little boots

1 oz Diplomatico Planas White Rum
1 oz Amaro Montenegro
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
1 tsp Bittermens Tiki Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass, and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with 1 dash Angostura Bitters and a lemon twist, and add a straw.
As I was approaching Compere Lapin, I bumped into Tad Carducci who was leading a bus-drawn Diplomatico Rum cocktail crawl across the city. Tad invited me to join them at the Cure, so I agreed and hopped on the bus. There, we were treated to a small menu of Diplomatico drinks, and I selected the Little Boots created by Cure bartender Ryan Gannon who also was the one who mixed it for me. Once prepared, the Little Boots gave forth a lemon, clove, and cinnamon bouquet to the nose. Next, a creamy lemon sip transitioned into rum, nutty, and clementine flavors on the swallow with a spice-driven finish.

summer in st. tropez

1 oz El Tesoro Platinum Tequila
1 oz Cynar
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/4 oz 2:1 Demerara Syrup
4 drop Fee's Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a Double Old Fashioned glass, fill with cubed ice, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.

For a second drink, I asked bartender Ryan Gagnon for the Summer in St. Tropez. The ingredients list on the menu made me think of Under the Volcano, but the actual recipe was much more Cynar forward here. Ryan also declared that the 4 drops of aromatic bitters did indeed matter.
The Summer in St Tropez presented a grapefruit oil aroma over that of the agave notes. Next, the Cynar's caramel mingled with the lime on the sip, and the swallow shared tequila paired with funky bitter and herbal flavors. Overall, the drink was in the same ballpark as Under the Volcano but the flavor balance was much more funky and herbal and less tequila-driven.

melancholy moment

3/4 oz City of London Gin
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz St. George Raspberry Liqueur
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice

Add 5 mint leaves to the bottom of a Collins glass, add rest of ingredients, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Float 1 1/2 oz Fever Tree tonic water, top with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig.

Each year, I have began my Tuesday night before Tales of the Cocktail starts by visiting the Cure. Luckily, this coincided with bartender Ryan Gagnon's schedule for we had been on the same USBG-sponsored trip to Mexico to visit the Patron distillery. As a first drink, I asked Ryan for the Melancholy Moment, a "low proof botanical Swizzle" created by Alexandra Anderson.
The Melancholy Moment gave forth a mint aroma that preceded a grape note leading into grapefruit on the sip. The swallow was a combination of raspberry and the Punt e Mes' bitterness with a mint finish, and as the tonic top entered the equation, the balance became cleaner with a quinine finish.

beyond the infinite

1 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quinquina
1/2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice; both of these were not full length intentionally. Strain into a Fizz glass topped with 1/2 oz soda water. Garnish with a spritz of Angostura Bitters.
For a second drink at the Cure, I opted for the Beyond the Infinite by bartender Turk Dietrich that was described as "A light herbal riff on a classic Whiskey Fizz." Perhaps I was drawn in by the fact that Turk had created this one or perhaps by the name which was reminiscent of others such as their Drink of Laughter and Forgetting. Interesting, the largest spirituous component was Bonal with whiskey only playing a supporting backbone role here. On the nose, the Angostura Bitters garnish contributed clove and cinnamon notes. While the sip was creamy lemon and orange with a hint of fizz, the swallow presented grape with a hint of whiskey along with a bitter and citrus finish.

like cockatoos

1 oz Smith & Cross Rum
3/4 oz Bigallet China-China Amer Liqueur
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
1/2 Lemon (cubed)
1/2 Strawberry

Muddle the lemon pieces and strawberry, shake with ice, and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Add straws, garnish with an orange twist, and mist with 7 spritzes of Angostura Bitters.

Like my three previous Tales of the Cocktails, I spent Tuesday night making the pilgrimage to Freret Street to get drinks at the Cure. Given the name, it was bound to happen -- a drink at the Cure named after a song by the Cure. This one was dubbed after one of my favorites from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and was created by bartender Braden LaGrone. The Like Cockatoos was very Cobbler-esque save for the stronger spirits and perhaps the lack of crushed ice.
The orange twist on the Like Cockatoos was reminiscent of the parrot's head plumage and it contributed to the drink's aroma along with the Angostura Bitters' clove and other spice notes. On the palate, caramel and orange on the sip gave way to funk rum and Pimm's-like flavors on the swallow.

angel version

1 oz Boulard Calvados
1 oz Broker's Gin
1/2 oz Marie Brizard Apry
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
>1/4 oz Lemon Juice
14 drop Angostura Bitters
6 leaf Mint

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Express the oils out of a piece of orange peel and garnish with it.

For my last drink that night at the Cure, I requested Turk Dietrich's Angel Version from the man himself. Turk explained that he took the Angel Face from the Savoy Cocktail Book, an equal parts drink of Calvados, dry gin, and apricot brandy, and made his own variation of it. Turk kept the dual base spirits but split the apricot brandy into apricot, Punt e Mes, and lemon juice and added some mint and Angostura Bitters to the mix.
Here, the orange twist paid great dividends to the drink's aroma and worked well with the apricot flavors that came out later in the drink. The sip was rather fruity with lemon, grape, and apple notes, and the swallow was a contrast of apricot and bitter notes from the Punt e Mes and Angostura Bitters. Indeed, the counter balance of the apricot flavor and the dark herbal ones made for a very stunning effect.

king vittorio's cobbler

2 oz Zucca Rabarbaro Amaro
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1 Strawberry

Muddle strawberry. Add rest of the ingredients and ice. Shake and double strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a slapped mint leaf and another strawberry.

For my second drink at the Cure bar in New Orleans, I asked bartender Turk Dietrich for the King Vittorio's Cobbler created by Neal Bodenheimer. I was quite impressed when Turk replied by asking me if he had made me a Cobbler the last time I had been there. Keep in mind that was a little over a year ago, but apparently that Sherry Cobbler was delicious enough for both of us to remember. Besides my appreciation for the drink style, the combination of Zucca and strawberry was rather tempting. For a name connection, there is a bar in Milan that is called Caffè Miani and nicknamed Zucca. This cafe is located in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele at the Piazza del Duomo. As for the "king" part, this expensive shopping arcade was named after King Vittorio Emanuele II who ruled over Italy for 17 years until his death in 1878. And yes, they do serve Zucca at the Zucca now.
Indeed, the strawberry paired quite well with the dark notes of the Zucca on the nose. Next, the sip was a sweet strawberry and lemon taste, and this was followed by a clean flavor from the rhubarb root and other botanicals in the Zucca. For such a simple drink, it had a lot of character and the Cobbler format was perfect for the presentation.

the drink of laughter and forgetting

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup
14 drop Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a spritz of Angostura Bitters over the top.

The evening after landing, I did one of my favorite parts of the Tales experience -- my third annual trip out to the Cure bar on the Tuesday night before things kick off. Without all of the Tales attendees in town yet, I easily found a seat at the bar in front of Turk Dietrich. For a starting point, my eyes honed in on the Drink of Laughter and Forgetting that was created by Mike Yusko. In my mind, the pairing of Green Chartreuse and Cynar worked so well in Ryan Lotz's Monk's Thistle; however, I did not realize until later that the Drink of Laughter and Forgetting seemed to be a progression from the Art of Choke that I was served at the Cure two years ago.
The drink Turk made me started with an aroma of Angostura from the garnish and lime and Chartreuse notes from the drink itself. While the sip was a rich lime flavor, the swallow contained the Cynar and Chartreuse. Interestingly, these two flavorful liqueurs switched prominence throughout the latter half of the sip and swallow. In fact, my neighbor who was also drinking one commented that there was an "ebb and flow of bitter and herbal." I am not sure if the title refers to both of these liqueurs individually, but if so, my money is on the 110 proof Chartreuse as the forgetting part. Or perhaps Mike is just a big fan of Milan Kundera who wrote The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.

start & finish

1 1/2 oz Averna
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz Obsello Absinthe
1/2 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
2 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with an orange twist.

One of Andrea's projects at Tales of the Cocktail this year was to learn about old New England rum. Our interest stems from where we live in Somerville, MA, right next to the Medford border. A short distance from our house was a mighty rum distillery in Somerville and a rather famous one in Medford that were churning out a good amount of liquor before Prohibition. I know that Andrea has a keen interest in seeing rum being made again in the area, but she had no clue what the style actually tasted like. Eventually, she was referred to Steve Remsberg who invited us out to a private tasting of some vintage New England and other old styles of rum on Sunday evening. After a brief rest following the egg seminar, we headed out to grab a taxi.

Since Steve only lives a mile away from the Cure, after the tasting, we decided to walk over to the bar and meet up with the last of the Boston folk who had not departed New Orleans already. In the middle of draining a complimentary cup of punch, I decided on Rhannon Enlil's Start & Finish cocktail off of the cocktail menu and asked bartender Nick to make me one.
The Start & Finish possessed a robust orange oil nose. On the sip, the Averna donated a richness at the beginning of the sip which paired nicely with hints of orange flavor, while on the swallow, the absinthe's anise notes captivated the senses. The drink was really mellow considering that there was a half ounce of absinthe; this speaks either to the Averna rounding out the drink or to Obsello being a softer style of absinthe.

After the Cure, we caught a cab with Devin to go to the Monteleone's carousel bar for a few last revolutions. I ended up spending a good part of the night talking to Paul Clarke over a Vieux Carré and reflecting on how this Tales of the Cocktail had panned out. Soon, the carousel had stopped turning and we realized it was 2am. Our airport shuttle was departing at 6:50am and the realization that life was going to return back to normal all too suddenly and harshly had dawned upon me.

sherry cobbler

2 oz Lustau Pedro Ximenez "San Emilio" Sherry
1 barspoon Demerara Syrup
17 drop Bittermens Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a highball filled with fresh ice. Garnish with berries of the season.

Friday was spent learning more about French spirits. Our education at Tales started with Wednesday's "Bariana: The Golden Age of French Cocktails" and continued on with Friday's "Armagnac, France's First Brandy" and "How French Products Contribute to Cocktails." After these two sessions, we made our way over to the St. Charles Streetcar to go to the Bittermens Launch Party at the Cure. Well, launch of their Tiki and Boston Bittahs and relaunch of their Mole and Grapefruit Bitters since shifting production from Germany to stateside in Somerville, MA.
Although the Cure did not have a special menu for the event, the bartenders were up for making drinks with any of the four bitters. For my first drink, I asked what bartender Turk Dietrich what he could do with sherry and the mole bitters. While I was expecting the sherry to be used more as an accent, Turk surprised me by making sherry the major spirit and going old school with a Cobbler. I was also impressed at the attention to detail given in "ornament[ing] with berries in season" a la Jerry Thomas' recipe. The Pedro Ximénez sherry provided a very refreshing sweet fruit flavor and nuttiness to the Cobbler, and Andrea thought that it tasted "like liquid figs." I was rather impressed with how the fruit and nutty notes worked with the chocolate and spice in the bitters, as was Avery Glasser who quite enjoyed the pairing from the sip he had.

art of choke

1 oz White Rum
1 oz Cynar
1/8 oz Lime Juice
1/8 oz Demerara Syrup (2:1)
1/4 oz+ Green Chartreuse (to taste)
Mint

Muddle a mint sprig with the other ingredients. Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig.

After the Martin Miller cocktail reception for the bloggers on Tuesday night last week, Andrea and I decided to go out to Cure. We ignored the advice to take a taxi out there and decided to walk. Not sure how far down St. Charles before we should turn to get onto Freret Street, we turned early and enjoyed a nice walk... um, through what we later learned are the Magnolia Projects. I cannot tell if it was years of experience walking through bad parts of Boston and a summer walking through all of Manhattan or just plain luck, but we made it through unscathed save for a few comments hurled at us. One of the bartenders gave us not only major props for walking the 4 miles from the French Quarter to the bar but for seeing the sights. Honestly, we were more disturbed about the suicidal cockroaches that would dash under out footfalls on the sidewalk. Apparently, the Magnolia Projects are not what they used to be during the pre-Katrina days, but the Crips writing and other gang evidence was still evident.

So after an hour walk, it was definitely time for a drink! Cure had their normal menu plus a special smaller one just for Tales of the Cocktail. The latter one was taken directly from their Rogue Cocktails book which helped to promote its sale (part of the reason we bought it). Bartender Maksym Pazuniak made my first drink, the Art of Choke, from the shorter cocktail list. The rum and Cynar pairing seemed to bring out different aspects from the Cynar than we have tasted when paired with other spirits. The drink had a surprising amount of mint flavor and it worked rather well with the Chartreuse. Usually mint is more of a smell than a taste, but perhaps the pairing with Chartreuse and/or Cynar promoted some synergy on the taste buds. The Rogue book cites bartender Kyle Davidson as the source and describes the drink as follows, "Picture yourself in the limestone-walled courtyard of an Italian villa off the coast of the Riviera. You are surrounded by fragrant herbs and flowers, and the sea air is blowing gently. The sun is bright, but it's not hot, and you have nothing to do all day but relax and savor the sensations all around you. Drinking this cocktail is kind of like that if somebody suddenly punched you in the stomach just as you were beginning to doze off in the sun. In a good way." While the quantity of drinks in the book is not grand, the quality of the recipes is high and edgy and the text is replete with a similar sense of humor as the Art of Choke's entry.

For my second drink, I asked Rhiannon Enlil to make their Black and Blue Grass off of their regular menu. Sazerac Rye, Averna, Aperol, Peychaud's and Angostura Bitters with a grapefruit twist. This Black Manhattan-like drink was pre-batched so I did not get a recipe and it was served on the rocks (I later found it posted on BarNotes and made it here). After that drink, we decided to walk home through the safer Garden District -- great scenery, but rather uneventful save for a kitty who wanted to follow us home.