gin anthem

2 oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz Lillet Blanc
2 drop Orange Flower Water
1 dash Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and garnish with an orange twist (this drink was shaken, but the original recipe recommends stirring).
On Monday after attending the LUPEC Boston holiday party at Trina's Starlite Lounge to raise money and winter clothing for the On the Rise charity, I walked up Beacon Street to get a nightcap at Dalí. After perusing the cocktail menu, I asked bartender Greg Rossi for the Gin Anthem. The drink was created by Tara McLaughlin of the Rob Roy in Seattle; while I did not ask Greg where he acquired the recipe, the drink does appear in Left Coast Libations. The Gin Anthem was essentially a citrussy Martini, and the orange blossom water in the ingredients list reminded me of another drink Greg served me a few months ago, namely the Dama de La Noche from Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s South American Companion. The Gin Anthem had an orange aroma, and with all five of the ingredients including the gin having some aspect of orange botanicals in it, it was hard to pick out which one was the strongest. The citrus continued on in the sip with perhaps the Lillet contributing the most, and the swallow was orange as well with a slightly bitter zing from the bitters and gin.

chet baker

2 oz Appleton V/X Rum
1/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Honey Syrup
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Add straws.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I stopped by Dalí in Somerville where Greg Rossi was tending bar. Greg had recently rewritten the menu and included a section of current mixology creations including John Gertsen's Mission of Burma and Jamie Boudreau's Chet Baker. Greg was introduced to the Chet Baker after taking Misty Kalkofen's recommendation to visit the Varnish bar when he was in Los Angeles. There, bartender Eric Alperin made him one and taught him the recipe.
The Chet Baker calls for aged rum which Greg interpreted as Appleton but apparently Jamie created it with Barbancourt. Greg served this drink with no garnish, but Brian Rea listed the drink on his site as a skewered brandied cherry and orange peel. The drink provided a rich rum aroma. Furthermore, the rum and honey filled the sip, and the Angostura Bitters and Punt e Mes' grape and bitter notes completed the swallow. Overall, the Chet Baker seemed more like a Rum Old Fashioned to me than a Rum Manhattan.

dama de la noche

1 1/2 oz Brandy
1 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Torres Gran Torres Orange Liqueur
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Wet the edge of a cocktail glass with orange flower water and rim with sugar. Shake ingredients with ice and strain into glass. Garnish with five or six drops of orange flower water.

My second drink at Dalí on Monday was also from Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s South American Gentleman's Companion. I asked Greg Rossi to make me a Dama de la Noche which was listed on the menu as stemming from the Panagra Country Club in Medellin, Columbia, where Baker quaffed it in 1949. The drink started with a very sweet orange blossom water nose which Andrea described as "ambrosial." The drink name seems to suggest a lady of ill repute; however, given the strong floral aroma, I had my doubts. Indeed, it is probably named after the flowers of a woody shrub, Cestrum nocturnum, that emit their strong fragrance only at night (and hopefully, someone with the book can confirm this for me, if it is at all mentioned in the text). While the aroma prepared you for something rather sweet, the drink was not overly so. The pineapple and orange liqueur proved to be an interesting pairing with the brandy adding some extra kick and dryness to the equation. The orange-pineapple pairing plus orange flower water reminded me of the pisco-based César Moro; however, the César Moro used Cointreau while this version of the Dama de la Noche used the more flavorful Torres orange liqueur (not sure what liqueur the original recipe recommends, but Dalí is a Spanish tapas restaurant after all). Tasted alone, the Torres was brandy-based and spicy; it was thick but did not seem all that sweet similar to Grand Marnier. In the drink, the pineapple juice seemed to temper the Torres' spice and thick mouthfeel.

zulia garden cocktail

2 oz Bacardi Silver Rum
1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
2 dash (1/4 oz) Grenadine
1 tsp Lime Juice
1 tsp Egg White
1 tsp Rich Simple Syrup (2:1)

Shake once without ice to emulsify the egg white, and once with. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry.

On Monday, we paid a visit to Dalí in Somerville to visit Greg Rossi who has revamped their cocktail menu. Revamped might not do it justice since it went from four drinks or so to a full page of original and classic cocktails. The two cocktails I had that evening were taken from the pages of the rare and out of print Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s South American Gentleman's Companion. The drink I started with was served to Baker at the Zulia Garden Club in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 1948. The curious red potion was topped with a light froth from the egg white and started with a fruity nose from the cherry liqueur and grenadine. The sip contained a cherry flavor mixed with a vague fruitiness; in addition, it had a delightful crispness from the lime and dry vermouth, and this was followed by the rum on the swallow. Since I lack this volume of Baker's writing, I have no further history about this drink or whether the recipe served to me was true to the text (some of Baker's recipes can be finessed into tastier drinks with a little adjustment).