leatherman

1 oz Banhez Mezcal (1 1/2 oz)
1/2 oz Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur (3/4 oz)
1/2 oz Amaro Ciociaro (3/4 oz)
1/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (3/8 oz Cocchi)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Saturdays ago, I found the Leatherman from the Botanist in Portland, Oregon, circa 2019 via a search on the KindredCocktails database. I confirmed it on Yelp and used the mezcal brand listed on the 2019 menu photos. In the glass, the Leatherman opened up with orange, vegetal, smoke, and pepper aromas. Next, caramel and grape on the sip flowed into smoky mezcal, spicy chili pepper, and caramel orange flavors on the swallow.

the bukowski

1 1/2 oz Jeppson's Malört
1/2 oz Drambuie
3/4 oz Orange Juice (*)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Honey Syrup 1:1 (*)
3-5 leaf Basil

Shake with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with ice.
(*) Robert Simonson reported having a more recent version of this drink (with the newer and softer Malört) where these two measures were 1/2 oz. See below.

Two Fridays ago, I had just finished Josh Noel's Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit book, and one of the chapters reminded me of the 2009 Chicago Reader article about a Malört challenge across town. From that article, I had previously made Paul McGee's Golden Eel, Toby Maloney's Ukranian Negroni, and Brad Bolt's Hard Sell. The recipe that stood out to make next was Charles Joly's The Bukowski from the Counting Room especially since I still had leaves on my basil plant outside. The article described how "The working name for this drink was the Dirty Old Man named after the column Charles Bukowski wrote for an underground newspaper in Los Angeles. Joly says there's no garnish because the writer would have just thrown it back at the bartender." My brother bought me a copy of Notes of a Dirty Old Man that was a collection of those columns for my birthday years ago, and it was my entry into Bukowski. I was already planning to make this one when Robert Simonson wrote on his Substack that afternoon about trying this drink. Robert got the recipe from Joly at a book launch event except this version had a 1/2 oz each of orange juice and honey syrup instead of 3/4 oz. Perhaps this was due to the new Chicago version of Malört being slightly softer and less bitter; however, I still had an old bottle of Florida-made liqueur, so I went with the 2009 recipe. Once prepared the original way, The Bukowski launched off with basil, honey, and minty-bitter herbal aromas. Next, a honey, lemon, and orange sip caroused with bitter herbal, honey, and basil flavors on the swallow. Overall, the combination reminded me of the midcentury Duke with Drambuie, orange, and lemon but taken in a bitter and herbal direction. One of my Instagram friends inquired, "I think of all things, the orange juice and basil combo was throwing me off the most" to which I responded that "the orange juice sooths rough edges, and the basil adds depth to the single botanical liqueur."

opera comique

1 oz Aquavit (Linie)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
3/4 oz Cynar
1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Thursdays ago, I was in the mood to tinker for Negroni Week despite the end result being nothing like a Negroni. I became inspired by the Cynar-Chartreuse combination of the Drink of Laughter & Forgetting and by the structure of the Tailspin. I was considering gin as the spirit, but that put the mix too close in the direction of my Continuum from Our Fathers back in 2018. The Cynar made me think of the Trident and its aquavit, so I made that switch. I dubbed this the Opera Comique (a/k/a Murderer's Corner) after one of the most bawdy concert saloons in old San Francisco run by Happy Jack Harrington in the 1870s as discovered in Herbert Asbury's book The Barbary Coast. The final result proffered orange, herbaceous, and caramel aromas. Next, grape and caramel notes mingled on the sip, and the swallow followed through with caraway, vegetal, herbaceous, and orange flavors.

negroni daiquiri

3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a lime wheel.Two Wednesdays ago for Negroni Week, the Campari Academy posted on their Instagram the Negroni Daiquiri by Bobby Heugel and Kristen Nepomuceno. An article I found declared that this mashup of the two classics was at Refuge, their all day coffee-cocktail bar that they opened two years ago next door to their flagship Anvil in Houston; the lower proof of this drink makes sense for a day-drinking program. When a follower asked on Instagram if there was rum in this "Daiquiri", I replied, "I was expecting it too since the White Negroni Daiquiri has rum in it. But alas, it's 4 ingredients from the source I listed." Similarly, another follower questioned the lack of gin in the "Negroni" part and wondered if it were an Americano Daiquiri instead; I commented that when I first read the ingredients, it made me think of a Milano-Torino Daiquiri due to the lack of soda water. Regardless of the nomenclature discussion, the drink was very tasty and straight forward in the glass. It began with a bitter orange, grape, and lime aroma. Next, lime and grape on the sip leapt into a swallow that was all about Campari's bitter orange flavors.

mardi gras

2 oz Rye Whiskey (Templeton)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
2 dash Angostura Bitters
3 dash Absinthe (18 drop St. George)
1 White Sugar Cube (1/3 oz Simple Syrup)
1 bsp Soda Water (omit)

Add everything but the rye, muddle the sugar cube, and add rye (combine using simple syrup and no muddling). Add ice, stir, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Tuesdays prior, I opened up the A Spot at the Bar book by Michael and Zara Madrusan and found the Mardi Gras in a side note in the Old Fashioned section. Essentially, this New Orleans-themed Old Fashioned had the Peychaud's and Angostura of the Vieux Carré combined with the Peychaud's and absinthe of the Cocktail à la Louisiane and Sazerac as accents. Here, the Mardi Gras marched to the nose with lemon, rye, and anise aromas. Next, a hint of caramel on the sip continued on into rye, cherry, clove, allspice, and anise flavors on the swallow.