buster brown

1 oz Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1 oz Amaro Braulio
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/8 oz Honey Syrup
3/8 oz Coconut (Coco Lopez)

Shake with ice and strain into a glass. The recipe's photo shows an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, so I followed suit. Two Fridays prior, I began perusing the Bartender's Choice Volume 3 app on my phone, and I landed upon the Buster Brown by Jon Nutter at Manhattan's Attaboy in 2023. The app only listed the ingredient as "coconut," and since I had an opened Coco Lopez in the refrigerator, I interpreted it as coconut cream. The combination of spirit, Braulio, honey, and lemon reminded me of my Golden Eagle, but here with Bourbon and coconut instead of mezcal. Once mixed, the Buster Brown lumbered forward with herbal, coconut, and pine aromas. Next, a creamy honey and lemon sip twisted into Bourbon, bitter pine, and coconut flavors on the swallow.

quartermaster

2 oz Jägermeister
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Coco Lopez Coconut Cream
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a snifter or tropical mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig, star anise, and cherry (nasturtium). Two Thursdays ago, I opened up Justin Wojslaw's Coconuts and Carnage book and spotted his Quartermaster that was different from Gin Joint's Quartermaster and Matt Pietrek's Smoky Old Quartermaster. This one reads like a Jägermeister Piña Colada or perhaps Painkiller with the orange juice swapped for curaçao like Paul McGee prefers. I have been thinking about Jägermeister in tropical drinks a lot lately as I am building out my slide deck for a talk at Boston Rum Week in a few weeks entitled "Minimalist Amaro Tiki". Jägermeister has such wonderful ginger, galangal, star anise, dried orange peel, cinnamon, and clove aspects that work great in tropical drinks such as the Escape Hatch, Muertito Vivo, and my Lost U-Boat. Once prepared, the Quartermaster came forth with mint, floral, anise, caramel, and orange aromas on the nose. Next, a creamy lime, caramel, and pineapple sip delved into caramel, anise, ginger, herbal, orange, pineapple, and coconut flavors on the swallow.

bad juju

1 oz Planteray OFTD Rum
1/2 oz Brugal 1888 Rum (Privateer New England Reserve)
1/2 oz Monkey Shoulder Scotch (3/8 oz Cutty Sark Prohibition + 1/8 oz Laphroaig)
1/2 oz Borghetti Coffee Liqueur
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Coco Lopez

Whip shake, pour into a glass (coconut mug), top with crushed ice, and garnish with 2 pineapple fronds, a banana chip, and freshly grated coffee bean.

Two Wednesdays ago, I opened up the Spec recipe app, and in the Bardtenders podcast's collection, I found the Bad Juju as a Piña Colada riff created by one of the podcast's hosts, Jon Mateer. Jon runs the bar program at TPC Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and perhaps the name refers to one of the cursed holes. One article described, "The phrase 'bad juju' at TPC Sawgrass most famously relates to the notorious water-logged history of the iconic par-3 17th island green, where PGA Tour groups have occasionally suffered collective meltdowns by hitting their tee shots straight into the water." I thought that I had tried a coffee-tinged Piña Colada before, but alas, I had not; the closest was Chad Austin's pineapple-less Aztec Warrior, so the Bad Juju was indeed a first. Once prepared, the Bad Juju offered up coffee and a hint of smoke on the nose. Next, a creamy sip with roast notes slid into burly rum, hint of smoky Scotch, coconut, pineapple, and coffee flavors on the swallow. Jon commented on my Instagram post, "Love the addition of splitting the Scotch here! That 1/8 of Laphroaig is money," to which I explained that the last of "my Cutty Sark bottle ran short, so I figured to fill the gap with flavor instead of a more neutral blended whisky."

the decatur

1 1/2 oz Bonded Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
1/4 oz Peach Liqueur (Mathilde)
1/4 oz Maraschino (Luxardo)

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. I added a cherry garnish to the recipe. Two Tuesdays prior, Matt Pietrek posted a drink on his Cocktail Wonk Instagram while he was traveling in France called The Decatur that was subtitled "The Brooklyn of Georgia." His recipe read like a cross between a Bourbon Bell and a Buffalo, so it definitely caught my attention. Moreover, I thought keeping the Amer Picon (or similar bitter liqueur) and replacing the Maraschino with peach would have been an interesting riff as well, but two stone fruit liqueurs might have a curious synergy. Once mixed, The Decatur displayed rye, cherry, and peach aromas. Next, grape and red fruit notes on the sip delved into rye, nutty, vanilla, and peach flavors on the swallow.

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.