The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks dinner or mid-afternoon drinks accompanying cake or chocolate cookies, but they are anathema as a "cocktail" before a large meal. In terms of IBA Official Cocktails, Embury describes classic Before-Dinner Cocktails, which whet the appetite, not other categories. Embury breaks all cocktail ingredients down into three categories: The base is the principal ingredient of the cocktail. It is typically a single spirit such as rum, gin, or whiskey, and typically makes up 75 percent or more of the total volume of the cocktail before icing. The modifying agent is the ingredient that gives the cocktail its character. Its function is
Rose Kennedy Cocktail Rose Kennedy Cocktail Rose Kennedy (also commonly known as a "VSS," "Fire Engine," "The Michele," "The White Girl," "The Brian Ziegler," "The Sean Brady," or "vodka soda splash") is a cocktail popular in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. It consists of varying amounts of vodka and club soda with a splash of cranberry juice for color and taste. The juice sweetens the taste and takes the edge off the alcohol. The cocktail, typically garnished with a lemon or lime wedge, is based on the Cape Cod and named after Rose Kennedy, the matriarch of the Kennedy Family of Cape