[dark rum and carpano antica]

1 1/2 oz Old Monk Rum
1 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
1/2 oz Benedictine
2 dashes Bittermens ‘Elemakule Tiki Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into an old-style cocktail glass.

For my second cocktail last night at Drink, I told Sam that I wanted to switch base spirits to a medium or dark rum and I was interested to see what he could do with that and Carpano Antica (I wrote about my first Carpano Antica cocktail experience in this post when Eastern Standard had a bottle). I left the rum choice and other ingredients up to him.
Sam chose Old Monk, a rum from India that is infused with vanilla, and picked Benedictine and Tiki bitters to round out the drink with a bit of complexity. The choice of Old Monk was a good one since the strong vanilla tones played rather well with the other flavors in the bitters, vermouth, and Benedictine. Overall the drink had a delightful sherry-esque taste to it. The poor quality photo above (camera phone sans flash) shows the vintage (or reproduction?) glassware at Drink. It also shows some of the old wool mill's character of the place with the brick and stone walls (although the amazing large exposed wood beams are not captured in this picture). In addition, the center of the photo shows the bowl of fresh citrus fruits and the wide variety of potted herbs (everything from curry to basil to hot pepper plants) that they use for garnish and flavoring in their creations.

Sam was pleased enough with his creation that he later made one for a gentleman at the other side of the bar.