tequi la banane

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice (3/4 oz)
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/4 oz Giffard Banana Liqueur (Tempus Fugit)
1/4 oz Passion Fruit Liqueur (Passion Fruit Syrup)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Julep cup (Tiki mug), and garnish with shaved almonds. Two Thursdays prior, I selected my copy of the Easy Tiki book to match my mood, and the Tequi La Banane by Orlando Franklin McCray at Night Moves in Brooklyn called out to me. The adapted recipe utilized banana and passion fruit liqueurs to replace the infusions prepared at the bar. Banana with passion fruit flavors in cocktails dates back to the 1930s such as in the New Victoria from the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book, and of course in more recent recipes such as Commando Life and Freak C'est Chic. Once prepared, Tequi la Banane unpeeled a passion fruit, vegetal, and almond aroma. Next, lemon and passion fruit notes on the sip ripened into caramel, vegetal, passion fruit, and banana flavors on the swallow.

tide-breaker

1 oz Aged Dark Rum (3/4 oz Coruba + 1/4 oz Planteray OFTD)
1/2 oz Rittenhouse Rye
1/2 oz Old Overholt (86°)
1 cube Raw Sugar (>1/2 oz Raw Sugar Syrup)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass rinsed with absinthe (Kübler), and garnish with a lemon twist. Two Wednesdays ago, I opened up my copy of The Madrusan Cocktail Companion and landed on the Tide-Breaker by Eric Alperin at Los Angeles' The Varnish in the Sazerac section of the book. I later realized that Eric called the Jamaican rum, single rye, and brown sugar version of this combination Colonial Ties in his Unvarnished book. In the glass, the Tide-Breaker sent forth a lemon and anise bouquet to the nose. Next, caramel notes on the sip from the dark rums ripened into rye whiskey, funky rum, orange, and anise flavors on the swallow. Overall, I was surprised at how much the orange bitters sang through in the mix.

samoan grog (tribute to the mai-kai)

1 oz Gold Rum (Planteray Isle of Fiji)
3/4 oz Dark Rum (Coruba)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Honey Syrup 2:1 (3/4 oz 1:1)
1/2 tsp Don's Spices No. 2 (1/4 tsp each Vanilla Syrup and (Hamilton's) Allspice Dram)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice and pour into a glass. I used a Tiki mug and garnished with an orange twist. Two Mondays, I was feeling the need for a tropical drink, so I returned to the The Atomic Grog site. There, I spotted Jim Haywood's 2014 interpretation of the Mai-Kai's Samoan Grog. The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale seemed to have riffed on Don Beach's Colonial Grog from the 1940s that Beachbum Berry later wrote about in Potions of the Caribbean. Overall, the recipe reminded me of an orange for grapefruit juice Navy Grog plus bitters that included the honey from Don Beach's version and the allspice dram of the Trader Vic recipe (with vanilla syrup to tag along via Don's Spices #2). Once mixed and poured into the last unused mug from the my most recent purchases, this take on the Samoan Grog generated an orange, caramel, and allspice aroma. Next, orange, lime, caramel, and honey notes on the sip unfurled into funky rum, vanilla, allspice, and honey flavors on the swallow.

moving through kashmir

1 oz Famous Grouse Scotch
1 oz Cruzan Light Rum (Don Q Añejo)
1/8 oz Honey Syrup 3:1 (1/4 oz 1:1)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with a lemon twist. Two Mondays ago, I was scanning online recipe flashcards when I honed in on the Moving Through Kashmir from the Summer 2015 menu at The Rose in Jackson, Wyoming. Scotch-rum stirred drinks have dated back a century with the earliest that I have made being the dry Rob Roy riff, the Burlington, from Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933, and the next oldest being the Quarter Deck #2 from Trader Vic's 1947 Bartender's Guide. The closest to this recipe though is Death & Co.'s I Againt I with somewhat more robust spirits and a different bitters in place of the Angostura here. For a name, this drink is most likely a reference to a line from the 1975 Led Zeppelin Song "Kashmir" about singer Robert Plant's 1973 drive through a desolate part of Southern Morocco. Once prepared, the Moving Throught Kashmir offered up lemon, honey, Scotch, and anise aromas. Next, honey and malt on the sip opened up into Scotch, rum, allspice, and anise flavors on the swallow.

bad date

1 1/2 oz Blanco Tequila (Cimarron)
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur
2 dash Absinthe (20 drop St. George)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail or coupe glass, and garnish with a lime twist. Two Sundays ago, I reached for my copy of The Madrusan Cocktail Companion and spotted the Bad Date by Alastair Walker at Caretaker in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2021. The Suze-Yellow Chartreuse duo reminded me of the gin-lemon Yellow Cocktail that I have been meaning to make; however, I have had that combination with citrus in other drinks like the Revenge. Checking my recipes, I have tried a gin-Genever version of the Bad Date in the A Bouquet of Parentheses and a gin one sans absinthe in the You Is or You Ain't. Moreover, the name pleasantly reminded me of the Last Date at the Citizen Public House. In the glass, the Bad Date conjured up lime, agave, floral, and gentian herbal aromas for the nose. Next, a semi-sweet honey and white wine sip escaped and left behind agave, herbal, mint, pine, and anise flavors on the swallow.

bastard's sour

2 oz Planteray Xaymaca Jamaican Rum
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 1/2 oz Orange Juice

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, and garnish with a mint sprig, orchid, and snow-like powdered sugar (orange slice and cherry). Two Saturdays ago, I was in the mood for something tropical, so I searched my list of interesting recipes from the Geeki Tiki site. The one that called out to me was the Bastard's Sour crafted by Jason Alexander, a/k/a Tiki Commando, at the Devil's Reef in Tacoma, Washington. The recipe was included in the company's Jon Snow mug and was subtitled "Cheers to the king in the north!" Given the name, I thought about the Suffering Bastard, but on paper, it was closer to an Eastern Sour and a Scorpion Bowl. Instead of that recipe, the first part of the name derives from Jon Snow being the bastard son of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North in The Game of Thrones. Once prepared, the Bastard's Sour welcomed the senses with an orange, nutty, and dark rum aroma. Next, a creamy lemon and orange sip developed into funky rum, orange peel, floral, and nutty flavors on the swallow.

carajillo old fashioned

1 oz Rye Whiskey (Old Overholt 86°)
1 oz Cognac (Courvoisier VS)
1/4 oz Coffee Liqueur (Mr. Black)
1/4 oz Licor 43

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with 3 coffee beans. On Instagram, I noticed a few friends posting about two similar drinks called the Carajillo Old Fashioned. The Carajillo is a drink created in Spain that moved to Latin America, and it consists of espresso or coffee mixed with Licor 43 (or sometimes a coffee liqueur or spirit). The one I selected led to The Educated Barfly where host Leandro DiMonriva found it in The Madrusan Cocktail Companion book that attributed it to Sean O'Connor-Combes at J & Tony's Discount Cured Meats and Negroni Warehouse in San Diego in 2022. The other recipe floating around is one that Jordan Hughes, the High Proof Preacher, came up with in 2025 that uses reposado tequila, a little more Licor 43, and bitters, but I opted for the older recipe. While I have tried a Carajillo and a stirred espresso-laden variation before, the closest recipe to this on the blog is the Raining on 110th St. that is a rye Manhattan with accents of Licor 43 and coffee. In the glass, the 2022-era Carajillo Old Fashioned launched off with a coffee and vanilla bouquet. Next, a roast-driven sip landed on rye, brandy, vanilla, citrus, and bitter coffee flavors on the swallow.

hi-tide boogie

1 1/2 oz Planteray OFTD Rum
1/4 oz Don's Spices #2 (1/8 oz Vanilla Syrup + 1/8 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's))
1/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
3/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1 oz Lime Juice

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a TIki mug, and garnish with a mint sprig (swizzle stick). Two Thursdays ago, I spotted a reference to the Hi-Tide Boogie by Justin Wojslaw at the Diller Room in Seattle that I traced back to Andy Boimila's Mixing Up Tiki channel on YouTube. Justin named this after the rockabilly and surf music studio Hi-Tide Recordings. The cinnamon and Don's Spices #2 combination reminded me of the classic Nui Nui and Colonel Tiki's (And) Knobs is Thirteen, and cinnamon and passion fruit are a natural duo that I last tried in the Pagan Punch a few short weeks ago. In the mug, the Hi-Tide Boogie swept in with dark rum, vanilla, and cinnamon aromas. Next, grapefruit, lime, and caramel notes on the sip receded into burly rum, vanilla, passion fruit, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow.

bar room brauler

1 1/2 oz Brandy (Courvoisier VS Cognac)
3/4 oz Amaro Braulio
3/4 oz Amaro Montenegro
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a flamed orange twist (unflamed). Two Wednesdays ago, I spotted on my Instagram feed, a drink called the Bar Room Brauler. I was able to track down the recipe to Coach Vino's YouTube where he posted it in a video of three Braulio drinks that included my As I Lay Dying; Coach Vino attributed this amari-laden drink to Brandon Lockman at Red Star Tavern in Portland, Oregon. Braulio and Montenegro have appeared together in the Bourbon cocktail Spaghetti Western from Urban Grub in Nashville, so I was curious to try this brandy version. When the Bar Room Brauler geared up to fight, it hit the nose with an orange aroma rounded out by Cognac's richness. Next, caramel and orange notes on the sip sidestepped the Cognac, pine, clementine, and bitter herbal flavors on the swallow.

perfectionist

2 oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1/2 oz Lustau Pedro Ximenez Sherry (El Maestro Sierra)
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc (Cocchi Americano)
2 dash Woodford Sassafras Sorgham Bitters (The Bitter Queens Sarsparilla)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe or rocks glass (coupe), and garnish with a lemon twist and a cherry. Two Tuesdays ago, I returned to the online recipe flashcard set for Cork & Cow in Franklin, Tennessee, and was lured in by the Perfectionist as a curious Manhattan riff. An article in Visit Franklin has the drink mentioned in 2017. The combination reminded me at first of the Hoots Mon from the Savoy Cocktail Book but that was sweet vermouth instead of sweet sherry not to mention Scotch instead of Bourbon. I later made the connection with the Manhattan Harbor Co. that Carlo Caroscio crafted for me at Backbar that utilized a semi-sweet cream sherry along with the Bourbon and Cocchi Americano (instead of Lillet). Once stirred and strained, the Perfectionist came forth to the nose with a lemon and raisin bouquet. Next, sweet raisin on the sip gave way to Bourbon, raisin, grapefruit, and root beer flavors on the swallow.

washington cocktail

50% Gin (1 1/2 oz Ford's)
50% Sherry (1 1/2 oz Lustau Manzanilla)
1 bsp Pineapple Syrup (1/4 oz)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Mondays ago, I spotted the Washington Cocktail in the 1936 Italian book 1000 Misture that referenced Adolphe Torelli's 1927 book 900 Recettes de Cocktails et Boissons Américanes. The combination of gin, sherry, and pineapple syrup reminded me of the dry vermouth for sherry Madame Lou from Boothby's 1934 World Drinks and How to Mix Them that inspired me to create the Diamond Queen for Tales of the Cocktail's Martini-themed competition in 2017. Here, the Washington Cocktail donated orange, pine, almond, and pineapple aromas to the nose. Next, a crisp wine sip with a hint of pineapple sweetness flowed into juniper, almond, and pineapple flavors on the swallow.

the witch doctor

3/4 oz Angostura Bitters
3/4 oz Mezcal Union Uno (Peloton de la Muerte)
3/4 oz Lunazul Blanco Tequila (Cimarron)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice 

1/2 oz Honey 3:1 (3/4 oz 1:1)
1/4 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a big ice cube, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Sundays ago, I opened up my copy of The Bartender's Manifesto by Toby Maloney and Emma Janzen and spotted the Angostura-heavy The Witch Doctor by Patrick Smith at The Violet Hour in 2018. Patrick noted how orange oils and honey soothed Angostura's baking spice notes, and perhaps this worked just as good as the orgeat in the Trinidad Sour. The closest recipe to this that comes to mind is the Johann Goes to Mexico that includes an agave spirit base but lacks the honey aspect (although Demerara syrup has a bit of roundness to it). In the glass, The Witch Doctor proffered orange and floral aromas. Next, lemon and molasses-caramel notes on the sip opened up into smoky vegetal, clove, and allspice flavors on the swallow with a honey finish.

verrazano

1 1/2 oz Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
3/4 oz Cynar
1 tsp Mezcal (Peloton de la Muerte)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a lemon twist. Two Saturdays ago, I reached for my copy of The Madrusan Cocktail Companion and spotted the Verrazano by Leo Robetscheck at Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan. This one is different from the other Manhattan variation Verrazano on here which is much less bitter and closer to Julie Reiner's Slope. Once prepared, this Verrazano showcased a lemon and dark grape aroma. Next, the grape continued on into the sip where it mingled with caramel notes from the Cynar, and the swallow followed up with Bourbon, herbal, vegetal, and smoky flavors.

the urban archaeologist

1 1/2 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (3/4 oz Coruba)
2 oz Demerera Rum (1/2 oz Lemon Hart 80° + 1/2 oz Diamond 151°)
2 oz Spanish-style Lightly Aged Rum (1 oz Prichard's Crystal)
1/2 oz Curaçao (1/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry)
2 oz Lime Juice (1 oz)
1 oz Lemon Juice (1/2 oz)
1 1/2 oz Orange Juice (3/4 oz)
1 1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup (3/4 oz)
1 oz Orgeat (1/2 oz)
1 oz Simple Syrup (1/2 oz)
6 dash Angostura Bitters (3 dash)

Pulse blend with 2 cups of crushed ice (whip shake with crushed ice), pour into a Tiki mug, and top with crushed ice.

Two Fridays ago, I was perusing recipes on The Atomic Grog when I landed on The Urban Archaeologist by blog author Jim Hayward in 2020 in honor of Sven Kirsten who made a study of retro style. As for the name, Punch described, "Sven Kirsten, a German-born cinematographer and self-described 'urban archeologist,' whose The Book of Tiki: The Cult of Polynesian Pop in Fifties America, published in 2000, is touted as a veritable bible within the genre." Since the drink was designed to fit in a 30 ounce mug of a cannibal taking a bite out of The Book of Tiki, I halved the volumes to fit into a 16 ounce mug as suggested by Jim on his site; I also took up his advice of splitting the Demerara rum into normal and overproof to help cut through the sweetness. On my Instagram, Jim commented "Also a fine tribute to Beachbum Berry's research." I returned to his blog where he expounded on that thought with, "If these ingredients seem familiar, it's because they're among those featured most often in the 80+ recipes in Jeff 'Beachbum' Berry's influential Grog Log (1998), the go-to resource for creating cocktails while we studied The Book of Tiki. Not surprisingly, The Urban Archaeologist tastes exactly like Grog Log should taste like. There's a ton of flavor, with an emphasis on the tart and sweet, but it's also perfectly balanced with the requisite bold and rummy backbone." Overall, the recipe reminded me most of one of the drinks from Berry's collection, the Cocoanut Grove Cooler, with the orange juice, curaçao, passion fruit, and orgeat components, so it was definitely in Jim's intended ballpark for flavor. Once assembled, The Urban Archaeologist uncovered an orange and passion fruit aroma. Next, a creamy orange and lime sip dusted off dark funky rums, passion fruit, almond, and allspice flavors on the swallow.

heart of stone

1 oz Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Peloton de la Muerte)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
3/4 oz Cynar 70° Proof (Cynar, original 33° Proof)
6 drop Saline (20%)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with a flamed orange twist (unflamed). Two Thursdays ago, I spotted the Heart of Stone on my Instagram feed attributed to Stuart Weaver, owner and general manager of Lady Jane in Denver. I tracked the drink down to a Bartender Magazine article that describes how this Cynar for Campari split base Boulevardier was developed on the fly mid-Pandemic. Overall, it reminded me on paper of the Last American Hero with Bourbon instead of rye and without bitters; I used to make the Last American Hero a bit when I worked at Drink where I described it as a gussied up Little Italy. In the glass, the Heart of Stone conjured an orange, caramel, vegetal, and smoke bouquet for the nose. Next, caramel, grape, and plum notes on the sip charged forth into sweet Bourbon meeting smoky, herbal bitter flavors on the swallow.

stepwise improvement

1 1/4 oz Planteray Stiggins' Fancy Pineapple Rum
3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Maraschino (Luxardo)
2 dash Absinthe (20 drop St. George)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist. As I was sorting through the various months' posts to start on the year end wrap-up, I spotted Liholiho Yacht Club's Step into Liquid. Knowing how Maraschino can soften Campari – a trick that I learned at Eastern Standard with their Carnivale, I decided to modify their drink via the 1880s Improved Cocktail addition of Maraschino and absinthe. The drink that I dubbed Stepwise Improvement began with orange and nutty cherry aromas. Next, a dark grape sip flowed into rum, pineapple, bitter orange, nutty cherry, and anise flavors on the swallow. Overall, the addition of Maraschino and absinthe took the combination into a more tropical realm.

reverend de louisiane

2 oz Planteray Stiggins' Fancy Pineapple Rum
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
1/4 oz Benedictine
3 dash Peychaud's Bitters
3 dash Absinthe (30 drop St. George)

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass. Two Tuesdays ago, I spotted Matt Pietrek posting a pineapple rum riff on the De La Louisiane on Instagram. The recipe was called the Révérend de Louisiane as a nod to the job title of Stiggins in The Pickwick Papers as the hypocritical shepherd of the temperance movement, and it reminded me of Trina's Starlight Lounge's Stigginserac. When I inquired if the drink was his, Matt replied, "Yep. It's great with aged agricole, and at some point I thought, hmm... What about Stiggins'?" Once prepared, the Révérend de Louisiane opened up with anise and dark rum aromas. Next, a semi-sweet grape and dark cherry sip gained pineapple notes as the cocktail warmed up, and the swallow gave forth rum, pineapple, herbal, cherry, and anise flavors to round out the drink.

banana calling

1 3/4 oz Gin (Ford's)
1/2 oz Giffard Crème de Banane (Tempus Fugit)
3/8 oz Fino Sherry (Lustau Manzanilla)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a grapefruit twist (Madrusan source) or a dried banana chip (Difford's Guide) (I used a grapefruit twist). Two Mondays ago, I decided to make a recipe that I had uncovered while researching The Clash cocktail biopic that I published in October called the Banana Calling. The recipe was crafted by Cameron Attfield at Dandelyan in London 2018 as a riff on Chris Jepson's 2002 London Calling cocktail that I featured in my article. While both the The Madrusan Cocktail Companion and Difford's Guide both had the recipe, I used the spec from the former and the history from the latter. The latter summed up the drink as, "This short, sharp cocktail is best described as a Fino & Banana Gin Sour. The Fino and banana notes are subtle, so subtle that it is not obviously a banana cocktail, although the name should serve as a clue." In the glass, the Banana Calling gave forth a pink grapefruit and floral bouquet to the nose. Next, lemon and caramel notes on the sip sung out to gin, lemon pith, minerality, and a touch of cooked fruit flavors on the swallow.

lower west side

1 3/4 oz Irish Whiskey (Teeling Small Batch)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
1/2 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Dolin)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 pinch Sea Salt (4 drop 20% Saline)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a cherry. Two Sundays ago, I found a recipe by Kenneth McCoy at Ward III in New York City in a 2019 Imbibe Magazine article called the Lower West Side. Historically, the Lower West Side of Manhattan was a major center for Irish immigrants that intensified with the famine in Ireland during the 1840s-50s, and many found work on the nearby docks as longshoremen and congregated around waterfront taverns in the area. The combination of Irish whiskey and Lustau's cream sherry reminds me of Eastern Standard-related recipes like the Goonight Irene at the Hawthorne and Velveteen at Equal Measure. In the glass, the Lower West Side channeled a grape, nutty red cherry, and clove aroma to the nose. Next, grape and plum notes on the sip transformed into soft whiskey, oxidized nuttiness, and herbal flavors on the swalllow. Overall, the soft Irish whiskey gently blended into the background giving the sherry, vermouths, and bitters a much larger stage than in a classic rye Manhattan.

yellow jacket

3/4 oz Bonded Apple Brandy (Laird's)
3/4 oz Amaro Nardini
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Ginger Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with candied ginger. Two Saturdays ago, I reached for my copy of The Madrusan Cocktail Companion and spotted the Yellow Jacket in the Gimlet section. While there are several Yellow Jacket recipes out there to the point that the one in the Cocktail Dive Bar book called theirs the Yellow Jacket #2 to acknowledge that it is not the most original of names, this one was crafted by Greg Keesee at the Nashhville branch of Attaboy in 2021. Given the flying insect motif, it is most likely a riff on Sam Ross' Mosquito with its spirit, bitter liqueur, ginger syrup, and citrus structure that I last observed in the Dragonfly (and I more recently had the Overtime but without the bug naming convention). In the glass, the Yellow Jacket buzzed to the nose with ginger, apple, and herbal aromas. Next, lime and caramel notes on the sip opened up into apple, ginger, herbal, and minty flavors on the swallow.

throwing shade

1 1/2 oz Suntory Toki Japanese Whisky
3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Zucca (Sfumato)
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Two Fridays ago, I reached for my copy of Nico Martini's Texas Cocktails book, and I honed in on the Throwing Shade by Jessica Sanders at Nickel City Bar in Austin. The combination of whisky, Zucca, and grapefruit juice reminded me of Backbar's Zucca Hour, so I was intrigued. Once prepared, the Throwing Shade landed a smoky herbal and ginger bouquet on the nose. Next, grapefruit and roast notes on the sip gave way to whisky, herbal, ginger, and smoky bitter flavors on the swallow with an anise finish.

:: fred's picks for the top cocktails of 2025 ::

At the end of 2010, someone asked what my favorite drink of the year was, and I lacked an answer at first for there were so many good options to chose from. My choices were influenced by two factors – tastiness and uniqueness; it had to be both memorable and worth repeating. In past years, I did one post for drinks that I had out at bars and one post for drinks that I had at home; however, as I found myself going out less due to my work schedule and other factors, I cut it down to one post back in 2018. Each month here was selected for when the drink post appeared and not when it was enjoyed (unlike my real time Instagram account, I have a two week delay here before it goes live to give myself an ample window to write). Without further ado, here is the sixteenth annual installment of my best drinks for the year with a pair of runner ups.

January: The month with its cold, blustery winds was matched by a lot of stirred instead of citrusy cocktails. It was tough to pick a top drink, but I gave the award to Elayne Duff's Bienvenidos, an agave bitter-banana number from the updated The Tequila Ambassador from Wonk Press. Given the nod for second and third was Rosewater in Houston's Road to Ruin, a big, burly, and bitter number that came with an intriguing warning that was close to the top spot, and the Fireside Chat that was a maple-tinged Old Fashioned with the 1910's mezcal-Cognac base from Clyde's in Alexandria, Virginia.

February: The top choice for February went to the most gentle Malört drink I had all year with a solid ounce and a half – namely, the Wake Up Call at Shame & Regret in Colorado Springs. Bronze and silver in no particular order are the bitter Mane of Needles by Jason O'Bryan at URBN in San Diego as a Boulevardier riff on The Violet Hour's Autumn Negroni, and the Sidewinder, an apple-maple take on the Rattlesnake – the rye-sugar egg white Sour from The Savoy Cocktail Book. March: For March, a rather elegant Martini riff that spun in touches of Jamaican rum and banana liqueur, the Portorico from the 1000 Misture book from 1936, was a favorite, and I enjoyed serving it to my regulars who went off-menu with dealer's choice at the C-Side Bar. Honorable mention to Backbar's Right Paw of Destiny as a sherry and Montenegro twist on the neo-classic Right Hand, and to Butcher Chef's Patty O'Cann as a Scotch-Irish whiskey mashup of a Preakness and a Little Italy.

April: The Mohu as a Scotch-Bourbon Creole variation of sorts from the private members-only club The Poodle Room in Las Vegas caught my attention for the month. Urban Grub's dual amari Black Manhattan, the Spaghetti Western and Butcher Chef's apple-tinged Prospector Cocktail-style drink, the Forbidden Forest, were solid sippers too. May: I really enjoyed the Anyone's Shadow from Portland's Rum Club so much that it inspired me to riff on it with the Souls of the Mountain a few days later. May is also the month when my mint patch returns, so second tier mention went to Craig Herman's cribbage-Tiki (And) Knobs is Thirteen redux of the Ward 8, and also tropical but not citrussy with Brian Maxwell's Right Hand riff, Save the Last Dance.

June: I'll call June a draw with one shaken: an apple brandy-rum Swedish punch number called the Lost Generation at Bygone in Baltimore, and one stirred: a bitter fruity tequila drink dubbed Isla Bonita at Good Company in St. Louis. July: July was a winner of tropical-tiki month with top pick to Raine's Law Room's Bright Side as a banana-Armagnac Rye-Tai. Also delicious were Erick Castro's tequila-based Tiger's Claw at Gilly's and the complex Mistah Bittah Hai by Jacoby Morciglio at Adrift Tiki Bar in Denver.

August: August was a rather tough month to choose with a lot of tropical winners (as well as a few stirred ones as well). However, the Samson Swizzle by Samson Miller at the Zombie Village took the Queen's Park Swizzle into the tiki waters got my attention. Close second and third (in no order) were one of the many Coco Lopez drinks that I made, the Barrio Tropical at Good Company in St. Louis (the Piña Verde might have gotten the mention but it is already well known and Green Chartreuse is too difficult to source right now to promote an ounce and a half at a time), and a Meaghan Dorman's Averna for curaçao Mai Tai riff called Across the Pacific. September: The simple elegance of the Mexico Navy by Jordan Valls at Palomar in Portland read like a ginger Infante gets top merits for September; a few weeks later in October, I had a chance to get a drink from Jordan at Palomar during Portland Cocktail Week. A cool coffee-chile liqueur Coco Lopez number, the Aztec Warrior by Chad Austin in his Pandemic-era Everyone Has a F*cking Cocktail Book, and a great nightcap called the Essenza Vintage at Jacksonville's Cataluna were definitely notable.

October: The most memorable drink of the month was at a Ford's Gin-sponsored seminar at Portland Cocktail Week where they served a 3 Martini Lunch; riffing on my favorite Martini riff, the Tuxedo #2, to yield the Velvet Tuxedo No. 2 with the added fruit complexity and richness of sloe gin was a winner. Tavolota's bitter-tropical tequila Golden Eagle and the over-the-top Death Daiquiri with pineapple syrup from Rosewater in Houston need pointing out too. November: I may have been skewed by the fact that the Elected Official was created by my Instagram friend Tim Kirkland as a tribute drink inspired by my style, but it was an complex sipper with a split base, two modifiers, and bitters. November did keep tropical going with Lost Lake's No Bye/No Aloha that seemed like a Saturn gussied up in a variety of ways, and also worth mentioning was La Factoria in Puerto Rico's Hijos de Borinquen as a complex Daiquiri of sorts that fell between the Cuban Anole and the Periodista.

December: Another Saturn-inspired recipe caught my attention to place first for December with the Beyond the Solar System with rye whiskey, cinnamon, and an apple garnish to mix things up. Nick Mallia's Day For Night as a cucumber riff on the White Negroni at Bar Lunette and the Buffalo Soldier at Nineteen at TPC Sawgrass in Florida as a tequila-Bourbon Old Fashioned played good supporting roles for the month.

Some of my favorite creations not mentioned in yesterday's year end round-up: There were some drinks that I did not mention in my other roundup that got attention on Instagram including my Lion's Tail taken through a New England lens called the Bobcat's Tail, my Overpowered by Funk that I crafted for The Clash cocktail biopic, the Montebank as a Scotch-apple-amaro number, and my St. Mark's Street tribute of Save the Robots. It was great seeing other people in my feed taking the time to give my recipes a try this year! And below is a photo of my Doctor Yah-Yah as a Drink of Laughter and Forgetting meets a Nui-Nui. 2025 was definitely a great year for cocktails even if the trend of not going out on the town as much is still a thing for me. My job last year did not provide a lot of spare spending cash, and many of the bars in town are still making drinks too complicated to write up (still a hold over from the Pandemic as folks are wanting something they cannot make at their elevated home bars). Overall, I was able to narrow down the 12 months into 35 recipes that ranged from bitter stirred drinks to garnished up tropical ones, and that is around the top ten percent of posts on here for the year. Best wishes for 2026 both in your glass and in your life. Cheers!

the missing

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Peloton de la Muerte)
1/2 oz Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)

Shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with a grapefruit twist. Two Thursdays ago, I was still thinking of the Mai-Kai's Last Rites that I had the night before. Hearing "Last Rites" made me think of the 1988 Ministry song "The Missing" that has those as the lyrics, and I took the trio of citrus plus modifiers and was inspired to replace the rums with something appropriate for my new job at Gato Exotico. Indeed, I ended up using the 3:1 mezcal to Ancho Reyes ratio found in the Ancho Noir and Aztec Warrior. When served over a large ice cube instead of the Last Rite's crushed ice, The Missing gave forth grapefruit, vegetal, and smoke aromas. Next, lime, roast, and passion fruit notes escaped into smoky agave, pepper spice, tropical, and clove flavors on the swallow.