marigny cocktail

1 oz Apple Brandy or Calvados (Laird's Bonded)
1 oz Gin (Northshore No. 6)
1 oz Bianco Vermouth (Dolin Blanc)
1 barspoon Benedictine
3 drop Orange Blossom Water
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a long orange twist.
As a post-Tales of the Cocktail segue, the theme for Thursday Drink Night at the Mixoloseum chatroom on the 16th was New Orleans cocktails. For the drink I created, I started with the concept of a Vieux Carre and created something that was more fruit and botanical based. The name I gave for it, the Marigny Cocktail, was christened after one of our favorite neighborhoods in New Orleans to get vegetarian food. The Marigny district was right off of the French Quarter and was full of funky restaurants, hip music venues, quaint bed and breakfasts, and a variety of old fashioned Creole cottages. To match the neighborhood, the drink had a bit of spiciness balance by some sweetness from the bianco vermouth.

I also created another drink later in the night for TDN which was a New Orleans-inspired smash named after the antiques store where the blogger cocktail hour was held at Tales of the Cocktail, M.S. Rau Antiques:

M.S. Rau
• 1/2 Lemon (in ~4 pieces)
• 2 sprig Mint
• 2 Sugar Cubes
• 2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
Muddle and then add the following:
• 1 oz Cognac
• 1 oz Rye
• 1 barspoon Herbsaint, Pastis, or Absinthe
Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.