ohana joe

1 oz Planteray OFTD Rum
1 oz Planteray Stiggins' Fancy Pineapple Rum
1/3 oz St. George Coffee Liqueur (Borghetti)
1/2 oz Rich Demerara Syrup (1:1)
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Build in a Collins or Pilsner glass, fill with crushed ice, swizzle to mix and chill, top with crushed ice, and garnish with 3 coffee beans.

Two Mondays ago, I was scanning Kindred Cocktails and spotted the Ohana Joe by Jeff Cleveland then of the Tonga Hut in Palm Springs, California. I was able to trace it back to a 2016 post on Critiki (that I was able to read through the Wayback Machine). While at Jeff's home, blogger Humuhumu Trott mentioned that her favorite drink was the Mai Kai's Black Magic, and this is what he served her. Humuhumu explained, "It was so new, it didn't yet have a name. Jeff asked me to help name it, and together we came up with Ohana Joe: a nod to the coffee in the drink, and to the feeling of warm welcome Jeff's had from the tiki 'ohana, and to the historic Palm Springs tiki bar Aloha Jhoe's." Once assembled, the Ohana Joe ushered in coffee and pineapple aromas. Next, roast and lime notes on the sip transformed into burly rum, coffee, and pineapple flavors on the swallow. While I expected a Mr. Bali Hai, I ended up with something a bit more complex given the overproof and pineapple rums, the lower pineapple juice quotient, and the lime instead of lemon juice.

cupid deluxe

1 1/2 oz Scotch (Famous Grouse)
3/4 oz Banana Liqueur (Tempus Fugit)
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup
2 dash Chocolate Bitters (Angostura Cocoa)

Shake with ice, serve tall (old fashioned glass, ice, 1 oz soda water), and garnish with a piece of candied ginger. Two Sundays ago, I returned to online recipe flashcards from Dutch Kills in Long Island City and selected the Cupid Deluxe. The drink for their Spring 2019 menu was attributed elsewhere on the web to bartender Jose Cardenas, and it was perhaps named after the 2013 album by the group Blood Orange. Scotch and banana worked so well in the Holy Molé! that I utilized it in my Artists and Models at the Cocktail Lab at Earl's, and I was curious to try it here. Once prepared, the Cupid Deluxe offered up a pineapple and ginger aroma. Next, a carbonated caramel, lemon, and pineapple sip flowed into Scotch, pineapple, banana, and ginger flavors on the swallow.

lacrimosa

2 oz Rittenhouse Rye
3/4 oz Luxardo Bitter (Bianco)
3/4 oz Amaro Ciociaro

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with a flamed orange twist (unflamed). Two Saturdays prior, I decided to make the Lacrimosa by David Slape at Manhattan's P.D.T. in Fall 2008 via The P.D.T. Cocktail Book as a "dark, brooding Negroni variation." I spotted this a few days before on a friend's Instagram and realized that I skipped over the recipe in the book since I lacked Luxardo's Bitter until a year and a half ago. In the glass, the Lacrimosa cried forth fresh orange oil aromas over rye and caramel orange ones. Next, a caramel-driven sip from the Ciociaro opened up into rye, dark orange, and bitter herbal flavors on the swallow.

no further questions

2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Amaro Ciociaro
1/8 oz Peated Whisky (Laphroaig 10 Year)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Fridays ago, I decided to make a drink created by Tim Kirkland called No Further Questions that he named after his friend Brian Collins' frequent replies to requests of a sip of the drink that he posted on Instagram. Whisky, Punt e Mes, and Ciociaro is a combination that worked well in my Jolly Jane, Rafa Garcia Febles' Stenton, and other recipes, so I was curious to try it here. In the glass, the No Further Questions proffered orange, peat smoke, and grape aromas to the nose. Next, grape and caramel on the sip soon hid behind rye, caramel orange, bitter herbal, and peat smoke flavors on the swallow.

heartbreaker

1 1/2 oz Gin (Tanqueray)
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Amaro Braulio
1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a grapefruit twist. Two Thursdays ago, I fired up The Bartender's Choice Volume 3 app and got curious about the Heartbreaker by Jon Nutter at Manhattan's Attaboy circa 2023. The gin, Green Chartreuse, and Montenegro trio reminded me of Sother Teague's Oh My Word, so I figured that it would be a more alpine and less nutty-fruity version here. The duo of Braulio-Montenegro has appeared twice on the blog in the Bar Room Brauler and the Spaghetti Western; however, I have previously only tried one other Green Chartreuse-Braulio drink, the Devil's Whisper, as Braulio is more often paired with the Yellow variety. Once prepared, the Heartbreaker descended with a grapefruit, herbaceous, and pine aroma. Next, a lightly caramel and clementine sip was kicked aside for gin, bitter herbal, pine, orange, and herbaceous flavors on the swallow.

where it all begins

1 1/2 oz Chattanooga High Malt Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Licor 43
1/4 oz Luxardo Amaro Abano
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

No instructions were provided, so I stirred with ice, strained into a cocktail coupe, and garnished with a cherry. Two Wednesdays ago, I uncovered an online recipe flashcard set for Nashville's Pinewood Social and selected the Where It All Begins from a 2021 collection, and I was able to confirm the drink's ingredients in a GoogleMaps menu photo. This Manhattan variation launched off with a cherry and dark grape aroma. Next, grape and sweet citrus notes on the sip slipped into Bourbon, bitter, bright orange-lemon, vanilla, and peppery flavors on the swallow. If I were to make this again, I would decrease the Licor 43 amount or even swap the volumes with Amaro Abano, for the balance came across a bit sweet and bright for me; often a quarter ounce of Licor 43 in a stirred drink is plenty such as in the Signals, Calls, & Marches.

drops of life

2 oz Hendrick's Gin (Tanqueray Malacca)
3/4 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth (Servito)
1/2 oz St. Germain (St. Elder)
2 slice Cucumber

Muddle cucumber slices, add rest of ingredients, stir with ice, double strain into a coupe, and garnish with a skewered cucumber (cucumber wheel). Two Tuesdays prior, I returned to the online recipe flashcards for Sundry & Vice in Ohio and opted for the Drops of Life from a 2022 set. The drink was much older than that, for I found a reference as early as 2015 in a Yelp review and as late as 2024 in a Yelp menu photo. Overall, the idea reminded me of the Day for Night that I had at Bar Lunette but without the gentian liqueur and with muddled cucumber instead of cucumber bitters, and perhaps the St. Germain for simple syrup riff on the East Side that I made on occasion at Drink. In the coupe, the Drops of Life offered up a cucumber, grapefruit, and floral bouquet to the nose. Next, sweet grape and orchard fruit notes on the sip cascaded into gin, cucumber, vegetal, floral, and grapefruit flavors on the swallow.

don draper's bitter end

1 oz Rye (Rittenhouse)
1 oz Cognac (Courvoisier VS)
1/2 oz Averna
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
1/4 oz Orange Liqueur (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao) (*)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an old fasioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.
(*) An adaptation added to the original recipe. Two Mondays ago, I was perusing the Kindred Cocktails database when I came across Don Draper's Bitter End created at Hank's Oyster Bar in Alexandria, Virginia, circa 2014. The recipe posted there was an adaptation of the original that included the addition of orange liqueur for sweetness. I found the rye, Fernet, and orange liqueur combination reminscent of the Alcazer from Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933, so I went with it. Once stirred and strained, the Don Draper's Bitter End gave forth orange, Cognac, caramel, and menthol aromas. Next, a caramel-driven sip soon advertised rye, Cognac, orange, bitter gentian, and minty-menthol flavors on the swallow.

top rope

1 oz Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz Fino Sherry (Lustau Manzanilla)
1/4 oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry (Lustau)
1 dash Fee's Black Walnut Bitters (3 dash Strongwater Walnut)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fasioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Sundays ago, I opened up my copy of The Madrusan Cocktail Companion book and picked the Top Rope by Sean O'Connor-Combee at J & Tony's Discount Cured Meats and Negroni Warehouse in San Diego circa 2022. The name made me think of the Turnbuckle, but that one was more bitter tropical. This drink instead reads like a sherry for sweet vermouth Boulevardier akin to Hungry Mother's No. 72, but here with a cross of dry Fino and sweet Pedro Ximenez sherries as I tried in the Bae of Biscay (I am much more used to Oloroso or Amontillado with Pedro Ximenez such as in the Black Adonis and the In the Middle of a Foggy Sea). In the glass, the Top Rope lept off with an orange, raisin, and Bourbon aroma. Next, a dark grape sip landed on Bourbon, raisin, date, and bitter orange flavors on the swallow.