mojave punch

1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum such as Coruba (Coruba)
1 oz Silver Puerto Rican-style Rum (Hamilton White 'Stache)
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice (3/4+ oz) (*)
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Juice
3/4 oz Hibiscus Syrup (**)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a pilsner (collins) glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a paper umbrella skewering a cherry.
(*) Even at a heavy 3/4 oz, the drink was still a bit sweet so perhaps 1 oz would be a good lime juice amount. Over perhaps 1/2 oz lime juice + 1/2 oz lemon juice to keep the acidity where I want it but with the remainder as a more neutral citrus juice.
(**) I did a hibiscus tea bag in 4 oz boiling water for 5 minutes. After removing the tea bag, I added an equal weight of sugar and stirred to dissolve. Two Fridays ago, I returned to the 2015 set of online recipe flashcards from the Tonga Hut in Los Angeles where I had found the Bermuda Dunes and selected the Mojave Punch. I was able to find photos of the drink at the Tonga Hut in blogs from 2017 and 2022 and multiple photos on Yelp. The recipe came across like a gussied up Hurricane with extra juices (the original Hurricane had fassionola syrup which some recipes include hibiscus); however, it also read a bit sweet so I upped the lime juice a bit (but perhaps not as much as I should have (see note above)). Once prepared, the Mojave Punch proffered a cherry, passion fruit, and floral bouquet to the nose. Next, caramel, lime, and orange notes on the sip shifted into funky rum, pineapple, passion fruit, and red berry-herbal flavors on the swallow. If you made a batch of hibiscus syrup, I recommend using some of the remainder on Aaron Butler's Koki'o Punch, Brick & Mortar's Velvet Rope, and my Red Skies at Night from Loyal Nine.

malua

2 oz Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
1/2 oz Giffard Crème de Peche (Mathilde)
1/2 oz Dry Curaçao (Pierre Ferrand)
1 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
8-10 leaf Mint

Shake with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass (ceramic mug), and garnish with a lime wheel and mint bouquet. Two Saturdays ago, I was in the mood for something tropical, so I looked to my notes from my online recipe flashcard research and selected the Mālua at the Skull & Crown Trading Co. in Honolulu. A 2022 Yelp review made reference to it in the text and included a drink photo as well. Overall, the combination of mint, peach, and lime took the drink into Missionary's Downfall territory but with a tequila (and no pineapple and honey) spin on it. Here, the Mālua opened up with lime and mint aromas from the garnishes over peach and tropical ones. Next, lime, orange, and passion fruit notes on the sip were washed away by agave, peach, orange, and mint flavors on the swallow.

heather on the hill

2 oz Grant Scotch (Famous Grouse)
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1 dash Cardamom Bitters (The Bitter Housewife)
1 Egg White

Shake one round without ice and one round with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with an orange twist. Two Thursdays ago, I returned to the online set of recipe flashcards for 1 Tippling Place in Philalephia that I had not touched since July when I made The Marxist. From that 2017 set, I selected the Heather on the Hill. In my research, I found an October 2016 article in Mid-Day with a photo and a description of the bartender Myles Carroll making the drink for a month long pop-up in Mumbai, India. Overall, the recipe reminded me of Sother Teague's Take me to Marrakech but with Scotch and egg white instead of Armagnac. Once prepared, Heather on the Hill gave forth an orange, honey, and Scotch aroma. Next, a creamy orange and lemon sip led into Scotch, honey, and cardamom flavors on the swallow. I was quite surprised at how delightful this combination was given its relative simplicity.

bermuda dunes

1 1/2 oz Cruzan Gold Rum (Privateer New England Reserve)
1 oz Cruzan Silver Rum (Rhum Barbancourt 110° White)
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Orange Liqueur (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao)
1/4 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a pilsner glass (coconut mug), fill with crushed ice, and garnish with mint, lime wheel, and cherry (cherry only). Two Fridays ago, I was feeling a tropical mood, so I chose to make the Bermuda Dunes from the Tonga Hut in Los Angeles that I had found in a set of online recipe flashcards. While the flashcards were for the 2015 menu, it is unclear what year this drink was created, and it is still served there under the house originals section on the current menu. Overall, this Mai Tai-like number shares a lot of similarity with the Nutty Like a Fruitcake with different rums, different proportions, and no bitters. Once mixed with somewhat more robust rums, the Bermuda Dunes arrived at the nose with orange, almond, allspice, and funky rum aromas. Next, a creamy orange and lemon sip stepped aside for rum, orange, almond, allspice, and a touch of grassy rum funk flavors on the swallow.

winterbird

1 1/2 oz Dark Rum (Coruba)
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
4 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Collins glass or ceramic mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with an orange quarter wheel (half slice) and a cherry. Two Thursdays ago, I decided to make a drink that I spotted on Facebook's Tiki Recipes group called the Winterbird. I was able to trace it back to a Liquor.com which attributed this winterized Jungle Bird riff to Randy Hayden at Nine Mile Station in Atlanta. To me, it seemed more like a 1941 Here's How Zombie with a stripped down rum base plus orange juice and Fernet more than a Jungle Bird proper. In the mug, the Winterbird flitted to the nose with a caramel, menthol, and apricot aroma. Next, caramel, lime, and orange notes on the sip landed on funky dark rum, minty-menthol, pineapple, and apricot flavors on the swallow.

colonial grog

1/2 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (1 oz Coruba)
1/2 oz Gold Virgin Island Rum (1 oz Privateer New England Reserve)
1/2 oz Lime Juice (1 oz)
1/2 oz Orange Juice (1 oz)
1/4 oz Maple Syrup (1/2 oz Deer Meadow Farm)
1/8 tsp Allspice Dram (1/4 tsp Hamilton's)
1 dash Angostura Bitters (2 dash)
1/2 oz Soda Water (1 oz)

Blend with 3 oz crushed ice for 5 seconds and fine strain into a glass with a thin ice shell (shake all but the soda water, and strain into an old fashioned glass with ice and the soda water). When I made was the Samoan Grog from the Mai-Kai, I learned that it was perhaps inspired by Don the Beachcomber's Colonial Grog. The circa 1944 Colonial Grog details were uncovered by Jeff Beachbum Berry in the notebooks of Mariano Licudine who worked for Don between 1939 and 1956. Berry published the recipe in his Potions of the Caribbean book and described it as a Tiki-fied Planter's Punch. Don's bartenders were some of the few using maple in tropical drinks before the cocktail revival with the most famous recipe being the Volcano Bowl from 1970 that showcased how well maple works with grapefruit (which inspired my Vagalume Bowl). Although I skipped the ice shell built into the inner circumference of the glass and doubled up the volumes, I kept true to the recipe save for using a local amber rum instead of a Caribbean one. In the glass, the Colonial Grog displayed dark rum, maple, and lime aromas. Next, maple, orange, and lime notes with a hint of carbonation on the sip unwound into dark rum, allspice, and lime flavors on the swallow.

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.

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.

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.

snowbirds & townies

1 1/2 oz Fernet Branca
3/4 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Crème de Cacao (Bols)
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 oz Dry Curaçao (Pierre Ferrand)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Two Wednesdays ago, I decided to make a drink called the Snowbirds & Townies that I spotted in the KindredCocktails database. It was created by Tonia Guffey at Brooklyn's Dram circa 2013 and was first published by Robert Simonson in the New York Times. Tonia named the drink after a song about winter by the group Further Seems Forever and based the flavor profile on the chocolate-orange candies she used to get every Christmas. She mollified the bitterness of Fernet with a trio of sweet holiday flavors: orange, cocoa, and cinnamon. Overall, the combination reminded me of the Alligator with orange juice and crème de cacao in the mix (plus lemon for lime). In the glass, the Snowbirds & Townies mingled with a chocolate and minty aroma. Next, lemon and orange notes on the sip opened up to bitter menthol, chocolate, cinnamon, and orange flavors on the swallow.

on the reef

1 1/2 oz Gin (Treehouse Percy's)
1/2 oz Rhum Agricole (Rhum JM 100° Blanc)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Orange Juice
3/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Orgeat (Roasted Pepita Orgeat)
1/4 oz Honey Syrup
1/8 tsp Absinthe (20 drop St. George)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with an orange twist, pineapple frond, and orchid (orange twist and mint sprigs). In continuing to make use of the excess juices and syrups from my competition, I decided to search on the KindredCocktails database two Wednesdays ago. There, I found the On the Reef which was a recipe included with the Petrified Puffer Tiki mug from Tikiland Trading. Its orgeat, honey, and passion fruit trio appeared in the Hurricane Caesar which also featured rhum agricole, so I was curious. Plus, gin-rhum agricole was one that I enjoyed in the Preston-Baker and the Pegu Pilot, and I wanted to see how else the duo could interact. In the Tiki mug, the On the Reef washed up to the senses with mint, orange, nutty, and rhum funk aromas. Next, creamy orange, lime, and pineapple notes on the sip splashed onto pine, passion fruit, funky rhum, roasted nutty, and anise flavors on the swallow.

cinnamon girl

1 oz Avua Prata Cachaça (Novo Fogo Bar Strength)
1/2 oz Laird's Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
3/4 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Whip shake, pour into a double old fashioned glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with an Angostura Bitters float (3-4 dashes). I drank this with a straw to bypass the bitters layer. Two Tuesdays, after I returned home from placing third in the Boston Malört competition making the Swedish Paralysis (see the updated post with a photo of me behind the bar that night), I had extra prepped orange juice, lemon juice, and cinnamon syrup left over. I looked for a good use of these ingredients before the juices went bad, and in my notes, I found the Cinnamon Girl by Rebeca Hitcher for the Dutch Kills' Fall 2024 menu via online recipe flashcards. Once prepared, the Cinnamon Girl welcomed the nose with allspice, cinnamon, and clove aromas from the bitters garnish and the syrup. Next, through the straw, the sip shared orange and lemon notes, and the swallow unfurled funky cachaça, apple, and cinnamon flavors. Indeed, I was impressed at how well this cachaça worked with apple brandy, and I had noted similar observations in the Ironbound and Fantastic Fizz (and I used it in my Vagalume Bowl).

what about bob

1 oz Planteray OFTD Overproof Rum
1 oz Havana Club 3 Year White Rum (Tommy Bahama White Sand)
1 oz Sacred Bond Brandy (Courvoisier VS Cognac)
1 oz Gin (Treehouse Hildegard von Bigen)
2 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup

Whip shake with crushed ice, strain into a Bob mug (Tiki mug), and garnish with a flower (mint sprigs). Two Tuesdays ago, I decided to make a drink posted by El Nova via the Vatos Who Tiki Instagram account that was a riff on the Fog Cutter called What About Bob. Its orgeat-cinnamon modifiers reminded me of Ben Sandrof's Cuban Anole Mai Tai variation given the orgeat-cinnamon modifiers; however, this Fog Cutter riff did not have the stereotypical float such as the classic sherry one or the aquavit one in the case of the Viking Fog Cutter. While I neither have seen the 1991 movie by that name nor have a Bob Tiki mug, I selected a mug that was closest which was a vintage Moai mug I found from the Honolulu restaurants in Westborough and Norwood, Massachusetts (both of which opened in the mid 1970s and closed in 2007 or before). Once prepared, the What About Bob gave forth a mint aroma from my choice of garnish. Next, a creamy orange and lemon sip opened up into funky rum, brandy roundness, cinnamon, pine, and almond flavors on the swallow.

ka lima lima hema

4 1/2 oz Four Roses Bourbon (3 oz Evan Williams Bonded)
1 1/2 oz Planteray OFTD Rum (1 oz)
1 1/2 oz Lemon Juice (1 oz)
1 1/2 oz Orange Juice (1 oz)
1 1/2 oz Passion Fruit Juice (1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup)
1 1/2 oz Luxardo Amaretto (1 oz)
3/4 oz Honey Syrup (1/2 oz)
3/4 oz Grenadine (1/2 oz)

Flash blend (whip shake) with crushed ice, pour into a bowl, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with 2 orchids (2 stems ornamental pea blossoms) and a sparkler (omit). Serve with 4 straws (2 straws).

Two Thursdays ago, Andrea was in the mood for some liquid air conditioning, so I decided on a large format drink, the Ka Lima Lima Hema, that I had found in online recipe flashcards for Houston's Kanaloa. The drink appears in Houston's Chronicle article on sharable drinks around town in 2019, and I shrunk down this serving for four by a third. The amaretto stood out for I have only had that ingredient in tropical-like drinks twice: in the Mai Tai-like Arrack & A Hard Place and the classic Caribbean Punch, so I was curious to try it in this mix. Moreover, the Bourbon-OFTD Rum combination was one that I utilized in the Cobra's Tail and enjoyed in the (And) Knobs Is Thirteen. This large format item also allowed me to finally use the Munktiki Sea Mine bowl that I received years ago in a bartender Secret Santa (the shrunk down by a third build was still not big enough for its 40 ounce capacity). The Ka Lima Lima Hema conjured up a floral bouquet to the nose. Next, orange, lemon, caramel, and passion fruit notes on the sip transformed into Bourbon, rum, passion fruit, almond, and berry flavors on the swallow. Overall, it reminded me perhaps of a more complex Fiji Mermaid.

doctor yah-yah

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Rhum Agricole (Rhum JM 100°)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 oz Donn's Spices #2 (1/8 oz Vanilla Syrup + 1/8 Allspice Dram (Hamilton's))
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with mint sprigs.Two Sundays ago, I had the idea of mashing up the Nui Nui classic Tiki drink's citrus and spices with Cure's The Drink of Laughter and Forgetting's Cynar-Chartreuse base. For a name, I considered the New Orleans aspect of the Cure drink and dubbed this one the Doctor Yah-Yah after a voodoo practitioner known for his cures and potions that I read about in Herbert Asbury's The French Quarter book. In the Tiki mug, Doctor Yah-Yah enchanted mint, caramel, grassy, and lime aromas to the nose. Next caramel and lime notes on the sip melted into herbal, herbaceous, grassy, allspice, cinnamon, and vanilla flavors on the swallow.

chief bamboo bamboo

1 1/2 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
1 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Funky High Ester Jamaican Rum (Smith & Cross)
2 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Passion Fruit Syrup (*)
2 dash Absinthe (16 drop St. George)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, top with crushed ice, and garnish with mint sprigs. I regret not adding freshly grated nutmeg on top as a garnish to complement the nutty and spice notes.
(*) For a Difford's Guide competition, I swapped out 1/4 oz of passion fruit syrup for orgeat to complement the nuttiness of the sherry. After attending Backbar's Bamboo Cocktail-themed menu two Tuesdays ago, I was inspired to create my own to add to the Improved Bamboo, Bamboo Crusta, and Bamboo Flip that I had crafted over the years. My mind went tropical and I originally wanted to riff on the Zombie, but I felt that the Bamboo core would be lost there. I soon decided on riffing on the classic Chief Lapu Lapu especially since I had a twist-free orange waiting to be utilized for juice. In addition, I was lured in with the name play of dubbing it the Chief Bamboo Bamboo. Instead of the more common call for Fino Sherry, I opted for Death & Co.'s Amontillado-containing Bamboo recipe as the core. In the mug, Chief Bamboo Bamboo gave forth a mint aroma from the garnish bouquet. Next, orange, passion fruit, and grape on the sip incanted nutty, funky, passion fruit, anise, and herbal flavors on the swallow.

noon

1 oz Gin (1 1/2 oz Treehouse Hildegard Von Bingen)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Giacomo Speroni)
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1 Egg White

Shake one round without ice and one round with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with 1 dash bitters (Angostura).Two Fridays ago, I doubled up on my recipes since we had a power outage the night before and I decided not to make a drink in the dark. The drink I wanted to do had a large amount of orange juice, so I decided to doubledown on that ingredient with a drink that I had spotted a reference online for called the Noon. I found the recipe in my copy of Stan Jones' 1977 Complete Barguide, and it read like a Bronx with egg white and bitters garnish (or an abstracted Income Tax Cocktail with egg white). Green Street used to have a classic egg yolk variation called the Bronx Golden on the menu, so the idea of adding eggs did not seem all that unusual. Once shaken and strained, the Noon gave forth an allspice and clove aroma from the Angostura Bitters garnish. Next, a creamy orange sip developed into juniper and grape flavors on the swallow.

(and) knobs is thirteen

1 1/2 oz Knob Creek Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1/2 oz Planteray OFTD Rum
1 1/4 oz Orange Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's)
1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup
1 dash Bitters (Angostura)
8 drop Herbsaint

Flash blend with 6 oz crushed ice and dump into a bucket glass (whip shake, dump, and fill with crushed ice). Garnish with an orange wheel (omit) and mint sprig.Two Tuesdays ago, I decided to make a recipe that I had spotted on Reddit by Craig Herman a/k/a Colonel Tiki that I had been holding off on until my mint patch came back for the season. The recipe was (And) Knobs Is Thirteen which is his homage to the game Cribbage, a Fibonacci sequence, and an attempt to correct the Ward Eight. On paper, it reminds me of the Nui Nui with a split base driven by Bourbon (albeit supplemented by a more flavorful rum that the original's call for aged Virgin Island rum) and swapping the Nui Nui's lime for lemon. Moreover, this shares some aspects of his delightful tequila recipe, the Vendetta, so it was worth a go. Once prepared, the (And) Knobs is Thirteen opened up with mint, orange, cinnamon, and vanilla aromas. Next, an orange and lemon sip shuffled into Bourbon, funky rum, allspice, cinnamon, and vanilla flavors on the swallow.

the bukowski

1 1/2 oz Jeppson's Malört
1/2 oz Drambuie
3/4 oz Orange Juice (*)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Honey Syrup 1:1 (*)
3-5 leaf Basil

Shake with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with ice.
(*) Robert Simonson reported having a more recent version of this drink (with the newer and softer Malört) where these two measures were 1/2 oz. See below.

Two Fridays ago, I had just finished Josh Noel's Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit book, and one of the chapters reminded me of the 2009 Chicago Reader article about a Malört challenge across town. From that article, I had previously made Paul McGee's Golden Eel, Toby Maloney's Ukranian Negroni, and Brad Bolt's Hard Sell. The recipe that stood out to make next was Charles Joly's The Bukowski from the Counting Room especially since I still had leaves on my basil plant outside. The article described how "The working name for this drink was the Dirty Old Man named after the column Charles Bukowski wrote for an underground newspaper in Los Angeles. Joly says there's no garnish because the writer would have just thrown it back at the bartender." My brother bought me a copy of Notes of a Dirty Old Man that was a collection of those columns for my birthday years ago, and it was my entry into Bukowski. I was already planning to make this one when Robert Simonson wrote on his Substack that afternoon about trying this drink. Robert got the recipe from Joly at a book launch event except this version had a 1/2 oz each of orange juice and honey syrup instead of 3/4 oz. Perhaps this was due to the new Chicago version of Malört being slightly softer and less bitter; however, I still had an old bottle of Florida-made liqueur, so I went with the 2009 recipe. Once prepared the original way, The Bukowski launched off with basil, honey, and minty-bitter herbal aromas. Next, a honey, lemon, and orange sip caroused with bitter herbal, honey, and basil flavors on the swallow. Overall, the combination reminded me of the midcentury Duke with Drambuie, orange, and lemon but taken in a bitter and herbal direction. One of my Instagram friends inquired, "I think of all things, the orange juice and basil combo was throwing me off the most" to which I responded that "the orange juice sooths rough edges, and the basil adds depth to the single botanical liqueur."

the communist

1 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Cherry Brandy (Cherry Heering)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.After writing up the Socialist, I was reminded of the Communist that Ted Haigh sourced from the 1933 Cocktail Parade pamphlet and published in his Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails book. Overall, it had a gin Blood & Sand-like feel as well as that of an earlier and less herbal version of the Singapore Sling before pineapple and grenadine took over, so I was curious to try this 90 year old recipe. In the glass, the Communist proffered an orange, cherry, and pine bouquet to the nose. Next, orange and dark fruit notes on the sip transfered into gin, cherry, tart citrus, and orange flavors on the swallow.