain cable television news hosts prefer it with cognac)

Directions:

1. Shake shake shake that up with ice.

2. Strain into a champagne glass.

3. Top with champagne.

4. Add the lemon twist (don’t eat the garnish!) and serve.

Cameron’s Kick

This is a classic cocktail that appears in the legendary Savoy cocktail book from the 1930s. Don’t you feel fancy?

Ingredients:

1 oz Scotch Whisky
1 oz Irish Whiskey
1/2 oz Orgeat Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Directions:

1. Shake over ice for about a million years.

2. Strain into cocktail glass.

3. Garnish with an orange twist.

via flickr user eric susch

Gin Sling

Rachel made this to commemorate the SCOTUS ruling on healthcare, but you should make this to commemorate that time Autostraddle was broken and you got an error message.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz Gin
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
3 dashes of Agnostura Bitters

Directions:

1. Shake the ever-loving life out of it.

2. Pour over ice.

3. Top it off with club soda.

4. Garnish with a lemon peel, wheel or wedge.

Maddow’s Pina Colada Improvement

Sometimes Pina Coladas come out of slushie machines and you drink them out of plastic boots in Vegas, or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, this sounds much better.

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Light Rum
1 oz 8-year-old Bacardi or other nice medium-bodied Amber Rum
1.5 oz Orgeat Syrup (Tessier is best)
4 oz Pineapple Juice

Directions:

1. Blend with ice.

2. Without straining, serve in a short glass.

3. Garnish with pineapple wedge and a tiny umbrella.

4. Serve with short, fat straws.

via fuckyeahdykes

Corpse Reviver II

This drink was once believed to bring people back from the dead. So, that’s pretty exciting, right?

Ingredients:

2 oz Gin
2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
2 oz Cointreau
2 oz Lillet Blanc
2 drops of absinthe

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously.

2. Pour into a glass and enjoy your return to the land of the living.

Rachel’s Gin and Tonic

A classic, made even better because Rachel Maddow has put her mark on it.

Ingredients:

Ice
1 Lime
Tonic water
1 1/2 oz Gin
1 oz Cynar

Directions:

1. Fill a highball glass with ice and add 1 lime, cut into quarters.

2. Add 1 1/2 oz of gin.

3. Pour in tonic water until glass is almost full.

4. Add 1 oz of Cynar.

5. Garnish with an orange wedge (optional).

The Rickey

Enjoy Washington D.C.’s official drink, which also happens to be one of the easy and cheap. Coincidence?

Ingredients:

Ice
Seltzer or club soda
Your choice of booze (gin, bourbon, or rye are good choices)

Directions:

1. Fill a highball glass 2/3 with ice.

2. Add 2 oz of booze

3. Cut a lime in half and squeeze the juice of each half into the glass. Then drop the lime halves into the glass.

4. Add a bit more ice and fill the remainder of the glass with seltzer, then sip.

via The Gothamist

The Last Word

This is a classic Prohibition era drink that was once forgotten. As soon as you hear a drink is from the Prohibition era, it makes it so much cooler, don’t you think?

Ingredients:

Equal parts —
Gin
Fresh Lime Juice
Maraschino Liqueur (Rachel recommends Luxardo brand)
Green Chartreuse

Directions:

1. Shake well with ice for longer than you think you should.

2. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Gatsby

This drink has the highest ratio of deliciousness to effort, meaning it’s easy aaaand tasty.

Ingredients:

2 oz Heavy Cream (or half & half, if cream seems too rich)
3/4 oz Amaretto
3/4 oz Light Creme de Cacao

Directions:

1. Pour ingredients into a shaker with ice.

2. Shake it like you mean it for a really, really long time. Warm cream drinks are gross and will ruin your life.

3. Strain into a small, stemmed glass.

Lifetime supply of Angostura Bitters?

Bitters bonus:

To celebrate the end of Angostura Bitters shortages, Rachel made this amazing bitters drink. Yum!

Champagne Cocktail

Soak a sugar cube in Angostura Bitters, then top with champagne. Serve in champagne flute.

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