mexico navy

2 oz Blanco Tequila (Arette)
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with candied ginger. Two Thursdays ago, I decided to make a recipe that I had spotted in Punch called the Mexico Navy as a riff on the classic Army & Navy Cocktail that was updated by Jordan Valls at Palomar in Portland, Oregon. Jordan swapped in tequila and lime for the gin and lemon plus added ginger as a spice (or in place of the Angostura Bitters that later found its way into the recipe -- see the blog post link above for more on that) to the classic first mentioned in the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book and first published recipe-wise in David Embury's 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Overall, it read like a ginger Infante, so why not give it a whirl? Once prepared, the Mexican Navy sailed to the nose with a ginger, agave, and hint nutty aroma. Next, a creamy lime sip dropped anchor to mineral-vegetal tequila, almond, and ginger flavors on the swallow.

italian buck

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1 1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass (Moscow Mule mug), add 3 oz ginger beer (Reed's), fill with ice, and garnish with a lime wheel. Note: the recipe in Boudreau's book is scaled down to 1 oz each of the amari and 1/2 oz lime juice; the ginger beer amount is the same but the garnish is a lime wedge.
Two Mondays ago, I reached for Brad Parsons' Amaro book and came across the Italian Buck that reminded me of the unopened bottle of ginger beer in my refrigerator. The recipe was crafted by Jamie Boudreau at Seattle's Cannon featuring two bitter liqueurs in a Buck format similar to the Fernet Buck at Deep Ellum. I followed the recipe that Parsons provided, but I later checked in Boudreau's book, The Canon Cocktail Book and noted that some of the volumes were adapted (see the note in the instructions above). Boudreau also commented in his book that, "While the Cynar carries all the funky bitter vegetal notes, the Montenegro helps round it out with its abundance of citrusy flavors." Once prepared, the Italian Buck welcomed the nose with lime, ginger, and orange aromas. Next, a carbonated caramel and lime sip bucked into ginger, funky herbal, and clementine flavors on the swallow.

black friar tea

2 oz Plymouth Gin (Tanqueray)
1 1/3 oz Pimm's No. 1
2/3 oz Aperitivo Liqueur (1/3 oz Aperol + 1/3 oz Campari)

Build in a Collins or Highball glass with ice, top with 3 oz ginger beer (Reed's), and garnish with a lemon wheel and a lime wheel (lemon twist).

For the cocktail hour two Sunday nights ago, I began flipping through Lou Bustamante's The Complete Cocktail Manual to look for a passed-over gem. There, I spied the Black Friar Tea by Julian Miller of Tampa's USBG chapter. If I still had Plymouth Gin on my shelves, I would have utilized it here (given the name and the recipe's spirit call), for the distillery took over the Black Friars' monastery as I mentioned in my Plymouth tribute, the Black Friar. I later discovered and made a gin-based Black Friars from an old United Kingdom Bartenders Guild's Approved Cocktails book that was surely a tribute as well despite the lack of gin specification. Here, the recipe came across like a embittered Pimm's Cup crossed with a Fog Horn (gin, ginger ale +/- lime), so I was definitely curious.
For the aperitivo, I felt that Aperol would be quite pleasant here, but there was a chance that it could get lost; therefore, I split the volume with Campari. Once prepared, the Black Friar Tea donated a lemon, pine, and fruity bouquet to the nose. Next, a carbonated orange and berry sip was followed by juniper, bitter orange, and ginger flavors on the swallow.

harvest sling

1 1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Cherry Heering

Shake with ice, add 1 1/2 oz ginger beer (Reed's) to the shaker, and strain into a Collins glass with crushed ice. Garnish with half an orange wheel and two cherries on a pick (orange twist).
Two Wednesdays ago, I delved back into my Food & Wine: Cocktails collection and found an interesting Singapore Sling riff in the 2014 edition (although closer to the original than the more modern, fussy one). That recipe was the Harvest Sling of John Deragon at PDT in Manhattan, and the apple brandy and ginger beer direction seemed to fit the weather quite well. In the glass, the Harvest Sling greeted the nose with orange oil notes that preceded a carbonated cherry sip. Next, the swallow offered apple, more cherry, and herbal flavors with a ginger finish.

amped-up pimm's cup

1 oz Pimm's No. 1
1 oz Beefeater Gin
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
3 leaf Mint
1 Strawberry
1 slice Cucumber

Muddle the mint, strawberry, and cucumber in a shaker tin. Add the rest of the ingredients, shake with ice, and double strain into a Collins glass with ice. Top with 2 oz ginger beer (Reed's) and garnish with a cucumber slice, lemon wheel, mint sprig, and half a strawberry.

Two Sundays ago after having a large dinner at Vee Vee, I sought out a ginger beer drink to settle the stomach. My search led me to Carey Jones' Brooklyn Bartender where there was a ginger beer variation in the Pimm's Cup section (where I found the Wire + String) called the Amped-Up Pimm's Cup; despite Jones attributing the rest of the drinks to individual bars and bartenders across Brooklyn, this one lacked any information so perhaps it was the author's contribution to the borough's tapestry. I was also excited that the recipe would provide a fourth use of my strawberry purchase.
The Amped-Up Pimm's Cup donated strawberry, cucumber, and mint notes to the nose. Next, a carbonated berry sip slid into gin, ginger, cucumber, and mint flavors on the swallow.

kentucky buck

2 oz Bourbon (Four Roses)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 medium Strawberry
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Muddle the strawberry, add the rest of the ingredients, shake with ice, and double strain into a Collins glass (copper mug) with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer (2 oz Reed's) and garnish with a lemon wheel.
Since I had bought strawberries to make the Andalusian Fog Cutter, I decided to make a recipe by Erick Castro called the Kentucky Buck that he created at San Francisco's Rickhouse in 2009. While some of the recipes I found called for ginger syrup and soda water, I utilized the one from Imbibe Magazine which specified ginger beer. Once prepared, the Kentucky Buck welcomed the senses with lemon, strawberry, and ginger aromas. Next, a carbonated lemon and berry sip slid into Bourbon, strawberry, and ginger notes on the swallow. While most people who have asked me for a Kentucky Buck at work wanted something closer to a Moscow Mule (I usually push them towards lemon over lime since it pairs more elegantly with American whiskey), the strawberry and bitters definitely provide a great summery feel and depth of flavor to the mix.

tonga pup

1 oz Barbancourt 4 Year Rum (Diplomatico Añejo)
1 oz Cynar
2/3 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
2 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass with ice, top with ginger beer (2 1/2 oz Reed's), and garnish with a lime wheel.

To follow up the previous night's Tiki, I decided to make a recipe from BarNotes that I had bookmarked months ago called the Tonga Pup. The recipe was crafted by T. Reed Richard then of Tulsa's The Valkyrie as his first amaro-Tiki offering. For a name, he dubbed this one after the failed Tiki fast food chain that never came into existence; I first heard of that restaurant concept in Wayne Curtis' And a Bottle of Rum, so I was familiar with the name.
The Tonga Pup offered up minty, menthol, and lime aromas to the nose. Next, a carbonated caramel and lime sip gave way to funky rum and Fernet's menthol on the swallow with pineapple and Cynar's vegetal funk on the finish.

cantina band

1 1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Gin (Beefeater)
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
3 slice Cucumber

Shake with ice, double strain into a Collins glass with ice, top with ginger beer (2 1/2 oz Reed's), and garnish with a cucumber slice or ribbon (3 slices between the 4 ice cubes.
Two Wednesdays ago, Andrea purchased some ginger beer, so I perused some of my more recent cocktail books for uses. The one that caught my eye was the Cantina Band from Brad Parsons' Amaro book for it would utilize my bounty of garden cucumbers. Moreover, after a large dinner, a bit of Fernet Branca and ginger beer seemed like a decent enough idea. The recipe stemmed from Perla in Greenwich Village, New York, as one of their Star Wars tribute drinks. Once prepared, the Cantina Band sent ginger and menthol aromas to the nose. Next, a carbonated and caramel sip slipped into Fernet and gin followed by vegetal cucumber on the swallow with a menthol and ginger finish.

pimmsy whimsy

1 1/2 oz Pimm's No. 1
1/2 oz Redemption Rye Whiskey
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with 2 oz ginger beer, top with ice, garnish with a cucumber wheel and mint sprigs, and add straws.
Two Tuesdays ago, I wandered down to Backbar and found a seat in front of bartender Amanda Greenfield. For a first drink, I asked Amanda for the Pimmsy Whimsy off of the menu which she described as being Kat Lamper's creation. In the glass, the garnishes provided fresh vegetal cucumber and mint aromas. Next, a carbonated lemon, honey, and fruity sip gave way to ginger, rye, and herbal notes on the swallow.

tre amari fizz

3/4 oz Averna
3/4 oz Fernet Branca
3/4 oz Cynar
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
2 oz Heavy Cream
1 Egg White
4 drop Orange Blossom Water

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into a Collins glass with 2 oz ginger beer, garnish with an orange twist, and add a straw.
Two Saturday nights ago, one of the blog readers from San Francisco was back in Boston and visiting Loyal Nine. One of his tablemates approached the bar and asked for a drink to end out the West Coast visitor's evening. Instead of a Flip, I decided to go in the style of a New Orleans (a/k/a Ramos) Fizz using three different amari akin to my single amaro Fizz, the Fratelli Fizz. For the trio, I selected Fernet, Averna, and Cynar and instead of soda water, I opted for ginger beer akin to the Fernet Buck and Cynar Buck. The end result was so good, that the original requester of the drink got envious and asked if he could have one as well (and that second one is the the one in the photo above).

rum switchel (or haymaker's punch)

2 oz Privateer Amber Rum
1/2 oz Fermented Molasses (*)
1/2 oz Russet Apple Cider Vinegar (**)
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a 10 oz cider glass with 3 oz ginger beer. Top with ice, garnish with a lemon twist, and add a straw.
(*) 2 parts molasses to 1 part water; covered with cheesecloth to allow wild microbes to inoculate the mix.
(**) Perhaps softer than store-bought apple cider vinegar
For drink of the day at Loyal Nine two Sunday nights ago, I decided to go with our restaurant's historical theme and find inspiration in Steven Grasse's Colonial Spirits book. My chef had mentioned that he had some house fermented molasses that I ought to play with, and that led me to plot out a switchel. Switchels have some similarity to shrubs in that there is a vinegar component to make it refreshing, but it is a mix of the vinegar, ginger, sweetener, and water; often, that sweetener was molasses but honey, maple, and various sugars have been utilized. The drink's origins began in the Caribbean, but it traveled up to New England where it took hold in the late 17th century. It was also dubbed the Haymaker's Punch for it was very popular with New England farmers especially on hot days. The recipe in the book included a ginger-molasses syrup that was combined with an equal part of apple cider vinegar and diluted with four parts of water. When I asked my chef about vinegars, he offered me a bottle of Russet apple vinegar he crafted this past harvest season. Instead of assembling a ginger-molasses syrup, I combined the fermented molasses, demerara syrup, and our housemade fermented ginger beer to create the flavor combination. To keep it Colonial, I opted for rum, and the combination could be dubbed "the Colonial Dark & Stormy." Moreover, to hide the vinegar aroma, I utilized the oils from a lemon twist to good effect. Overall, the response was rather positive for the drink was crisp and flavorful with a hint of funky complexity from the molasses.

colonel beach's plantation punch

1 oz Lime Juice
2 oz Pineapple Juice
2 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Coruba)
1 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q Gold)
1/2 oz Gold Barbados Rum (Plantation 5 Year)
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
6 drop Pernod (Pernod Absinthe)

Shake with ice and strain into a tall glass (Tiki bowl) with 2 oz ginger beer (AJ Stephans). Fill with ice, and garnish with a pineapple chunk and mint sprig (crushed ice with mint sprigs, lime twist, and borage flowers).
With ginger beer in the house, I began looking for other uses for it and my wanderings led me to Beachbum Berry's Remixed. There, I spotted the Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch from Don the Beachcomber in the 1950s, and it was very different flavor-wise from the Don's Beach Planter that I made a few years ago but with a similar recipe backbone. Once prepared, the Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch gave forth a rum funk, pineapple, mint, and ginger bouquet to the nose. Next, lime, pineapple, and the rum's caramel filled the sip, and the swallow proffered dark rum, pineapple, ginger, and spice notes. Overall, with the flavorful ginger beer, it came across more like a Rum Mule than a Planter's Punch.

la guildive

2 oz Blended Aged Rum (Plantation 5 Year Barbados)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Licor 43
1/4 oz Natural Peach Liqueur (Briottet Crème de Peche de Vigne)
1 pinch Freshly Grated Cinnamon

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass with 1 oz ginger beer (AJ Stephans). Garnish with a lime twist.
Since Mules were on my mind, two Fridays ago after my workshift, I decided to make one that I had spotted in the Smuggler's Cove book called La Guildive. This Rum Mule created by Martin Cate was accented by vanilla, citrus, and peach flavored ingredients and named after the old French slang term for rum. Once built, La Guildive presented a lime and cinnamon bouquet to the nose. Next, a carbonated lime sip led into caramel rum, vanilla, and peach flavors on the swallow with a ginger and cinnamon finish.

chi chi mule

2 oz Vodka (Russian Standard)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
2 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Coco Lopez Coconut Cream
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Moscow Mule mug (or Double Old Fashioned) with 2 oz ginger beer (AJ Stephans). Garnish with a lime wheel.
For the 75th anniversary of the Moscow Mule, ShakeStir held a competition to find the best vodka-based Mule variation. I decided to do a mashup and I described the idea as, "A cross between my favorite vodka Tiki drink, the Chi Chi [a vodka Piña Colada], and one of the best vodka drinks, the Moscow Mule!" Actually, I have only had a variation of said Tiki drink, Teardrop Lounge's Thai Chi Chi, at the Bar Room Brawl at Tales of the Cocktail 2011. Adding additional flavors of Thai basil and allspice there did not seem too different from adding ginger and Angostura Bitters here in theory. While the drink did not win the competition, it was a pleasing libation that began with lime and ginger aromas. Next, the sip was rather creamy with lime and pineapple flavors, and the swallow offered the tropical combination of coconut and ginger. As a side note, an image search of the name pulls up fashionable shoes, so perhaps it is time to up your footware game before sipping this?

magical mezcal mystery cure

1 1/2 oz El Bujo Mezcal
1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 bsp Allspice Dram

Shake with ice, add 1 oz ginger beer to the shaker, and strain into a rocks glass. Top with ice and add straws.
Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I ventured over to Backbar on our way home from dinner. For a drink, I asked bartender Tina for the Magical Mezcal Mystery Cure that was subtitled "It's waiting to take you away" on the menu. Tina described how it was created by bartender Kat Lamper and how Kat is "the mezcal queen" of the bar. Once prepared, the Buck offered a smoke aroma with hints of allspice and ginger on the nose. Next, a creamy lemon sip gave way to smoky, nutty, and orange peel flavors on the swallow with a ginger and allspice finish.

leaf peeper

1 oz Plantation 5 Year Barbados Rum
1 oz Pimm's No. 1
3/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass with 1 1/2 oz Canada Dry ginger ale. Top with ice and garnish with a lime wedge.
Two Wednesdays ago, my adventures on the town led me to Brick & Mortar where bartender Rob Hoover and Allison Connolly were working. For a first drink, I asked Rob for the Leaf Peeper that he attributed to Matty Durgin, and the idea of a rum-tinged Pimm's Cup reminded me of the Voodoo Echo. Once prepared, this tall drink yielded a lime aroma that gave way to a carbonated lime and fruity sip. Next, rum spiced with ginger and cinnamon notes made up the delightful swallow.

union mule

1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin
1/2 oz Laird's Applejack
1/2 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass with 1 oz ginger beer. Add ice cubes and float a barspoon of Batavia Arrack.

Two Tuesdays ago, I headed down to Backbar where bartender Sam Cronin was doing his "50 Firsts". The point of the exercise is Backbar's way of training and testing all of their bartenders to make 50 house favorites that include classics and house originals by having friends, regulars, and other bar patrons order and cross off drinks on a list. I arrived shortly after open to get the pick of the litter and I started with one that I had never had before, their Union Mule. The Backbar webpage blog in September 2012 declared, "Or come have our most popular cocktail at Backbar, the Union Mule. So far, two thousand, four hundred and seventy three made and counting. This blend of Beefeater Gin, apple brandy, St-Germain, fresh lemon juice, and house made ginger beer is unbeatable!" Regardless of how their riff on the Moscow Mule sold that many in the 8 or 9 months that they were open (which would only be 10 per day), I had somehow skipped over the drink in favor of the Model T on their opening menu. When I saw the recipe written down, it did remind me of the Pink Lady in structure.
I put Sam to the task, and the Mule he presented me with offered a ginger spice and Batavia Arrack funk bouquet. Next, a lemon and pear flavored sip led into gin, apple, floral, and ginger aromas.

dead bastard

1/2 oz Citadelle Gin
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
1/2 oz Plantation 3 Star Rum
1/2 oz Bourbon Whiskey
1/2 oz Lime Cordial
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice, stir in 4 oz ginger beer, and pour unstrained into a Double Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with an orange slice and a mint sprig.

The second talk I attended on Thursday was Members Only: Club Cocktails in History presented by David Wondrich and Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. While the talk was rather entertaining and informative, I do not believe that I could do it justice here. To capture one of the most interesting and salacious sections, just go buy Mannix's The Hell Fire Club; after that "the club as playpen" section, the clubs got much less depraved. One of the better drinks presented came during "the club as executive suite" part with the 1960 Dead Bastard. The progenitor drink was Joe Scialom's Suffering Bastard that he created at the Shepheard's in Cairo circa 1942 as a hangover cure. Joe's later travels found him at Marco Polo Club in Manhattan around 1959. The crew there did not find the Suffering (or the intermediary Dying) Bastard strong enough, so he crafted the the Dead Bastard. The recipe above was part using the ingredients from the talk (sponsored by Pierre Ferrand) and part from Berry's Remixed book (particularly the mixing instructions). Wondrich described the drink as "the plutocrat's Long Island Iced Tea" given the 4-way split in the base spirits.
The Dead Bastard presented a brandy and ginger aroma to the nose. Next, a carbonated lime-flavored sip led into Bourbon, ginger, and spice on the swallow; later, mint began to infuse into the flavor profile. While there are four spirits here instead of the original's two, there is the same amount of alcohol to provide the same amount of hangover curative power. If I were to modify the ingredient choices, perhaps a more flavorful rum like an agricole or funky Jamaican would be better here for it was definitely lost in the mix. Or just leave it out completely to have the intermediary creation, the Dying Bastard.

voodoo echo

1 oz Rhum Barbancourt 8 Year
1 oz Pimm's No. 1
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass containing 2 oz ginger beer. Top with crushed ice, add a straw, and garnish with a lime twist.
Two weekends ago, a guest in the restaurant finished his Hungry Like a Wolf and wanted "something similar but different." The drink I sent out took a more Tiki direction with Haitian rhum for the Bourbon, passion fruit syrup for the elderflower liqueur, and lime for lemon. The general structure with the Pimm's and ginger beer held steady. For a name, I stuck with the Duran Duran theme and took note of the Haitian aspect and dubbed this one Voodoo Echo after one of the band's lesser known tracks.

[banana cup no. 1]

1 1/2 oz Pimm's No. 1
1/2 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil
1/2 oz Cynar
1 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass with 2 oz Barritt's Ginger Beer. Fill with ice, add straws, and garnish with a mint sprig.

Since I finally had a Tuesday off two weeks ago, I was able to visit Sahil Mehta at Estragon. For a start, I opted for the drink of the day for I was curious to see how banana and Cynar interacted and to determine if it was as magical as the combination with Campari in the Banana Boulevardier or Ramazzotti in the Bela Vista. Needing a name, I took the Pimm's ingredient as a cue and dubbed this one the Banana Cup No. 1.
The Banana Cup No. 1 began with a mint aroma that led into a lemon and fruity sip. Next, the swallow proved that the Cynar-banana combination was indeed delicious as it offered banana, bitter, and ginger notes.