old new york cocktail

1 1/2 oz Genever Gin (Boomsma Jonge)
1 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/2 oz Rhubarb Syrup (see recipe below)
1 dash Fee Brothers Peach Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime twist.

Last night, I wanted to make use of the rhubarb syrup that I had made the day before. One recipe that stood out was posted on the Chanticleer Society forum by Ciaran Wiese of Barrio Food and Drink in Tucson, AZ. The drink, the Old New York Cocktail, appears on their summer menu.

The Old New York Cocktail was a delight to drink on our deck last night. There was a nice scent from the lime oil, and this was followed by the rhubarb and peach flavors which made for a rather good combination. The gin's botanicals were softly evident on the swallow, and the bitter notes of the rhubarb and the dry vermouth complemented each other rather well.

To make the rhubarb syrup, I modified a recipe I found on Chow. Total time to make this recipe is under an hour:

Rhubarb Syrup
• 1 stem Rhubarb
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 5/8 cup Water
• 1/2 oz 80 Proof Vodka (optional)
Slice the rhubarb into 1/2 (or less) inch thick pieces (should be around 5 oz by weight, a cup by volume). Add to a covered pot along with the water and sugar. Bring up to a boil and then simmer covered for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 or 10 minutes (feel free to mash up with a fork once the pieces begin to soften). After 30 minutes, let cool (still covered). Strain through a fine sieve; use a spoon to mash up pieces and extract the remaining liquid from the pulp. Pour into a sealable bottle. Optional: add 1/2 oz vodka to stabilize the mixture for longer storage (~5% alcohol final). Keep in refrigerator.

[rhube goldberg]

1 1/2 oz Douglas XO Blended Scotch Whisky
3/4 oz La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Rhubarb Syrup (see here for a recipe)
2 dash Celery Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass pre-rinsed with Laphroaig Scotch.

Last Tuesday, one of my college friends was in town and wanted to get cocktails, so I took her to Drink. There, we found seats at the ice bar where Joe Staropoli was busy chipping away and crafting drinks. For my first libation, Joe mentioned that he had made a drink with rhubarb syrup earlier in the week. I was intrigued for I enjoyed Ciaran Wiese's Old New York Sour that we made at home and the Last Word variation, the Final Rhuse, that I created with this syrup. Thus, I gave the drink idea the thumbs up.
The Laphroaig rinse paid dividends to the aroma where it added a funky and smokey note. The sip was a bit drier than I expected and the rhubarb paired well with the Cocchi Americano's citrus notes. Following this were the Scotch and sherry flavors on the swallow along with a hint of celery at the end. Of all the combinations, I felt that the Manzanilla, a lighter sherry style, complemented the rhubarb syrup the best.

final rhuse

3/4 oz Pisco (Don Cesar)
3/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
3/4 oz Rhubarb Syrup (*)
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. (*) Rhubarb syrup recipe can be found on this post.

After the rum juleps last night, we were trying to figure out what to do with the extra lime juice. After flipping through a few books, nothing popped out immediately as a good follow-up, so I decided to tinker with an idea I had. I altered the Last Word by swapping pisco for the gin, yellow for green Chartreuse, and rhubarb syrup for the Maraschino liqueur. And pardon my pun on the naming of the Final R(h)use.

Andrea immediately seemed pleased with the drink and found it a rather pleasant summery drink. The pisco donated a tasty level of smokiness and some vanilla notes to the mix which complemented the rhubarb. Moreover, the lime and yellow Chartreuse seemed to work well with the two other ingredients to make for a slightly complex and balanced drink.

tequila rhubarb tonic

2 oz Lunazul Tequila
2 oz Rhubarb Syrup(*)
1 pinch Salt

Add to a highball glass with ice. Fill with club soda, garnish with a long lemon twist, and add straw.

For my other drink at Rendezvous, Scott Holliday mixed me something with another one of the syrups he recently had created, a rhubarb one. The tall drink featured tequila which worked surprisingly well with the rhubarb. The lemon oil nose on the drink was a nice touch for it complemented both the rhubarb and tequila flavors. Scott said that the pinch of salt helps to make the drink more rhubarby as well as tequila-y. Moreover, the rhubarb syrup seemed to soften some of the sharpness I associate with tequila and made this refreshing drink very easy to quaff.

(*) While I am not sure of Rendezvous' recipe, I posted the one I cook up at home here.

:: mxmo swizzles wrap up ::

For Mixology Monday #108, I decided to enact an idea I had during the Fall last year, namely Swizzles. During the warmer months, I was able to host Yacht Rock Sundays that featured more easy to drink libations that perhaps took a bit more time to assemble than I would want for a regular menu item that could be ordered anytime including during the Friday and Saturday cocktail frenzy. One of those styles was the Swizzle which is one of my restaurant owner's favorite drink styles, and he encouraged me to put more on the menu (or make him ones for his shift drinks as a way to tinker). However, as Yacht Rock Sundays were dry docked for the season in October and brunch was being implemented on Sunday mornings, I began to miss Swizzles and wanted them back in my life. And the one that I made for this event was crafted for and served to that owner just like the warmer months last year. Please read the announcement post for this event to learn more about Swizzles in general and my thoughts on them, but without further ado, here are the participants for this MxMo:
• Pete from Meticulous Mixing whipped up a batch of rhubarb syrup to greet the Spring and crafted the Rhubarb Rum Swizzle. In the comments, he lamented that he was stuck with the rest of the syrup, so if you go that route, there are a few options on this blog to make more mileage out of this Swizzle's syrup!
• BoozeNerd's Christa and Shaun started their Swizzle adventure with the Death & Co. Cocktail Book with Thomas Waugh's Park Life Swizzle before becoming inspired to riff on the Rusty Nail and converting it into a Caribbean style!
• This event broke the seal on Katie of the Garnish Blog and set her on the path to craft her own Swizzles. For her first one, she got inspired by New England with a local cranberry cordial to make the Cape Cod Swizzle using the Queen's Park Swizzle as guidance.
• Quantum Leap was the inspiration for Dagreb of Nihil Utopia's Q. Bakula Swizzle utilizing a three rum blend and some classic Swizzle stylings.
• GinHound's Andrea looked to New Orleans as guidance to combine the Ojen Frappe concept with floral candies to capture Spring in the Flavigny Swizzle.
• Nick of the Booze Barons claims not to be a fan of Swizzles due to their over-dilution, so he packed in the flavor in the Liquorice Swizzler with a solid slug of absinthe.
• I, Frederic of the CocktailVirgin blog, combined the Corpse Reviver #2, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, and an arts'n'crafty garnish into the Sinking Ship Swizzle; I also preceded it with 3 other Swizzles to gear my self up to creating one myself.
• Kafka of Kitchen Shamanism was kind enough to write in English again instead of his native Swedish as he recrafted the Singapore Sling to reduce his issues with the classic into the Singapore Express. I was so curious about the recipe, that I have already made this one at home!
• Mr. Muddle himself, Adam, decided to Drop It Like It's Hot with a Pimm's and whiskey number.
• Valerie of the Valcohol blog started with the Queen's Park Swizzle before using it as inspiration for the Rooftop Swizzle which adds pineapple and brown sugar to the equation!
• Doc Elliot's Mixology brought the Southtown and Tepache Swizzles to show and tell this month! Those tinker with dry apricot and funky fermented pineapple flavors, respectively.
• Joel DiPippa of the Southern Ash blog went all Springtime floral with his rum and gin Swizzle, the DeGray Swizzle by way of violette liqueur and honey.
• Finally, Alex of Stag & Otter expanded his horizons with this theme and took his state's Brandy Old Fashioned into Swizzle land with the Wisconsin Old Fashioned!
• This looked rather lonely with a single image (13 would not work as groups of 2, 3, or 4 without having lucky prime #13 as a solo), so here is the Pinwheel Swizzle from the talented mixologists at Backbar here in Somerville, MA. So in the end, I did offer up 2 of the 4 Swizzles I did leading up to and for the event.
• And of course I missed one that was on Instagram because while they tagged me in the post, I did not pick up that it was for this event. So without further ado, here is WSSTIK's Strawberry Bourbon Basil Swizzle! And smashing things with a big wooden mallet makes things feel better and probably taste better too...

Thank you all for picking up your Bos Lélé or whatever barspoon or doctored up piece of timber that you utilized in its place and giving this classic and showy drink build a go! Please revisit the style especially in high humidity nights when the chilling glass can pick up an epic frost. And thank you all to the Mixology Monday readers who visited this roundup as well as all of the blogs that participated this month.

[cucumber fizz]

1 1/2 oz Hendrick's Gin
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 Egg White
3 inch piece English Cucumber (no peel)
1 pinch Salt

Muddle cucumber with salt. Add rest of ingredients and shake; add ice and shake again. Double strain into a tall glass containing 2 oz soda water. Garnish with celery bitters and add a straw.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I went to Drink and found seats at the center bar near bartender Will Thompson. When I asked Will what he had been making lately that he thought I might like to try, he mentioned a cucumber Fizz that sounded intriguing. Will created the drink a few weeks back when they had a large batch of rhubarb syrup at the bar. When the syrup got used up, he searched for a substitute and switched over to a combination of Cynar and simple syrup instead. While I have had drinks that have paired up cucumber with Green Chartreuse, Herbsaint, and Pimm's, I have not had one that matched it up with the vegetal notes of Cynar, and the combination seemed like one worth trying.
The celery bitters garnishing the egg white foam contributed to the nose and aided the fresh cucumber aroma. Next, the sip was rather clean with lemon and herbal notes, and the swallow contained a pleasing cucumber flavor that was complemented by the gin. I was quite surprised that though the Cynar taste was present, it was not overwhelming like it often can be but played a more supporting role to the cucumber.

elcano collins

1 1/2 oz Gutierrez Colosia Fino Elcano Sherry
3/4 oz Rhubarb Syrup (1:1) (a recipe)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 dash Fee's Black Walnut Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Highball glass containing 2 oz seltzer water. Top with ice and add a straw.

Two Thursdays ago, Andrea and I stopped into Bergamot where bartenders Paul Manzelli and Kai Gagnon were manning the bar. For a first drink, I asked Paul for the Elcano Collins which he named after the fino sherry brand that was one of the stars of the show. I mentioned that the concept reminded me of the Conquistador Collins at Craigie on Main where Paul used to work. Paul confirmed that it was a major influence in the drink. His drink started with a combination of the bar having a delicious sherry on hand that he wanted to use, the kitchen having rhubarb, and his purchasing black walnut bitters which complemented sherry's nuttiness. In relation to the Conquistador Collins, Paul found that the fino allowed the other flavors to shine more and was more complementary to the rhubarb than the fuller-flavored oloroso that Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli opted for in his creation.
The Elcano Collin's rhubarb red color and nutty sherry aroma greeted the eyes and nose, respectively. On the tongue, a carbonated citrus sip was chased by the sherry's and bitters' nutty notes and the bittersweet rhubarb flavor on the swallow.

1771

1 oz Citadelle Gin
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Curaçao
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Rhubarb Syrup (see recipe)
2 pod Cardamom
1 dash Orange Bitters

Muddle the cardamom pods with the bitters. Add the rest of the ingredients and ice, shake, and double strain into a cocktail glass. Top with 1 oz Louis Bouillot dry sparkling wine.

For my last cocktail at Bergamot, bartender Paul Manzelli suggested something that Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli had created at Craigie on Main called the 1771. The name refers to the year that the Citadelle Gin recipe was developed in Dunkirk, England. Moreover, the 1771's cardamom muddled in orange bitters as well as the sparkling wine reminded me of the Straits of Messina at Island Creek Oyster Bar, and I would not be surprised if Tommy played some role in that drink's genesis too.
The 1771 shared a bright orange and rhubarb aroma with a bit of cardamon spice. The sparkling wine on the sip joined the crispness of the citrus, and the swallow offered the gin and rhubarb flavors along with a bitter finish from the cardamom.

el rico rickey

2 oz Lunazul Reposado Tequila
1 oz Rhubarb Juice (*)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Build on ice. Top with soda water and stir. Garnish with a lime wheel and add a straw.
(*) This was a sweetened juice and no heat was utilized; I did not ask how much sugar was added.

Last Thursday, Andrea and I went to Rendezvous in Central Square for dinner. Bartender Scott Holliday had just revamped the menu and added a few new drinks including the "El Rico" Rickey. Scott mentioned that it was his first tequila drink to ever appear on the menu. Moreover, Scott commented that "Rickey purists will harumph" because it is not a true Rickey; Rickeys as they were created in the late 19th century contain little or no sweetener to balance the tart lime juice. Also, Rickeys often include the half shell of the squeezed lime to be dropped in the drink. Regardless, I was not going to let a tequila-rhubarb drink slip by me; the last one I had was quite delightful.
The "El Rico" Rickey began with a fresh lime aroma complemented by some agave notes. Despite the sweetener added to the drink, the sip was still crisp and limey; perhaps the tartness of the rhubarb juice helped to counter the added sugar. The tequila and rhubarb flavors appeared on the swallow and pleasantly lingered on the palate for a bit. Just like my previous experience with the pairing, rhubarb and tequila definitely proved to be a delightful match.

confessions of a mask

2 oz Bols Genever
1/2 oz Kiwi Fruit Syrup (*)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
10 drop Herbsaint

Shake with ice, strain into a glass, and garnish with a floated lemon peel mask.
(*) Per peeled and chopped kiwi fruit, blend with 1/2 oz water, fine strain, and mix with an equal amount of sugar. Dissolve sugar by stirring without heat.
As I was thinking about what produce to utilize for my night at the Cocktail Lab at Earl's Prudential, I spotted kiwi fruit at the store and remembered how tasty the shrub I used in the Kiwi Kollins was. Therefore, I decided to go with it and take it this time in the syrup direction instead. As I contemplated the soft fruit notes of kiwi fruit, I latched onto Genever as a base for it often pairs well with other fruit flavors such as rhubarb in the Old New York Cocktail, peach in the Under Lock and Key, and pear in the Church Key. To balance the sweet, I paired the syrup with lemon juice, and to accent the Genever's botanicals, I added a hint of Herbsaint. When it came time to naming the drinks, I went with a literary angle, and named all three after Yukio Mishima novels. This one I dubbed Confessions of a Mask after the first book I ever read from that author, and I shaped the garnish into a mask to link it back to the name.
My second drink in the trilogy that night began with a syrup that I made from oregano from my garden. I originally thought about pairing it with sweet vermouth to match the Italian cooking spices, but I ended up switching to Pimm's. While I took it in a Pimm's Cup sort of direction with a split base of gin akin to a Tom Collins, it was much more herbal and less fruity than most Pimm's Cups and more flavorful than a Tom Collins. For a name, I kept on the Mishima track with The Sound of the Waves.

The Sound of the Waves
• 1 1/2 oz Aviation Gin
• 1 1/2 oz Pimm's #1
• 1/2 oz Oregano Syrup (*)
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass with 2 oz soda water, add a straw, and garnish with a lemon wheel and oregano sprig.

full disclosure

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1/2 oz Giffard Rhubarb Liqueur
1 oz Don's Mix (2/3 oz Grapefruit Juice + 1/3 oz Cinnamon Syrup)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a grapefruit twist (omitted here). Recipe sourced from the Welcome Home book.On Thursday night of Portland Cocktail Week, there a Death & Co. pop-up featuring recipes from their Welcome Home book at Deadshot. After perusing their list, I selected the Full Disclosure due to my lack of rhubarb liqueur at home, and it came across like a mezcal-rhubarb Donga Punch riff. This 2019 Matthew Belanger drink began with smoke, vegetal, and fruity aromas. Next, lime, grapefruit, and rhubarb notes on the sip flowed into vegetal, smoky, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow.

el toro

1 oz Root Liqueur
1 oz Milagro Silver Tequila
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Lapsang Souchong Tea Syrup (2:1 with Demerara Sugar)
1 pinch Salt

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

At the Art in the Age tasting room at Tales, they had their Root and Snap liqueurs which are rootbeer-like and ginger offerings, respectively, but they also had their newest product, Rhuby -- a rhubarb liqueur. While the Rhuby was available for a taste, there were two bartenders from the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. in Philidelphia making drinks with their other two products.
The first drink I tried was by bartender Colin Shearn (on left in photo below) who mixed up Root liqueur along with tequila, Cynar, and a smoky tea syrup. The El Toro began with a rootbeer-like aroma punctuated by agave notes. In the sip, the tea shined through and worked well with the birch flavors, and the swallow was a combination of rootbeer and smoke notes that were chased by the tequila at the end.
The other drink I tried was by bartender Al Sotack (on right in photo above) who mixed with Snap. Perhaps taking a page from last years Tales talk entitled, "The Smooth and Creamy History of the Fern Bar," this one was called the New Fern Order:

New Fern Order
• 1 oz Snap Liqueur
• 1 oz Banana Chip-Infused Pampero Rum (*)
• 3/4 oz Punt e Mes
• 1/2 oz Cream
• 1/2 oz Martinique Cane Syrup (sub 1:1 Simple Syrup)
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a stripe of Fee's Aromatic Bitters on top.
(*) 2/3 of a quart (perhaps a pound or 20 oz?) of dry banana chips per 750 mL of rum. Infuse for 20-40 minutes, and strain.

The Fee's Aromatic Bitters provided a glorious cinnamon note to the nose. True to the theme, the sip was rich and creamy; the swallow though contained the banana and rum notes followed by a lingering ginger and spice note that provided a pleasant zingy finish to the otherwise smooth drink.

under lock and key

1 1/2 oz Bols Genever
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
1/2 oz Crème de Peche de Vigne (Briottet)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with an orange twist.
After my shift two Fridays ago, I turned to Jordan Felix's Under Lock and Key that he created at Portland's Clyde Commons. I uncovered the recipe in the Bols Bartending's Traveling Cocktail Book 2013 collection, and I was hoping that peach liqueur would work as well as rhubarb syrup did in the Old New York Cocktail. Once prepared, the orange twist oils brightened up the Genever's malt on the nose. Next, the sip was filled with the sweet vermouth's grape, and the swallow offered an intriguing Genever transitioning into peach effect with a hint of spice on the finish.

char no. 8

1 1/2 oz Bourbon (Old Grand-Dad Bonded)
1/4 oz Compass Box Peat Monster Scotch (Laphroaig 10 Year)
1/4 oz Zucca Rabarbaro (Sfumato)
(1/8 oz Simple Syrup)
2 dash Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Build in an Old Fashioned glass, add a large ice cub, and stir. Note: I found this rather bitter and dry with the Sfumato as the only sweetener, so I added a barspoon of syrup as noted above.Two Wednesdays ago, I spotted an Old Fashioned riff in Sother Teague's I'm Just Here for the Drink, and it was a Bourbon-based one with smoky elements added from Scotch as was seen in the Base Camp and Sfumato such as was done in the Knife to a Gun Fight. Sother was inspired by Buffalo Trace's experiments where they went past the normal barrel char levels of no. 3 or 4 (35 and 55 seconds under flame, respectively) and took it all the way up to 7 (3 to 3.5 minutes under flame); here, Sother wanted to outdo that by calling this one Char No. 8. In the glass, Char No. 8 offered up an earthy and smoky bouquet from peat in the the Scotch and the Chinese rhubarb root in the Sfumato. Next, caramel and char notes on the sip rolled into Bourbon, peat smoke, dried fruit, and bitter finish on the swallow.

throw the gun #2

1 oz Citadelle Reserve Gin
3/4 oz Oloroso Sherry
3/4 oz Zucca Liqueur
1/2 oz Demerara Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Lime
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 pinch Salt
1 Egg

Dry shake, add ice, and shake again. Double strain into a coupe glass.

Two Saturdays ago, Andrea and I stopped into Craigie on Main for drinks. One of the cocktails bartender Ted Gallagher made me was a creation of his fellow bartender John Mayer. John named the drink Throw the Gun #2 after the moment in movies where the bandit is out of bullets so he drops the gun, turns, and runs. The somewhat novel ingredient in the recipe, Zucca, is an Italian bitter liqueur containing rhubarb root and other herbs that is touted as a good digestif. Compared to another rhubarb-laden liqueur, Aperol, Zucca is a lot darker, older (invented 1845 versus 1919), and more reminiscent of Cynar than a soft version of Campari. Once I made that mental connection to Cynar, I knew that it would pair well with the sherry in this recipe.
The Throw the Gun #2 began with the herbal aroma of the Zucca complemented by sherry notes. The light creamy sip contained a hint of lime and was followed by the sherry's nutty and the Zucca's dark herbal flavors. Given the drinks foaminess, gin, and light citrus aspect, the Throw the Gun #2 reminded me a little of a Ramos Gin Fizz, well until the robust swallow convinced me otherwise each time.

margot tenenbaum

2 oz High-Rye Bourbon (Four Roses Yellow Label)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1/2 oz Zucca Rabarbaro (Sfumato)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

On Friday night two weeks ago, my hand reached for Amanda Schuster's New York Cocktails to find my post work shift libation. There, I spied Frank Cisneros' Margot Tenebaum named after the edgy character from Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums movie, and since Margot was a smoker for most of her life, it was apt that the recipe called for a smoky amaro (the Chinese rhubarb root in rabarbaros naturally comes across as smoky despite not having touched fire). Since I enjoyed my last recipe that I had tried by Frank, namely the Farmer's Armagnac, I was excited to give this one a go.
The Margot Tenenbaum adopted a smoky herbal aroma with honey-floral undertones. Next, a bright lemon sip was darkened by the Sfumato's earthy roastiness, and the swallow wrapped things up with Bourbon accented by bitter flavors balanced by sweet floral honey notes.

gully brood

3/4 oz Mezcal (Sombra)
3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Rabarbaro Zucca (Sfumato)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Rich Simple Syrup (2/3 oz 1:1)

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins (rocks) glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Two Wednesdays, I selected Clair McLafferty's 2017 The Classic & Craft Cocktail Recipe Book for the evening's libation. There, I honed in on the Gully Brood by Beckaly Franks who now lives in Hong Kong where she owns The Pontiac bar. I was able to uncover a 2015 version of the Gully Brood that she created at Portland's Clyde Commons that lacked the Campari, but the additional amaro in the mix seemed like a great addition; indeed, Campari and Zucca/Sfumato worked well in the Low Down.
The Gully Brood awakened the senses with a grapefruit and smoky-herbal nose. Next, lime and hints of roast on the sip led into smoky mezcal, bitter orange, and smoky-bitter rhubarb root flavors on the swallow.

postcard home

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Fidencio)
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro
1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with fresh ice and pre-rimmed with salt, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Two Wednesdays ago, we had a rather large dinner at the Smoke Shop's patio in Kendall Square, and Andrea was in the mood for a drink with amaro to settle her stomach. I ended up going with a recipe called the Postcard Home that I had spotted on Kindred Cocktails. Wayne Curtis had written about this drink created by Amanda Schmadel at New Orleans' Barrel Proof in a 2019 article in Garden & Guns magazine. The Postcard Home delivered a grapefruit oil and smoke aroma to the nose. Next, lemon and roast-like notes from the Sfumato on the sip transitioned into smoky agave blending into funky-smoky rhubarb root on the swallow. Indeed, the salted rim worked its wonders by cutting back on the rabarbaro's bitterness to better match the vegetal agave flavor.

earthbound

1 1/2 oz Chinaco Blanco Tequila
1 oz Aperol
3/4 oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Last Wednesday, I stopped at the Independent for drinks. There, I was greeted by bartender Casey Keenan, and I asked Casey for the Earthbound. Casey commented that the recipe began with less Aperol but shifted over time; moreover, it reminded him of Lone Star Taco Bar's Chica Fácil. Once prepared, the Earthbound offered citrus oil and mineral tequila aromas. A lime, orange, and honey sip transitioned into a tequila flavor smoothed out by the honey. Finally, the drink ended with a bitter rhubarb and tart lime finish.

oaxacan standoff

1 1/2 oz El Bujo Mezcal
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/4 oz Agave Syrup (1:1)
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
For my next drink at Tavern Road, I requested the Oaxacan Standoff from bartender Will Tomlinson; Will mentioned that this was bar manager Ryan McGrale's drink. Once mixed, it offered a grapefruit oil nose that led into a citrussy grape sip. The swallow then offered a smoky mezcal swallow with a nutty, orange-rhubarb finish.