hocus pocus

1 3/4 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1/2 oz Combier Triple Sec (Cointreau)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/4 oz Fernet Branca

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with an orange twist.

Two Wendesdays ago, I was scanning recipes on Kindred Cocktails when I spotted the curiously named Hocus Pocus. The site attributed it to Misty Kalkofen then of Drink in Boston for the menu at the Fourty-Four Bar in New York City. The combination reminded me of the Don't Give Up the Ship with the name suggesting the Hanky Panky. A quick search turned up a 2010 blog post by Robert Simonson who explained, "This is a variation of Ada Coleman's infamous Hanky Panky cocktail... The 6-person 'Cocktail Collective' [was] put together by the Royalton Hotel to created a cocktail program for the lobby bar called Fourty-Four."The Hocus Pocus conjured up an orange oil over Cointreau and pine aromas with hints of caramel and mint. Next, a grape and orange sip transformed into gin and orange-mint flavors on the swallow.