sinking ship swizzle

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CVIII) was picked by myself, Frederic Yarm of the CocktailVirgin blog. The theme I chose was "Swizzles," and I elaborated on the concept with my description of, "So what is a Swizzle? And what is a swizzle stick? The literary references to Swizzles seem to begin around the mid-18th century with the written definition growing in the early parts of the 20th century. Swizzles began as a Caribbean style of mixing drinks perhaps stemming in Barbados -- mostly cold although there are certainly hot swizzles out there. Unlike say the Martini which is chilled in a mixing glass by gently stirring cubed ice with a spoon and straining into a cocktail glass, most cold Swizzles are built in the glass, topped with crushed ice, and agitated with a rapidly spinning natural swizzle stick (or facsimile) to mix and chill... The Swizzle has had a resurgence starting around 2008 or 2009 as various cocktail supply stores have procured Caribbean sources for these Bois Lélé mixing instruments... Plenty of recipes for these drinks reside in mid-century Trader Vic books and other Tiki-leaning tomes; moreover, modern drinks books have begun to embrace the style as well including the Death & Co. Cocktail Book where their house Swizzle formula was exposed to me a few years before via the Company Swizzle."
I thought about the three Swizzles that I had made earlier in the week, and I decided that the softness of including an aromatized wine of the Puerto Rican Rum Swizzle (and seen in the Death & Co. Swizzle formula) was something that I wanted to incorporate and that the garnish elegance of the Pinwheel Swizzle was something that I wanted to include (as opposed to the starkness of the Martinique Swizzle that began this series). I did like the combination of rhum agricole and absinthe in the Martinique Swizzle though, but how to combine these concepts? One idea that popped into my head was to take the Corpse Reviver #2 and convert it into a r(h)um one akin to the Palliative Potion for Pomona. With the change to rhum agricole as the spirit, I also swapped the lemon for lime, and instead of equal parts, I changed it closer to the one I used in the Corpse Reviver Fizz that best fits the Death & Co. ratios. I then added falernum to round out the Swizzle and make it more tropical in feel; the addition of falernum to orange liqueur brought the combination close to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club as well. And finally, to add some garnish panache, I modified the boat I used in the Viking Fog Cutter by trimming a lemon wedge and similarly making sails. Since the boat would be sitting on the crushed ice, it did not need to be as water tight as the previous boats were. And to add a surface effect (perhaps a sea of floating blood?), I dashed Peychaud's Bitters on top akin to the Angostura Bitters utilized in my Don't Fight It Swizzle over the summer. When I let one of the Loyal Nine owners try the drink, he noted that he loved how the ship sank in the glass as the liquid level dropped; thus, the Sinking Ship Swizzle name was determined.

Sinking Ship Swizzle
• 1 oz JM Rhum Agricole Blanc
• 1 oz Lillet Blanc
• 1/2 oz Creole Shrubb Orange Liqueur
• 1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 1 dash (~12 drops) St. George Absinthe
Build in a Collins glass, and fill with crushed ice. Swizzle to mix and chill, and garnish with 3-4 dashes Peychaud's Bitters and a floated pirate ship made out of citrus peels.

Initially, I utilized the 3/4 oz of lime juice to match the Death & Co. model but this proved too dry with the agricole-style rum, and the amount was dropped to a 1/2 oz. I also repeated the drink for a guest who asked what I had been enjoying lately but otherwise wanted the Dose; therefore, I made him a mezcal variation of this same drink.

So for the 8th time, I get to that awkward point and try to thank the host for running the monthly shindig and I realize that I cannot really thank myself. So all of my gratitude this month goes to the participants of Mixology Monday who swizzle, shake, and stir their way into making the event into a success and for the readership who keeps the energy level high (and frequently finds themself participating one day down the line). And hopefully, the questions of why anyone would want to Swizzle a drink instead of shaking it and topping with crushed ice have been answered, for this glorious technique is one part history and one part fun showmanship. Moreover, it can promote rethinking classic drinks like how the Negroni was transformed into the Red Duster Swizzle.

exhibition swizzle

1 1/2 oz Barbancourt Rum
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum

Add ingredients to a tall glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle until cold. Garnish with a dash or two of Tiki Bitters (sub Angostura perhaps) on top, 2 mint sprigs, a cherry, and a straw.

Last Wednesday, Andrea and I traveled over to Lineage in Brookline for dinner. For one of my drinks, I asked bartender Ryan Lotz to make me the Exhibition Swizzle that just appeared on the menu. When I inquired about the name, Ryan explained how he was researching Aperol and discovered that it was first introduced in 1919 at the Padua Exhibition in Italy and the name Exhibition Swizzle stuck. The combination of Aperol and Falernum made for a flavorful pairing that was less intense than the Campari Swizzle he had been tinkering with before.
The Tiki Bitters provided complementary notes to the mint and the falernum's spice aromas. On the sip, Aperol's rhubarb-orange flavor paired well with the lime juice; on the swallow, the rum and the falernum's clove notes rounded out the drink with a dry finish. Looking back through my notes, the Swizzle's flavor combination reminded me a bit of Aaron Butler's Hanging Curve which was more of a traditional cocktail presentation than a Caribbean one.

passion grove swizzle

1 1/4 oz Plantation 3 Star Rum
3/4 oz Jamaican Overproof Rum (Rumfire)
1 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Falernum with strong ginger notes (Velvet Falernum with 2 coin Ginger muddled in the mix)

Building a Collins glass (I strained out the muddled ginger), fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Top with crushed ice and garnish festively (mint sprigs).
Two Wednesdays ago, I returned home from work and raided my garden for mint to garnish my evening's Swizzle. The recipe that I was excited to make was the Passion Grove Swizzle crafted by Matt Pietrek on his CocktailWonk blog. Since Matt insisted that ginger notes were necessary to complement the pineapple, I ended up muddling ginger into the mix to supplement the rather mild Velvet Falernum that I have. Once prepared, the Passion Grove Swizzle presented mint over rum funk aromas. Next, lemon and hints of pineapple on the sip gave way to funky rum, passion fruit, pineapple, and ginger elements on the swallow.

esplanade mezcal swizzle

1 oz Mezcal (Montelobos)
1 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup (Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur)

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with a mint sprig.
For a second Fourth of July libation, I turned to the new issue of Imbibe Magazine to a recipe-laden article on falernum. The winner of the bunch was a Swizzle created by Danny Shapiro at Chicago's Sink/Swim called the Esplanade Mezcal Swizzle. In my mind, Swizzles and falernum are an obvious pairing for both were created in the Caribbean. Once prepared, the Swizzle gave forth mint and lime notes to the nose. Next, the sip's lime and grape were followed by smoky mezcal, nutty sherry, ginger, and clove elements on the swallow.

red duster swizzle

1 oz Plymouth Navy Strength Gin
1 oz Malmsey Madeira
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Campari

Build in a tall glass (*) with ice and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with 2 dash Angostura Bitters and add a straw.
(*) Technically, Matt explained "...in a glass with a penis on it" but this in hindsight isn't probably all that necessary.

After the Bokemon Daiquiri, Matt Schrage mentioned that it was Negroni Week at the bar, and he had a drink that would keep well with the theme and transition well from the Daiquiri variation. When I heard that it was a Negroni adapted to Swizzle format, I was game. Matt named the drink the Red Duster (or the Red Ensign) Swizzle after the flag of the Royal British Merchant Navy included nautical-themed gems like Madeira and navy strength gin. For a structure, Matt based his recipe off of Hawthorne's Company Swizzle; Katie Emmerson called the drink that for it paid tribute to the Swizzle recipe format that her previous employer Death & Company utilized. Matt was quite proud of the bar's collection of cheeky glassware and forced me to take a photo of the drink with the artwork facing the camera; he did allow that I censor it as long as I sent him the original, and you can see the original in his OnTheBar entry. I am not sure if the yellow rubber ducky has something to do with the merchant navy as well.
The Angostura Bitters garnish paid dividends in the aroma front with cinnamon and clove notes. Next, a lime and grape sip gave way to a rich, herbal, spice, and smoky swallow with a tart and bitter finish. Overall, the elements of the Negroni were there with interesting flavors donated by the Madeira instead of vermouth and elegant spice notes from the falernum; however, the lime juice was the biggest curveball in the concept (but not the flavor) mix.

garden park swizzle

1 1/2 oz Bombay Dry Gin (Treehouse Hildegard von Bingen)
1/2 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Ginger Syrup
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum
6-8 leaf Mint

Muddle the mint leaves at the bottom of a Pilsner glass (Collins). Add the rest of the ingredients, add crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Fill with crushed ice, top with dashes of both Angostura and Peychaud's Bitters, and garnish with a mint bouquet.Two Sundays ago, I utilized my Death & Co. Excel sheets for their first and third books to find recipes that call for ginger syrup. In their Welcome Home book was the Garden Park Swizzle by Jon Armstrong in 2014 as a riff on the Hyde Park Swizzle with added bitter elements. The gin, Suze, and spice elements swizzled up reminded me of the Sinnerman Swizzle that went in an allspice direction instead of ginger-falernum. Once swizzled, things began with a mint, clove, and allspice bouquet. Next, a lemon-driven sip opened up into gin, ginger, gentian herbal, and mint flavors on the swallow.

the count's swizzle

1 1/2 oz Pisco (Macchu Pisco)
3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Strega
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with a lemon peel.

A few Fridays ago, I decided to make a drink that I spotted first on ShakeStir called the Count's Swizzle. Seattle bartender Scott Diaz won the West Coast flash competition on that site for Negroni Week, and I was reminded of the recipe when he posted it on his blog, Shake, Strain, & Sip. Despite it having strayed from a Negroni save for the Campari, I was definitely intrigued!
The Count's Swizzle began with a lemon aroma from the suggested garnish and a peppery one from the nasturtium flowers I added. Lemon with hints of orange from the Campari on the sip changed into earthy pisco, bitter Campari, herbal Strega, and falernum spice on the swallow. Overall, it reminded me of a more intense Exhibition Swizzle with extra bitter and herbal flavors here.

park genoves swizzle

2 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 sprig Mint

Muddle the mint in the falernum and banana liqueur. Add the rest of the ingredients, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill while keeping the mint at the bottom. Add a straw, garnish with 2-3 dash Angostura Bitters and a mint bouquet.

Two Saturdays ago, I was inspired by some of the low proof sherry drinks that I had spotted while perusing this blog, and I decided to improvise. I was inspired by the sherry-based Platonic Julep and other drinks and took it in a Queen's Park Swizzle direction. Using sherry as a base for tropical and Tiki drinks has been an interest of mine such as in the Sherry Mai Tai and Jungle Bird, so taking it in a Swizzle direction seemed quite natural. For a name, I dubbed this one after an amazing park in Cadiz, the area of sherry production in Spain.
The Park Genovés Swizzle began with a spiced aroma filled with clove and mint notes. Next, lime meeting grape on the sip gave way to nutty and tropical banana flavors on the swallow with a return of clove and mint on the finish.

balao swizzle

3 oz Dry Oloroso Sherry (Lustau Don Nuño)
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Liqueur Amaro (Averna)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 tsp Toasted Caraway Seeds (*)

Muddle toasted caraway seeds in a Collins glass. Add all liquid ingredients, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix. Float a barspoon of Angostura Bitters over the top for garnish.

As I mentioned during the Delores Park Swizzle entry, the drink book handed out by the Secret Sherry Society had some rather delicious looking drinks. The one we made Tuesday last week was one by Boston's own Corey Bunnewith, and like the Delores Park, his drink was also a swizzle. I used Averna for the "Liqueur Amaro" in the recipe; however, I just noticed that DrinkBoston listed it as the more floral Meletti amaro in the posting last December.
The Balao Swizzle started with an aroma of caraway seeds, lime, and Averna. The drink tasted vaguely like coffee for it had a rich and toasted flavor on the sip and a bitter note at the end. Definitely the roasting of the caraway seeds did more than just bring out the typical "rye bread" aroma, but the roasting added a definite toastiness to the drink. After a few sips in, the lime and falernum began to come more prominent on my palate and these two ingredients played rather well with the sherry.

(*) Caraway seeds will pop when they are roasted (not a major deformation like popcorn, but it is audible and they jump a little). I roasted until almost half of seeds had popped. When served, the seeds at the bottom of the drink might be a nuisance when using a straw. Perhaps muddling the seeds in a mixing glass, adding all but the ice and bitters, shaking, and straining through a tea strainer over the Collins glass filled with crushed ice might be a better option.

campari swizzle

3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Rhum JM Blanc (Vale d' Paul Aguardente Nova de Santo Antão)
3/4 oz Velvet Falernum
3/4 oz Vergano Americano (Cocchi Vermouth di Torino)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Build in a Collins glass on crushed ice. Swizzle to mix and chill, and garnish with a lemon wedge.

After the Pearl of Puebla, I decided to make the Campari Swizzle that I found on StarChefs. The drink was not the Campari Swizzle created by Ryan Lotz while at Lineage, but it was one created by Josh Loving from Fino in Austin, Texas. Unlike Ryan's that featured a Haitian rum, Josh's utilized a grassy rhum agricole. While we do have the Rhum JM Blanc called for in the recipe, I opted for a Cape Verdean rum that shares many of the same flavors as Martinician rums from the volcanic soil and use of sugar cane juice instead of molasses.
The rum's grassy notes appeared on the nose that preceded the lemon and grape sip. Next, the funky rum flavors paired well with the Campari on the swallow that finished with clove notes from the falernum. Overall, the Swizzle was rather soft and well balanced for a Campari drink.

park life swizzle

1 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin
1 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Dry shake the ingredients and pour into a Pilsner glass. Fill with crushed ice and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with mint sprigs and 6 dashes Angostura Bitters, and add a straw.
A few Tuesdays ago, I was flipping through the Death & Co. Cocktail Book and stumbled upon the Swizzle section. Knowing that our mint patch was on its last legs due to the weather, I decided for one last hurrah and picked the Park Life Swizzle to send that section of the garden off in style. The recipe was crafted by Thomas Waugh back in 2009 and gave no indication as to whether the Swizzle was named after a Blur song or other. Once prepped, the Park Life Swizzle shared an allspice, clove, and mint aroma from the garnishes. Grape and lime flavors on the sip exchanged for gin botanicals and sherry's nuttiness on the swallow and clove and ginger notes on the finish.

sfumato swizzle

1 1/2 oz Sfumato Rabarbaro Amaro
1 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Doctor Bird Jamaican Rum (Smith & Cross)
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1/2 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, swizzle to mix and chill, and garnish with mint and freshly grated nutmeg.

Two Fridays ago, I was reading Reddit's cocktails forum and spotted a curious drink called the Sfumato Swizzle. The recipe was created by Alex P. (a/k/a xxfactory), and it seemed based off of Marco Dionysos' Chartreuse Swizzle. Besides the swap of herbal liqueurs, this recipe inserted Jamaican rum as we did nightly with the Mixoloseum house's Chartreuse Swizzle riff during Tales 2010, and it added crème de banana to perhaps balance the bitterness of the amaro. Overall, I was definitely drawn to the absurdity of the drink, especially since I had been pondering how long it would take me to finish my new purchase of Sfumato that I used it a quarter or half ounce at a time.
The Sfumato Swizzle greeted the senses with mint, woody spice, and a darker aroma from the Sfumato. Next, that darkness continued on into the sip along with the lime and pineapple, and the swallow proffered funky rum along with bitter flavors tempered by tropical banana ones.

plastic passion

1 1/2 oz Rhum Agricole (Gold JM Rhum)
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1 oz Passion Fruit Juice
1 barspoon (1/2 tsp) Pastis
1 dash Orange Blossom Water
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Mix ingredients and pour into a stemmed water glass filled with crushed ice. Stir and garnish with a lemon twist.

Last night's theme on Thursday Drink Night on Mixoloseum, a weekly online cocktail recipe improvisation and chat, was swizzles. Swizzles are often rum (although not always) cocktails prepared over crushed ice and stirred with a multipronged swizzle stick (nothing like the kitchy things you see in bars now). My only exposure to a proper swizzle drink was the Chartreuse Swizzle that Misty made me at Drink (the link has a picture of one their authentic wood swizzle sticks).
For my drink submission, I had the concept of mixing rhum agricole with Lillet for a while and this was the perfect opportunity. Given the recent success we've had using passion fruit juice in cocktails, that was the next ingredient to go in. I figured that a small amount of pastis would give the drink the right amount of flair as it does in Don the Beachcomber's Zombie. I rounded out the drink with some orange flower water to pair up with the Lillet, some Angostura bitters to bring out some extra complexity, and a lemon twist to add a citrus oil nose and a bit of eye candy to the top of the drink. For a name, I considered the hogo or plastic smells in the rhum agricole and the passion fruit and instantly thought of The Cure song "Plastic Passion".

The citrus flavors crossed with the sharpness of the pastis and the Angostura coupled with the funkiness of the rum produced a rather dry and delightful cocktail. The pastis played a rather large role in the aroma of the drink and complemented the smell of the rhum. I do not think that any one at TDN had passion fruit juice on hand to try out the recipe and give any constructive criticism. Lastly, one recipe from last night that I tried out and rather enjoyed was from the RumDood:

Wives of Windsor Swizzle
2 oz London Dry Gin
1/2 oz Falernum
1 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Swizzle in a double-old fashioned glass filled with crushed ice and garnish with mint.

Doing the best I could with the ingredients in my kitchen, I used lime juice and homemade grapefruit bitters and no garnish in place of the grapefruit juice and mint sprig. I imagine that the grapefruit version as intended could only be better.

central standard swizzle

2 oz Aged Rum (El Dorado 5 Year)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Velvet Falernum
5 leaf Mint

Muddle mint leaves with falerum in a Collins glass. Add rest of the ingredients and crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Top with crushed ice, add a straw, and garnish with a generous amount of Angostura Bitters (4-5 dash) and mint (3 sprig).

Two Thursdays ago after my work shift, I turned to a recipe recently published by Imbibe Magazine that appeared like an interesting riff on the Queen's Park Swizzle. The drink created by Austin's Central Standard was their eponymous Central Standard Swizzle and seemed like an excellent use of my wood swizzle stick that I got as a thank you present from Angostura for representing them at the Blender Bender.
The Central Standard Swizzle gave forth mint and clove spice notes to the nose. Next, lemon and the aged rum's caramel on the sip transitioned to rum, clove, and mint on the swallow.

mai tai swizzle

1 1/2 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1 oz Brugal Añejo Rum
1 oz Pink Grapefruit Juice
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Falernum
1/4 oz Combier Orange Liqueur
1 barspoon Pernod
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Build in a snifter glass filled with crushed ice. Swizzle to mix, add straws, and garnish with 2 mint sprigs.

For my second and last drink at No. 9 Park, I took bartender Ted Kilpatrick's suggestion and tried the Mai Tai Swizzle on the menu. Ted cautioned that the drink was based off of Don the Beachcomber's Mai Tai that later gave way to the Zombie. Generally, when one hears of a Mai Tai, one instead thinks of the version that Rumdood obsesses over for good reason; that one was created by Trader Vic and won out historically regardless of whether it was the original Mai Tai or not. The history of the battles can be read in Beach Bum Berry's books or in a good summary written by PeguDoug.
The mint garnish on the Mai Tai Swizzle provided much of the drink's aroma along with the aged rum notes. These aged rum notes soon appeared as a caramel flavor that danced around in the crisp citrus sip. Next, the rums, especially the mighty and funky Smith & Cross, continued on in the swallow along with the spice from the Angostura Bitters, falernum, and Pernod. Here the Pernod functioned as a great accent as it does in the Zombie. Moreover, like the Zombie, this Mai Tai variation ought to have a warning or a limit of 2 per customer for I soon felt the drink's potency and was glad that I was taking the subway home.

starward swizzle

2 oz Hamilton's Lost Voyage Rum (1 oz Hamilton's 86° Demerara River + 1/2 oz Monymusk Gold + 1/2 oz Smith & Cross)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
1 dash Pernod (12 drop Pernod Absinthe)

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Top with crushed ice and garnish with a mint bouquet, dehydrated lime wheel (omit), and freshly grated nutmeg. Two Sundays ago, I decided to make a drink called the Starward Swizzle from Strongwater in Anaheim that I spotted in a set of online recipe flashcards. In researching the drink, I found a web-based set of recipes put out by the rum that included the spec verbatim. Since Lost Voyage Rum is described as a blend of rum from Guyana and Jamaica's Worthy Park, I tried my best to replicate the flavor profile with a trio of rums. Here, the rum, cinnamon, falernum, lime, bitters, and absinthe made me think of the Jet Pilot but with pineapple and Peychaud's instead of the classic's grapefruit and Angostura. In the glass, the Starward Swizzle emitted a woody spice, mint, and rum funk aroma. Next, pineapple and lime notes on the sip opened up into funky rums, pineapple, cinnamon, and anise flavors on the swallow.

coffey park swizzle

1 oz Barbancourt 4 Year Rum (Old Monk)
1 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum
3/4 oz Ginger Syrup (Ginger People)
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Swizzle in a highball glass filled with crushed ice. Add a straw and garnish with 3 dashes of Angostura Bitters on top of the drink. A photo of the drink elsewhere shows a mint sprig garnish as well (see text) and I used a lime twist instead.

On Monday, I opened up the Big Bartender's Book and found a recipe by Alexander Day of Death & Company in Manhattan. The drink was a swizzle named after Coffey Park in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, and the combination of lime, ginger, and fortified wine reminded me of the Port of Funchal and G.M. Gurton's Punch. The Coffey Park Swizzle called for Barbancourt 3 Star Rum; since I lacked it, I decided to give my dusty bottle of Old Monk Rum some love. While it is a darker, richer rum, I felt that it would fit in fine as well as donate some interesting vanilla notes to the drink. Lastly, the StarChefs website has a photo of the drink and shows a mint sprig in addition to the Angostura Bitters float as a garnish. Since it is not mint season here yet, I subbed in a lime twist for extra aromatics.
The Coffey Park Swizzle possessed a lime and Angostura Bitters aroma that had a pleasing vanilla note from the Old Monk Rum. The dark rum presented itself again in the sip where it joined the lime flavor; moreover, the swallow was rich with ginger and clove notes as well as the sherry's nuttiness. Indeed, I was quite pleased with how well the dark rum and the Amontillado sherry paired up. Finally, the drink ended with the last few sips containing the clove and spice bomb from the Angostura Bitters similar to the Bitter End.

delores park swizzle

1 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
1 oz Tequila (Lunazul Reposado)
3/4 oz Ginger Syrup (Homemade)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins or Pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Swizzle to mix. Top with 4 dashes of aromatic bitters (Fee's Whiskey Barrel) and garnish lavishly with mint. Add a straw.

One of the media lunches at Tales of the Cocktail was hosted by the Secret Sherry Society. At that event, they handed out booklets with the semi-finalist recipes for last fall's Vinos de Jerez (Sherry) Cocktail Competition. Included in the listing were two Boston ones: Misty Kalkofen's Dunaway that Misty made Andrea last year, and Corey Bunnewith's Balao Swizzle which we made a few days ago and will write about soon. On Tuesday a week and a half ago, the Delores Park Swizzle, created by Thomas Waugh of Manhattan's Death & Co., matched our mood that night and got the green light.

The swizzle started with an aroma of sherry paired with mint. Sherry also appeared on the front of the sip along with a sweet lime flavor, and the swallow was a complementary dose of ginger and tequila that rounded out the drink quite nicely. After a few sips, the ginger's spice and the sherry's nuttiness pleasantly began to linger on the tongue, and after several more sips, the cinnamon notes from the floated aromatic bitters began to enter into the equation.

royal bermuda yacht club

1 1/2 oz Berkshire Mountain Distillers' Ragged Mountain Rum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Housemade Falernum (*)
1/4 oz Cointreau

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lime twist.
(*) My guess is that ICOB uses a falernum recipe similar to what bar manager Bobby McCoy published in the current issue of Imbibe magazines (July/August).

Two Saturdays ago, Joe and Nicole Desmond, who I met at a rum tasting after Tales last year, were in town and I met up with them at Island Creek Oyster Bar. For a cocktail, I asked bartender Vikram Hegde for the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. I was able to track the recipe as far back as the Crosby Gaige's 1941 Cocktail Guide & Ladies' Companion, and it became more standardized by 1947 Trader Vic, and ICOB's recipe only varies slightly from the latter (Trader Vic's is 1/4 oz falernum and a dash of Cointreau and lacks a twist). Interesting that none of these recipes used rum from Bermuda; Gaige and Trader Vic called for Barbados rum and bartender Vic made the menu item with rum produced here in Massachusetts.
The twist's lime oils joined the orange liqueur in providing a delightfully citrus-filled aroma. The citrus continued on in the sweet sip that was spiced by the housemade falernum's ginger notes. Finally, the swallow contained the aged rum and the falernum's clove flavors. Overall, this classic reminded me of a more intensely flavored version of the Exhibition Swizzle that I had a few weeks ago.

chartreuse swizzle

2 oz Green Chartreuse
1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1 tsp (1/6 oz) J. Wray and Nephew Rum
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Add ingredients to a Collins glass full of crushed ice. Swizzle to mix, lavishly garnish with mint, and add straw.

Each night at Tales of the Cocktail, some of my fellow bloggers at the Mixo House ended our evening with a Chartreuse Swizzle. The recipe above was modified by Gabe and the original can be found in the recently released Left Coast Libations book. Besides some differences in the proportions and the addition of a splash of J.Wray, ours was made in a more communal fashion -- served in a flower vase for each 4 to 5 people. It was a great way to decompress from a busy night out (or busy night in at the Mixo House events).
I believe this self-portrait photo was taken late Thursday evening with Gabe at 9 o'clock, Rick at 12, Stevie at 3, and myself at 6. I was quoted on Friday night while barbacking for Blair during his Trader Tiki Syrups night as saying, "These people [the last stragglers at the bar] are between me and my swizzle." Indeed, Gabe's swizzle made for an amazingly satisfying shift drink.