winterbird

1 1/2 oz Dark Rum (Coruba)
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
4 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Collins glass or ceramic mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with an orange quarter wheel (half slice) and a cherry. Two Thursdays ago, I decided to make a drink that I spotted on Facebook's Tiki Recipes group called the Winterbird. I was able to trace it back to a Liquor.com which attributed this winterized Jungle Bird riff to Randy Hayden at Nine Mile Station in Atlanta. To me, it seemed more like a 1941 Here's How Zombie with a stripped down rum base plus orange juice and Fernet more than a Jungle Bird proper. In the mug, the Winterbird flitted to the nose with a caramel, menthol, and apricot aroma. Next, caramel, lime, and orange notes on the sip landed on funky dark rum, minty-menthol, pineapple, and apricot flavors on the swallow.

wonk holiday punch (2025)

1/2 oz Planteray Mister Fogg Sail No. 1 Rum
1/2 oz Planteray Xaymaca Rum
1 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup 2:1 (1:1)
3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Two Wednesdays ago, I was listening to a Bartender at Large podcast where Pierre Ferrand's Alexandre Gabriel was the guest, and I later checked out Alexandre's Instagram. One of the posts was a joint one from Matt Pietrek from December 2025 where Matt posted his Wonk Holiday Punch. Matt was inspired by a conversation with bartender Jason Alexander, and his recipe utilized three of Alexandre's products. I had not seen orange liqueur as a base since the Grand Marnier event at Drink at 2009 where John Gertsen led the pack with 2 1/4 oz with the Mission of Burma as an inverted Pegu Club and Scott Holliday's Alicante at 1 1/2 oz (our cocktail, the Lioness (of Brittany), was a meager 3/4 oz by comparison). Once prepared, the Wonk Holiday Punch named after Matt's CocktailWonk and RumWonk accounts began with orange, caramel, and cinnamon aromas. Next, a medley of grapefruit, lime, and orange notes on the sip sailed into rum, orange, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow. The roundness of Pierre Ferrand's orange liqueur akin to that of Grand Marnier allowed for this large amount of curaçao to prosper as half of the alcohol volume.

vito's catch

3/4 oz Don Julio Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
3/4 oz Cocchi Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
3/4 oz Cherry Heering
1 pinch Sea Salt (4 drop 20% Sea Salt Saline)

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe. Two Tuesdays prior, I opened up the Hawthorne bar bible, and I spotted the Vito's Catch that read like a tequila Blood & Sand riff that swapped the Scotch and orange juice for aged tequila and grapefruit. In the glass, the Vito's Catch effused a vegetal agave and cherry bouquet to the nose. Next, cherry and grape notes on the sip blossomed into tequila, dark fruit, and grapefruit flavors on the swallow. Overall, I was impressed at how the grapefruit tied together the combination better than regular orange juice in the classic. This was a more subtle change than in my Rogue's Romance a few months ago where I replaced the orange juice in the Scotch original with lemon juice, a heavy dose of Angostura Bitters, and an orange peel included in the shake, but equally as enjoyable.

cinn-ful bastard

2 oz Mount Gay Black Rum (Doorly's 12 Year)
1 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Collins glass (Tiki mug), and garnish with a cherry and candied ginger. Two Mondays ago, I was perusing online recipe flashcards sets when I found a 2015 collection from the Tonga Hunt in Los Angeles. There, I locked in on the Cinn-ful Bastard, and its rum, lime, orgeat, and cinnamon combination reminded me of the Cuban Anole. Later, I realized that I used to make a similar drink at River Bar in 2018 called the Zombie Nation. In the mug, the Cinn-ful Bastard erupted with a cinnamon, almond, and cherry aroma. Next, a creamy grapefruit and lime sip got tripped into rum, cinnamon, almond, and allspice flavors on the swallow.

wagon train

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Old Overholt 86°)
1/2 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
3/8 oz Amaro Braulio
1 tsp Maple Syrup

Stir with ice, strain into an old fasioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Sundays ago, I elected for The Madrusan Cocktail Companion book to guide the drink of the night, and in the Old Fashioned section, I spotted the Wagon Train by Matt Clark at Dutch Kills. To get an approximate date on the recipe, I found a mention of the drink in an October 2019 review on Yelp. I was drawn in for Braulio and maple worked rather well in the Thieves in the Night, and I added some maple to my Braulio-Sfumato Dead Man's Alley with good results. In the glass, the Wagon Train approached the nose with orange, nutty grape, maple, and pine aromas. Next, grape and maple notes on the sip were followed by rye, bitter herbal, pine, and nutty grape flavors on the swallow with a dry maple finish.

te anuanua

2 oz Jamaican Rum (1 3/4 oz Appleton 8 Year + 1/4 oz Smith & Cross)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Banana Liqueur (Tempus Fugit)
1/4 oz Orgeat
1/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a glass or mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig, a half passion fruit, and an orchid (spent lime shell with 151 proof rum (El Dorado) ignited). Two Saturdays ago, I decided to make a drink that I had spotted on a friend's Instagram called the Te Anuanua. It was created by Derek Cole on his Make and Drink account on YouTube, and this Mai Tai riff's name translates to rainbow in Tahitian. The combination seemed familiar, and I decided to make it and check later; my hunch was right, for the Te Anuanua is essentially the Tequi la Banane that I had a month before but with rum and lime instead of tequila and lemon and a flip of the banana liqueur and orgeat amounts. In the glass though, the Te Anuanua began with a rum funk, banana, and passion fruit aroma. Next, a slightly creamy lime and caramel sip refracted into funky rum, nutty, banana, and passion fruit flavors on the swallow.

barroom hero

1 oz Angostura Bitters
1 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Rittenhouse Rye
1 oz Giffard Orgeat (homemade Orgeat)
1 1/4 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters
2 spray Tahitian Vanilla (1 dash Savoy Society Orange Vanilla)

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a flamed (unflamed) orange twist. Two Wednesdays ago, I bought the four volume set of Kahuna Kevin's Tiki Cocktails books as PDFs from the author via Etsy. From the fourth volume, I was lured in by Kahuna Kevin's Barroom Hero that read like a hybrid of two of Giuseppe Gonzalez's drinks: the Trinidad Sour and the Magic Julep. Perhaps, Kevin named his drink after the Dropkick Murphys song, although the protagonist in that song only drank [high]balls and beer. Once shaken and strained, the Barroom Hero lurched to the nose with an orange, allspice, and minty aroma. Next, a creamy lime sip opened up into minty-menthol, almond, clove, and allspice flavors on the swallow. Given the ingredients and amounts here, Bartender Hero might be an appropriate name too for I have drank more Fernet and Angostura shots with my fellow bartenders than I have ever on my own.

night nurse

1 oz Aged Jamaican Rum (Appleton 8 Year)
1 oz Punt e Mes
3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz Overproof Jamaican Rum (Wray & Nephew)
1/4 oz Cynar
1 tsp Banana Liqueur (Tempus Fugit)
1 tsp Coffee Liqueur (Borghetti)

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Wednesdays ago, I was perusing my copy of the January/February 2026 issue of Imbibe Magazine when I spotted the Night Nurse by Robby Dow at Bespoke in Wilmington, North Carolina. Overall, it was akin to the Coffee Negroni with different rum origin plus touches of Cynar and banana liqueur. Once mixed, the Night Nurse gave forth an orange, banana, rum funk, and coffee aroma. Next, grape, caramel, and roast notes on the sip transferred into funky rum, herbal, coffee, and bitter orange flavors on the swallow with a coffee and banana finish.

serpiente

1 1/2 oz Blanco Tequila (Cimarron)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Fosforo Ensemble)
1 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Banana Liqueur (Tempus Fugit)
1 dash Pastis (1/4 tsp Pastis d'Autrefois)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a ceramic mug, and top with crushed ice. Two Tuesday prior, I decided to make a drink that I had spotted on Instagram called the Serpiente by Rob Giuffrida that he posted on his tiki_after_midnight account. I met Rob around 16 years ago at work when I was still pursuing a career in science, and we bonded over our interests in beer, spirits, and later tropical drinks. The recipe reminded me of the Tequi la Banana from the Easy Tiki book with the added touches of pineapple, mezcal, and pastis but no passion fruit. Rob served this in a LowTiki snake mug, so perhaps that along with the Mexican spirits is why he named it after the Spanish word for snake. In the my non-reptilian mug, the Serpiente slithered to the nose with a smoky, earthy, vegetal, and anise bouquet. Next, a creamy lemon and caramel sip opened up into smoky agave, pineapple, almond, banana, and anise flavors on the swallow.