[autumnal junipero cocktail]

2 oz Junipero Gin
3/4 oz Carpano Antica
1/4 oz Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel over drink and discard.

Last night, Andrea and I went to Drink since they were finally open on Sunday nights. Going on an off night really works well with Drink's menuless format as it lets the bartenders take the time to discuss the drink direction before mixing and the opinions after tasting. When John asked what I wanted to start with, I said that I had been drinking lots of darker spirits lately, like whiskeys and dark rums, and that I wanted to return to the world of gins again. He said that he had been playing around with a gin beverage with Carpano Antica sweet vermouth and walnut liqueur using Beefeater gin, and he thought it would work rather well Anchor Steam's Junipero gin. I was game after having his delightful walnut cocktail of last fall, Foglia Noce, at No. 9 Park.

My first sip pleased me as the lemon oil wave subsided and immediately I was hit by the walnut flavor as a I swallowed. Further into the drink, the lemon oils on the surface were mainly gone and my palate was getting immune to the walnut taste such that the cocktail morphed more into a late 1800's style martini. It was almost like scoring two drinks in one.