A VALENTINE TREAT

Beer is pretty, but you know it's not right.

Wine can be pleasant, but it's just red or white.

Champagne is bubbly, but really quite trite.

But a cocktail, my dear, lifts us to great heights.

So many possibilities, so little time. So, let's get right to some suggestions for cocktails you can serve on the most romantic day of the year -- for your sweetie, for your friends, for a whole party. These are extracted from my cocktail recipes archives.

• COINTREAU TEESE
 
Cointreau's brand ambassador (above) goes by the name of Dita Von Teese, and has created her own cocktail. Violet is her favorite color, so the cocktail utilizes violet syrup for flavor and color.

4 parts Cointreau
2 parts apple juice
1½ parts Monin violet syrup
1½ parts fresh lemon juice
fresh ground ginger

Combine the four liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker full of fresh ice. Shake, then strain into a cocktail glass rimmed with fresh ground ginger.

• THE RELUCTANT PANTHER

This is the signature cocktail of the Manchester Center, VT, historic inn of the same name, created for it by Las Vegas-based mixology guru Tony Abou-Ganim. It fits in with owner Jerry Lavalley's penchant for grain-based vodkas.

1 1/2 ounces Belvedere vodka
1/2 ounce freshly- made lemon sour
1/2 ounce chambord
Champagne
Blackberries marinated in Grand Marnier

Combine vodka, lemon sour and chambord in a cocktail shaker with fresh ice. Shake vigorously and pour into a chilled cocktail glass. Top off with champagne and drop in several of the berries.

• DOWD'S MARTEANI

I created this cocktail several years ago to celebrate the emerging popularity of both vodka and tea.

3 parts Arizona Green Tea with Honey and Ginseng
3 parts all-grain vodka
6 drops Angostura Bitters
1 teaspoon Galliano liqueur
1 mint leaf
2 orange slices

Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with fresh ice (you can substitute Strega for the Galliano if you like a drier drink), stir briskly with a cocktail spoon, then strain quickly into a frosted martini glass before the ice melts. Twist the juice from an orange slice into the drink and let it meander through the solution on its own. Garnish with an orange slice and a mint leaf for color.

• STAR TESTED

Audrey Sanders, who owns The Pegu Club in New York City's SoHo neighborhood, has a growing reputation among cocktailians. Not only does she provide imaginative, fresh ingredients for her lengthy line of drinks, she's picky about the size and density of her ice cubes (1.25-inch squares, frozen very hard to keep drinks from getting watery), and she provides a condiment set to patrons who can add a touch of sweet, citrus or aromatic flavors to their drinks.

2 ounces gin
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. orange curaçao (or Cointreau if you omit bitters)
1 or 2 dashes orange or Angostura bitters

Put all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with lime wedge.

• THE SEELBACH COCKTAIL

The Seelbach Hilton  Hotel in Louisville, KY, is one of the South's "golden age" luxury hotels, opened in 1905 and since then host to nine American presidents and innumerable dignitaries. The stunning ambiance of the place, awash with oak and marble and gilded surfaces, inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to use the hotel as the backdrop for Tom and Daisy Buchanan's wedding in "The Great Gatsby." Here is its signature cocktail.

4 ounces quality champagne
1 1/2 ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce triple sec
7 dashes Peychaud bitters
7 dashes Angostura bitters

Put bourbon, bitters, and triple sec in a champagne flute. Fill rest of glass with champagne. Garnish with an orange twist.