brown bittered stirred

2 oz Russell's Reserve 6 Year Rye (Old Overholt 86°)
1/2 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Cynar
1/4 oz JM Shrubb (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, garnish with lemon oils and orange oils from twists, and add a rock candy stick (omit).After getting home from a busy night at the bar, I reached for Home Bar Basics (And Not So Basics) 3rd Edition by Dave Stolte, and I landed upon the Brown Bittered Stirred. The recipe was created by Jason Schiffer at 320 Main in Seal Beach, California, sometime in the 2010s, and it came across like an orange-tinged Little Italy. Once prepared, it donated a lemon, orange, and caramel bouquet to the nose. Next, grape and caramel notes on the sip gave way to rye, bitter, and orange flavors on the swallow with a clove and orange finish. Overall, the orange liqueur shifted the balance enough that I no longer thought of it as a Little Italy riff while drinking it.

dark matter

2 oz Suntory Toki Whisky (Kavalan)
1/2 oz Sfumato Rabarbaro
1/4 oz Clement Creole Shrubb (Pierre Ferrand Curaçao)
1/4 oz Coffee Cordial (Kahlua)
3 drop Saline (1 small pinch Salt)

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.Two Fridays ago, I returned to the Hawthorne bar bible and spotted the Dark Matter by bartender Rob Ficks who now is at Pammy's in Cambridge. This bitter whisky drink was subtitled, "it's what you don't see that shapes our universe"; despite the physics allusion, I wondered if it was named after the Chicago coffee roaster given the coffee cordial in the recipe. The Dark Matter began with orange oil over dark herbal and smoky aromas. Next, a roasty char and orange sip transmuted into whisky, bitter herbal, and coffee-orange flavors on the swallow.

the war on christmas

1/4 oz JM Creole Shrubb (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao)
1/4 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
1/2 oz Rainwater Madeira (Blandy's 5 Year Verdelho)
3/4 oz Cardamaro
1 1/4 oz Brennivin Aquavit (Aalborg)

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with an orange twist and sage leaf (omit the sage).
Two Sundays ago, I decided to make a recipe that Paul MacDonald posted on his Instagram called The War on Christmas. The recipe is part of his Fibonacci series (each measure is the sum of the previous two) that he has delved into at Philadelphia's Friday Saturday Sunday restaurant over the last few years, and this one has a bit of a Martinez feel to it. The War on Christmas met the nose with an orange, caraway, savory, and grape bouquet. Next, grape, caramel, and orange notes on the sip added up to herbal cola and orange flavors on the swallow with a caraway finish.

destreza

1 oz Mezcal Amaras
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb Orange Liqueur
1/2 oz Baska Snaps Malort

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

Two Sundays ago, I decided to riff on a light digestif of 4 parts Lillet and 1 part each of Malört and orange liqueur and convert it into a mezcal drink. The idea was to craft a White Lucien Gaudin type of drink in the style of a White Negroni. I felt that the Malört would be complemented by mezcal but before I could make it that way, I did make for a guest as a gin variation. When I did give it a go, the vegetalness of the agave as well as the smoke really tied the combination together for me.
I dubbed the recipe the Destreza after the Iberian school of fencing to keep with the Lucien Gaudin theme. On the nose, the Destreza shared orange, earthy, and smoke notes that led into a light peachy and orange sip. Next, the swallow offered agave, smoke, bitter orange, and light lingering wormwood notes. Indeed, the sweetness of the orange liqueur and the complementary vegetal notes in the mezcal seemed to keep the Malört in check.

a dash and three dots

2 oz Berkshire Mountain Distiller's Greylock Gin
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1/4 oz Clement Creole Shrubb Orange Liqueur
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum
1 barspoon St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass, and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with either a dash and three dots imagery (such as a rectangular lemon wedge and three cherries) or a citrus peel honey bee. A lemon twist would work in a pinch.
Two Saturdays ago, I decided to try out a drink idea that I had thought of the day before which was a riff on the Three Dots and a Dash. After having made delightful tequila and mezcal substitutions for the rums, I wanted to change things up even further. First, I switched the spirit to gin and acid source to lemon from rum and lime, respectively,. And second, I took a page from Lost Lake in their Fog Cutter where they converted orange juice into orange liqueur. Since gin, honey, and lemon reminded me of a Bee's Knees, I looked to the Morse code chart and dubbed this one A Dash and Three Dots for B (is for Bee's Knees) instead of the classic's V (is for Victory). Indeed, the end result was on the drier side of Tiki with all of the flavors of the Bee's Knees with Tiki spice and a hint of orange liqueur.

dreadlock holiday

1 1/2 oz Jamaican Rum
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb Orange Liqueur
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Top with ice and garnish with an orange slice.
Two Mondays ago before the Espolón Cocktail Wars began, Andrea and I stopped into Green Street where bartenders Anne Warnock and Tommy Schlesinger-Guidelli were at the stick. For a drink, I asked Anne for the Dreadlock Holiday on the small menu that appeared as a counter to the Cuban Anole's variation on the Mai Tai by swapping the other sweetener for cinnamon syrup (besides the citrus change here). Once built, it offered orange and rum aromas that led into a citrussy sip. Finally, the swallow shared rum, orange, and cinnamon spice flavors.

of shoes and ships

1 1/2 oz Berkshire Mountain Distillers Greylock Gin
1/2 oz Creole Shrubb
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup (optional)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Build in a tall glass, add crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Top with crushed ice, garnish with a mint sprig and freshly grated nutmeg, and add a straw.
For Loyal Nine's The Walrus and The Carpenter event, I wanted to riff on the swizzled Pegu Club as that I had made before. To the grapefruit notes that are generated in the classic by orange liqueur, lime, and Angostura Bitters, I added to the bitter fruit complexity with some Aperol. In retrospect, this appears to be approaching the flavor profile of Paul Harrington's Jasmine, but I was not considering that drink at the time. With the British naval history of the Pegu Club in Burma, the poem line "Of Shoes and Ships" seemed appropriate. With all of the ice melt, I ended up adding a touch of simple syrup to modify it from how I would balance the shaken version of the drink.

royal funchal yacht club (come sail away)

1 1/2 oz Blandy's 5 Year Sercial
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
Simple Syrup to taste (1/4 oz) (*)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
(*) With a sweeter Madeira like Bual or Malmsey, no simple syrup would be needed.
For a drink idea for Loyal Nine's Yacht Rock Sundays, I thought about riffing on the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club that first appears in my library in Crosby Gaige's 1941 Cocktail Guide & Ladies' Companion and became more standardized in Trader Vic's 1947 book. Here, I was inspired by a cocktail I requested from Palmer Matthews at Drink for a sherry version of a Tiki or tropical recipe since sherry can often substitute for rum in these recipes. He, of course, selected the Trader Vic classic and I dubbed it the Royal Cadiz Yacht Club. Since sherry and Madeira have some similarities in balance, I figured it was worth a shot. For Yacht Rock Sunday that week, we ran out of mixing Malmsey, so I utilized our mixing Sercial Madeira and supplemented the mix with a touch of simple syrup. While Royal Funchal Yacht Club is what I would call this outside of Yacht Rock Sundays, for the event, it was called "Come Sail Away."

one night in bangkok

1 1/2 oz Barsol Pisco
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe.
For Loyal Nine's Yacht Rock Sunday menu, I mentioned my first pass at the One Night Bangkok which morphed into The Devil Walking Next To Me when I realized that the bottle I thought was allspice dram at the bar was actually Nux Alpina. To that structure (which I made at home), I swapped Batavia Arrack for pisco at work, kept the sweet vermouth and lime juice, and switched the two liqueurs to Benedictine and orange liqueur. While sweet vermouth has worked well in Sours, it seemed a little out of place here, and I ended up dropping it and upping the two liqueurs to resemble a Peruvian Honeymoon.

maneater

1 1/2 oz Privateer Silver Rum
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Rhum Clement Creole Shrubb
1/4 oz Campari

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Twist a grapefruit peel over the top and discard.
The staff at Loyal Nine got really into the naming of the drinks for Yacht Rock Sundays. While the Hungry Like the Wolf was my own name, many of the other names came from the servers and the kitchen staff. In fact, Chef Marc Sheehan is still quite proud that his drink name and pastel-y concept for week #2 became the first drink to knock Hungry Like the Wolf off the pedestal (but more on that drink later). This one, the Maneater, came from two of the servers, Matt and Sean, who figured that a Cosmo variant named after a Hall & Oates song would be a crowd pleaser. From the spirit, citrus, orange liqueur, and red element of the neo-classic Cosmopolitan, I ended up being influenced by the High Noon's spirit, orange liqueur, Campari, and grapefruit combination and switched the base to white rum and changed the proportions. However, my hint of Campari in this "Cosmo on the Riviera" just felt out of balance here with the grapefruit to the point that it was a bit flabby and thus the Campari came across as too bitter. To fix things, I knocked the grapefruit back from 3/4 oz to 1/2 oz and added a 1/2 oz of lime juice with all the rest of the elements in the recipe held constant. Indeed, I utilized the structure of a Hemingway Daiquiri to save the day. Problem solved, deliciously so.

knight fizz

1 1/2 oz Berkshire Mountain's Greylock Gin (*)
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb (or other orange liqueur)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 1/2 oz Whole Milk (Heavy Cream preferable)
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a Highball glass with 2 oz soda water. Garnish with an orange twist.
(*) A brandy such as Lustau would have worked well here too.
A few weeks ago, I had a request for a desserty cocktail at work. While I considered doing a Flip, I thought that something refreshing yet sweet like a New Orleans-style Fizz would better hit the spot. For a flavor combination, I crossed David Embury's brandy-based Knight Cocktail with the Ramos Gin Fizz. Perhaps I should have kept the cocktail's brandy since it worked so well in the fizzy Saratoga Brace Up to provide richness, but gin at that moment seemed to go with the flavors better. While David Embury would have hated this drink that was too sugary, too citrussy, and not booze-forward enough all the while ruined by dairy and eggs, my guest certainly enjoyed it.

guiding light

2 oz Xicaru Mezcal
3/4 oz Gran Classico
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrub
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

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

I was pleasantly surprised on the most recent Russell House Tavern cocktail menu that there was a drink on there by Joe Slavinski. Joe recently switched from being a server to a bartender and took to the trade rather quickly. His creation, the Guiding Light, was named as a homage to everyone he has learned from, but it was left unclear if he is also a soap opera junky (which would not interfere with his more nocturnal professional wrestling watching). In a way, his drink reminded me of a smoky and spiced agave-based Lucien Gaudin.
The Guiding Light began with an orange oil and smoky aroma with a hint of bubblegum from the Gran Classico. An orange-driven sip led into a smoky mezcal swallow followed by orange and bitter herbal notes and lastly a smoky allspice finish.

camparipolitan

The Cosmopolitan has been getting bashed a lot by modern mixologists as of late, and I have found myself defending it a bit more than expected. Sure, the 1980s drink got fame in the 1990s and made big splashes thanks to Madonna and Sex and the City. It is often touted as a chick drink as well. During my early bar years in the 1990s, the Kamikaze was still revered as a serious shot. Vodka, lime juice, and triple sec. So if you add a splash of cran to a Kamikaze, what do you get? True, it would be so much better as a gin drink, and that had already been done in the first few decades of the 20th century with the gin-based Cosmopolitan using raspberry syrup instead of cranberry. In fact, at a Milagro buy-out event, I asked the bartender for a tequila Cosmo perhaps with a hint of irony given that it was expected that I would request something highfalutin to stump the bartender. People looked at me funny until I explained that it was a Margarita with a dash of cranberry. The idea came to me after asking for a tequila Scofflaw since that whiskey classic was on their menu already, and I was thinking of other classics to tequila-ize.

Two days ago on Facebook, there was a thread where one bartender complained that, "Tonight a man told me, after ordering a Cosmo, that he 'truly hated' mine. And that it was 'undrinkable'." I commiserated and shared how someone once called my 3:1:1 Margarita at work the worst he had ever had. But the rest of the thread devolved into bashing the Cosmopolitan ranging from the drink itself to the people who order them as well as questioning their masculinity and class. It got me thinking about how the art form of a Daisy with a splash of tart and bitter cranberry juice could be elevated. My mind went straight for Fernet Branca for it works well in drinks containing triple sec and citrus such as the Ali-Frazier (which was inspired by the citrus-less Alcazer from the same book as the 1903-33 Cosmo). However, all that rosiness from the cranberry and brightness from the other ingredients would be drowned out by a sea of black or brown from the liqueur. But wait, what about Campari? It has worked well for drinks in Beta Cocktails, at the Anvil, and in my own experiments, so why not? I sent myself an email at 1:30 that day to remind myself to tinker with it at work during a slow moment over the next few days.
That night during my shift, CJ, one of the servers, had spoke highly of me to his table, and he came by to relay their question if I could make something with Campari as the base spirit. It just doesn't get any better timing than that! When the ticket for "Campari Up$ (Message: YARM)" came in, I set to work and whipped one up as a modification of my standard Cosmo (more lime and cranberry juice by a touch). It was still a bit bitter before I shook it, so I added a pinch of salt to cut that bitterness and bring out Campari's rich orange flavors that would complement the other citrus notes in the drink. Before I could get their opinion through the server, another ticket came in for "Campari Up$ (Message: YARM)" to the same table which answered my question. Apparently, one of the tablemates fancied it as well. That second one before I sent it out is pictured above. For a name, I opted for the Camparipolitan although the Cosmopari was a close second.

Camparipolitan (or Cosmopari?)
• 2 oz Campari
• 1 oz Triple Sec (Clement Creole Shrubb here)
• 1 oz Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Cranberry Juice
• 1 pinch Salt
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist. A home version of 1 1/2 : 3/4 : 3/4 : fat 1/4 : 1 pinch would work well too.

Yesterday, I made a mini version to get tasting notes. The orange twist at first contributed a lot of bright orange oil notes, but as those oils were sipped away, the nose became more orange peel driven over time. The sip was tart lime and orange, and a different orangeness, a darker more bitter one from the Campari, came through on the swallow along with the cranberry flavors. Finally, the drink ended with a slightly tart and bitter finish. Overall, it was like a Cosmo made with some extra citrussy vodka with some additional bitter herbal complexity.

The Daisy itself is such a strong base of a drink. I even tinkered with it for a recent Mixology Monday with the Double Daisy where I hybridized the Margarita and the Sidecar. Indeed, it is a family of drink that still makes people very happy and has a classic and elegant history and feel to it.

accoutrement

2 oz Calvados (VSOP Boulard)
3/4 oz Strega
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Creole Shrubb or Grand Marnier (GM)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with 3 brandied cherries (omitted).

Two Saturdays ago, I began the cocktail hour by looking for a drink from the new Food & Wine Cocktails 2014, a best of the last decade of drinks from them. The one that caught my eye was one from Chris Hannah of Arnaud's French 75 Bar in New Orleans; like his Decolletage, this one was elegantly named the Accoutrement.
The Accoutrement greeted the nose with an apple and herbal aroma. The apple notes continued on into the sip where it mingled with the lemon being modified by the Grand Marnier's orange notes. Finally, the rest of the apple flavors came through on the swallow along with the Strega's herbal ones, and the Accoutrement ended with an orange peel, anise, and spice finish.

libertine

1 1/2 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass.
For a final drink at the Barrel House in Beverly, I requested the Libertine from bartender John Wierszchalek. The ingredients list reminded me of an Army Navy with extra citrus flavors from an orange liqueur. Once mixed, the Libertine shared a floral, orange, and lemon aroma. A creamy citrus sip gave way to a gin and nutty swallow.

andean flamingo

1 1/2 oz La Diablada Pisco
3/4 oz Vya Whisper Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Creole Shrubb Orange Liqueur
1 barspoon Galliano
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe.

Since the Andean Flamingo came so highly recommended, I tried it next at the Macchu Pisco La Diablada event at the Hawthorne. Bartender Jackson Cannon described how Katie Emmerson had crafted this recipe and based it off of the El Presidente. The drink was named after one of the rarest flamingo species in the world that happens to reside in the wetlands around the Andes mountains in Peru, Argentina, and Chile; with the Peychaud's Bitters in the mix, the color of the libation matched the birds' plumage rather well.
The Andean Flamingo proffered an herbal, floral, orange, and anise nose. A citrussy wine sip led into the pisco on the swallow; finally, the swallow ended with vanilla and anise spice notes from the Galliano and Peychaud's Bitters. Definitely the lighter balance of this drink allowed the subtleties La Diablada Pisco to shine through more than it did in the rather flavorful Montesco.

roald's traveler

1 oz W.L. Weller Bourbon
1 oz Peach Shrub (*)
1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb
1 barspoon Honey Syrup
1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and a lime wheel, and add a straw.
(*) Check here and here for how to make a shrub.

Two Sundays ago, I was planning on making it to Scott Marshall's last shift at the Hawthorne before he moves on to Savannah, Georgia. My adventure started in Central Square so I paid a quick visit to Craigie on Main. For a drink, I asked bartender Ann for the Roald's Traveler that was created by Jared Sadoian using a peach shrub that she had crafted. With the peach element, I assumed that the recipe was a homage to Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach.
The garnishes added a slightly tropical feel with lime and nutmeg aromas. The rest of the drink felt more Southern as the sip offered up the peach, orange, and honey notes. Finally, the peach continued on into the swallow along with the Bourbon flavor and the savory aspect of the shrub's vinegar.

lauren and orange

2 oz Chinaco Añejo Tequila
1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Clément Créole Shrubb Orange Liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

After the rum drink, Todd suggested switching gears to a tequila one, the Lauren and Orange, that was a riff on the Margarita. Todd explained that Lauren is a regular along with Simon and one night she showed up wearing an orange shirt; this is the drink that he made for her.
The Lauren and Orange offered up a lime and orange aroma; these two citrus notes continued on into the sip along with the vermouth's grape flavor. The swallow then presented the aged tequila plus citrus peel notes. Indeed, the citrus balanced by orange liqueur and sweet vermouth worked rather well here as it has in drinks like the brandy-based Emily Shaw's Special.

mary's sock drawer

1 1/2 oz Bols Genever
1/3 oz Rhum Clement Creole Shrubb
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Grand Classico

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass garnished with Grand Classico paint (remainder from roto-vap, boiled down to thicken).

The other drink bartender Todd Maul made for me at Clio was Mary's Sock Drawer which is part of the homage, along with Mary's Liquor Cabinet, to the other Clio bartender.  Apparently, Mary counters by referring to the Sock Drawer as the Bitter Todd.
The Mary's Sock Drawer began with a malty aroma that was complemented by herbal notes from the Grand Classico. The malt continued on into the sip where it paired with the citrus notes that seemed to be derived more from the orange liqueur. The lime though came through stronger on the swallow along with the Grand Classico bitter flavors and the Bols Genever's wormwood and other botanical notes.

[heather in the rye]

1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
3/4 oz Clement Creole Shrub
1/3 oz Fernet Branca
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a glass pre-rinsed with Lagavulin 16 Year Old Scotch. Garnish with an orange twist.

On Monday after my DJ gig, Andrea and I went up the street to Eastern Standard and found seats at the bar near bartender Kevin Martin. When I told Kevin that it had been a while since I had any rye, he immediately knew what to mix for me. The drink he returned with was his submission for the east coast version of Left Coast Libations' book. While he did not have a name for the drink, the concept reminded me of a whiskey Heather in Queue.
The drink started with an orange and smoke nose, and malt notes appeared in the beginning of the sip. On the swallow, orange and Fernet flavors added a nice finish to the drink, and the Scotch rinse came through as a lingering smoke note at the end. Surprisingly, the Fernet Branca was kept in check in this recipe, and it did not seem very mentholly until the cocktail warmed up. Instead, some of Fernet's other botanicals played a more dominant role.