mai fernet has a first name

1 oz Fernet Branca
1 oz White Rum (2/3 oz Hamilton White 'Stache + 1/3 oz Wray & Nephew)
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Curaçao (Pierre Ferrand)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a double old fashioned glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint bouquet (chocolate mint). Two Mondays ago, an intriguing drink appeared on my Instagram feed called Mai Fernet Has a First Name. It was created by Jason Dolley as a Mai Tai riff that is part of his "Will it Fernet?" series where he replaces a key ingredient with Fernet Branca. The Fernet-orange liqueur aspect reminded me of the century's old Alcazer where I learned how well the two pair, and Fernet-orgeat have paired well together in a number of cocktails including the Smoke Break. For a white rum, my mind went to Wray & Nephew for this recipe reminded me of the Bikini Atoll, but since Jason utilized the more mild Planteray Three Star Rum blend, I split the base for I did not want the funky Jamaican rum to take too big of a role. Once prepared, my senses were greeted with a mint, caramel, orange, and menthol aroma. Next, a creamy lime, caramel, and orange sip was displaced by funky rum, minty menthol, earthy, and orange flavors on the swallow. Overall, I was surprised at how Fernet seemed to subdue the orgeat's presence in the mix, but I was generally pleased at how Fernet worked in this combination.

tell me more

1 oz Bertoux Brandy (Courvoisier VS Cognac)
1 oz Russell's Reserve Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1 oz Oloroso Sherry (Lustau)
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup
2 dash Angostura Bitters
1 spray Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur (20 drop Russo Nocino)

Build in a Julep cup, add crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Top with crushed ice and garnish with mint and more Nux Alpina (10 drop Russo Nocino). Two Sundays ago, I ventured back to online recipe flashcards for Chicago's The Violet Hour and spotted a good use of mint in the Tell Me More from their Winter 2022 menu. With the sherry, ginger, and walnut aspect, I could see why it would be a more cold weather-styled Julep, but I figured that it could work in early July as well. On the bar's website advertising their Bartender's Manifesto book, there is a photo labeled Tell Me More of a drink served in a Julep cup garnished with a dried lime wheel (said recipe is not in that tome though). I know from Toby Maloney's second book, The Classic Cocktail Sessions, that he does not see the point to dried garnishes but it might have been for the photo shoot. Nutty oxidized sherries like Amontillado and Oloroso have been paired with walnut liqueur with great success in recipes like the Bamboozled and Towser the Mouser and I utilized it in my Folly Ruins, so I set off to crush some ice. Once prepared, the Tell Me More shared a mint and walnut aroma. Next, a grape-driven sip wandered towards brandy, Bourbon, ginger, nutty grape, walnut, and allspice flavors on the swallow.

shotgun wedding

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Fosforo Ensemble)
3/4 oz Amaro Ciociaro
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1 dash Chocolate Bitters (Bitter Truth)

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with ice (* see text), and garnish with a lemon twist. Two Saturdays prior, I fired up the The Bartender's Choice Volume 3 app and opted for the Shotgun Wedding by Chris Hughes at Manhattan's Attaboy in 2022. The combination seemed familiar for it appeared with Scotch and a much lower quotient of apricot liqueur in Held in Contempt also created at Attaboy. In the glass, the Shotgun Wedding prodded the nose with a lemon, apricot, and vegetal aroma. Next, a caramel-driven sip from the Ciociaro blossomed into smoky vegetal and bitter orange-apricot flavors on the swallow with a chocolate finish. As the ice melted, the drink began to fall apart as the flavors subsided, and perhaps this would be better served up in a coupe; this did not happen in the whisky-based Held in Contempt, so perhaps this was due to the lighter-style mezcal that I utilized.

mojave punch

1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum such as Coruba (Coruba)
1 oz Silver Puerto Rican-style Rum (Hamilton White 'Stache)
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice (3/4+ oz) (*)
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Juice
3/4 oz Hibiscus Syrup (**)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a pilsner (collins) glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a paper umbrella skewering a cherry.
(*) Even at a heavy 3/4 oz, the drink was still a bit sweet so perhaps 1 oz would be a good lime juice amount. Over perhaps 1/2 oz lime juice + 1/2 oz lemon juice to keep the acidity where I want it but with the remainder as a more neutral citrus juice.
(**) I did a hibiscus tea bag in 4 oz boiling water for 5 minutes. After removing the tea bag, I added an equal weight of sugar and stirred to dissolve. Two Fridays ago, I returned to the 2015 set of online recipe flashcards from the Tonga Hut in Los Angeles where I had found the Bermuda Dunes and selected the Mojave Punch. I was able to find photos of the drink at the Tonga Hut in blogs from 2017 and 2022 and multiple photos on Yelp. The recipe came across like a gussied up Hurricane with extra juices (the original Hurricane had fassionola syrup which some recipes include hibiscus); however, it also read a bit sweet so I upped the lime juice a bit (but perhaps not as much as I should have (see note above)). Once prepared, the Mojave Punch proffered a cherry, passion fruit, and floral bouquet to the nose. Next, caramel, lime, and orange notes on the sip shifted into funky rum, pineapple, passion fruit, and red berry-herbal flavors on the swallow. If you made a batch of hibiscus syrup, I recommend using some of the remainder on Aaron Butler's Koki'o Punch, Brick & Mortar's Velvet Rope, and my Red Skies at Night from Loyal Nine.

silk stockings

1 1/2 oz Aged Martinique Rhum (Rhum Clement VSOP)
1 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup

Whip shake, pour into a Zombie glass, top with crushed ice, and garnish with a lemon wheel and mint sprig. Two Thurdays ago, I went out shopping for a bottle of aged rhum agricole to make a few recipes that I had stored up. The first one I set off with was Justin Wojslaw's Silk Stockings from his Coconuts & Carnage book which looked like an agricole Mai Tai crossed with a Gold Frond. Once prepared, the Silk Stockings gave forth a mint and lemon aroma over a nutty, orange, and rhum funk one. Next, a creamy lemon, pineapple, and orange sip slid into caramel, grassy rhum, almond, orange, and vanilla flavors on the swallow.

mephisto's mai tai

1 oz Planteray OFTD Overproof Rum (perhaps sub a Demerara 151°)
1/2 oz Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch (or other smoky Scotch)
1/2 oz Amaro Sfumato (or other Rabarbaro like Zucca)
1 oz Lime
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao (or other Orange Liqueur)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a double old fashioned glass or ceramic mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with mint sprigs and a spent lime shell. As I was writing up the blog post for the Mai Tai 3000 and realizing that I had never had a Mai Tai riff with smoky Scotch in it before, I became inspired to create a recipe to take the concept a step further. I took the smoky and burly OFTD-Laphroaig-Sfumato combination that worked well in my Brimstone Colada and kept everything else in line with a classic Mai Tai build. For a name, I dubbed the creation after the devil from the Faust tale, Mephistopheles, for a little alliteration and then shortened it to his nickname. Once prepared, the garnishes in Mephisto's Mai Tai offered up mint and lime aromas over the drink's peat smoke and smoky herbal ones. Next, lime, roast, and orange notes on the sip collected the swallow of funky rum, smoky Scotch, bitter herbal, and nutty flavors with a bright lime and smoke finish.

mai tai 3000

1 oz Empress 1908 Gin (Tree House Percy)
1/2 oz Rum Fire Overproof White Jamaican Rum
1/2 oz Planteray Stiggins' Fancy Pineapple Rum
1/4 oz Demerara 151° Proof Rum (Diamond Reserve)
1/4 oz Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/4 oz Maple Syrup
1 dash Kahuna Kevin Aromatic Bitters (DeGroff Pimento)
1 spritz Tahitian Vanilla (1 dash Savoy Society Orange Vanilla)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Mai Tai or double old fashioned glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with mint sprigs and a spent lime shell. Two Tuesdays prior, I opened up my collection of Kahuna Kevin's Tiki Cocktails books and spotted Kahuna Kevin's 2018 creation, the Mai Tai 3000, in the fourth volume. There, it had the subtitle of "Voted best non-traditional Mai Tai of the near dystopian future," and I was up to the challenge of combining 11 ingredients, 2 garnishes, and a few handfuls of freshly crushed ice to see this through. While I have tried gin in a Mai Tai riff before in the Catamaran and the Blanche DuBois, I have not tasted a Mai Tai riff with a smoky Scotch aspect to it. After an epic build session, the Mai Tai 3000 commanded a mint and lime aroma over caramel and smoke. Next, a creamy lime and orange sip was displaced by juniper, rum funk, pineapple, and maple flavors with an allspice and smoke finish.

hotel de ville

1 1/2 oz Calvados (Morin Selection)
1/2 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1/2 oz Amaro Nardini

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Mondays ago, I opened up The Bartender's Choice Volume 3 app and selected the Hotel De Ville by Zack Gelnaw-Rubin at Manhattan's Lion Lion circa 2019. The name Hotel De Ville translates to "city hall," and the term often refers to the magnificent one in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. I was familiar with the combination of spirit modified by Nardini which has appeared with Bourbon in the Closing Argument (plus chocolate bitters) and with rye in the Defeat by Greater Things (plus orange bitters) and the Mayor's Lament (plus a trio of bitters). Moreover, there was also a somewhat similar recipe spirits-wise with the Dark Horse with a Jamaican rum-Calvados pairing (albeit a non-funky rum) accented by Nardini and orange liqueur. Once prepared, the Hotel De Ville proffered an orange, caramel, apple, and rum funk bouquet. Next, caramel notes on the sip led into apple, funky rum, gentian, licorice, and mint flavors on the swallow.

wry grin

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
4 wedge Lemon (1/2 Lemon in quarters)
6-8 leaf Mint

Muddle lemon wedges and mint. Add rest of the ingredients, shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint bouquet. Two Sundays ago, I reached for my copy of The Madrusan Cocktail Companion book and spied the Wry Grin by Sam Ross at Manhattan's Milk & Honey circa 2010 in the Smash section. Overall, it reminded me a little of the Job's Lament which did the rye-Fernet combination in Mint Julep form but with Amaro di Angostura instead of the simple and lemon here. In the glass, the Wry Grin greeted the senses with fresh mint over rye and menthol aromas. Next, lemon with a hint of caramel on the sip revealed rye whiskey, caramel, and minty-menthol flavors on the swallow.