black metal sleigh

1 1/2 oz Vodka (Goral)
3/4 oz Jägermeister
3/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
3/4 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Grapefruit Bitters (Bittermens)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Julep or Swizzle tin (Tiki mug), fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig. Two Fridays ago, I delved into a collection of Sippin' Santa recipes that was recently shared on Reddit. The one I selected as a starting point was the Black Metal Sleigh from the 2015 event that had the same vodka lengthening and fortifying a bitter liqueur technique that I first observed in the Sputnik. Moreover, it had a similar structure to the Jägermeister tropical recipe, the Escape Hatch, so I was sold. With the penultimate use of this season's mint as garnish, the Black Metal Sleigh greeted the nose with a mint bouquet. Next, lime and caramel on the sip slid into star anise, herbal, cinnamon, and ginger flavors on the swallow.

the mooch

1 1/2 oz Vodka (Vesica)
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Benedictine
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.Two Mondays ago, my Instagram friend Tim Kirkland posted an interesting drink called The Mooch. The recipe was created by Josh Wulf of the Wulf Cocktail Den blog. This was Josh's first cocktail creation back in 2014 named after his tuxedo cat, and I can relate for I currently have a black and white cat named Josey (more akin to a cow cat) who is quite the mooch too. The combination reminded me of a more bitter version of the Gypsy Queen (vodka, Benedictine, Angostura Bitters), and the vodka elongating the flavors of Fernet without a drop of proof made me think of the Sputnik. Fernet and Benedictine worked together well in the 1903-1933 era Oldfield and in PDT's Montgomery Smith, and I used the combination inspired from the former in the Campo Viejo. In the glass, The Mooch opened up with a menthol, herbal, and clove bouquet. Next, a caramel-driven sip was usurped by gentian, minty, menthol, herbal, allspice, and clove flavors on the swallow.

meridiem

1 1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
3/4 oz Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka (Bak's)
3/4 oz Tanqueray Old Tom Gin (Tanqueray Malacca)
1 dash Bittermens Grapefruit Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Fridays ago, I returned to the Hawthorne bar bible and spotted the Meridiem that it attributed to its sister establishment Eastern Standard. I was able to find a Yelp Eastern Standard menu photo that dated this to 2015, and the menu included the subtitle "It's 12 o'clock somewhere". Overall, it read like a 50-50 Martini of sorts with a split base of gin and bison grass vodka that reminded me a little of the Vesper. After stirring and straining, the Meridiem gave forth a lemon, floral, and pine aroma. Next, a semi-sweet white grape sip turned into floral, grape, pine, and green tea flavors on the swallow.

hay there

3/4 oz Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka
3/4 oz Dolin Genepy Liqueur
3/4 oz Giffard Pamplemousse Grapefruit Liqueur
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.Two Tuesdays ago, I ventured down to Backbar in Somerville for Jesse Lane's First Fifty challenge that he needed to complete before becoming a full-fledged bartender there. Off the list, I selected the Hay There, and I was able to utilize the KindredCocktails database to learn that it was created by James Lamont at Backbar in Summer 2016. Once prepared, the Hay There led off with a lime, bright herbaceous, and grapefruit aroma. Next, lime and grapefruit notes on the sip greeted herbal, grapefruit, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow. The overall balance and feel here reminded me of the Aqueduct.

savage detectives

1 oz Fidencio Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
1 oz Karlsson's Vodka (Barr Hill Vodka)
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz White Crème de Cacao (Bols)
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
1/8 oz Lemon Juice

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube.Two Sundays ago, I returned to the online flashcard set from the Paper Plane in Atlanta. The recipe that I landed on was the Savage Detective from their April 2014 menu. While I did not have Karlsson's Vodka made from potatoes, I went with the beautiful vodka from Barr Hill made from honey; however, my choice lacked the chocolatey undertones found in the single pass distillation of the recommended brand. Overall, the combination on paper reminded me of the Coney Island given the Punt e Mes and cacao elements. Once prepared, the Savage Detective offered up chocolate and smoke aromas to the nose. Next, a grape-driven sip led into smoky mezcal, bitter herbal, and chocolate cherry flavors on the swallow.

new york minute

1 1/2 oz Vodka (Vessica)
1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Grenadine
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 dash St. George Absinthe (12 drop)

Shake with ice and strain into a Nick & Nora glass (coupe).Two Tuesdays ago, I reached for Toby Maloney and Emma Janzen's The Bartender's Manifesto and found the New York Minute as a recipe that I had not made yet. The drink was crafted by Alyssa Heidt as a riff on the Pan American Clipper from Charles H. Baker Jr. with the biggest change being the apple brandy aspect being cut considerably by the addition of vodka. Once prepared, the New York Minute lept to the nose with apple, berry, and anise aromas. Next, lemon and red fruit notes on the sip gave way to apple, pomegranate, and licorice flavors on the swallow.

reef break

1 3/4 oz Suntory Hoku Vodka (Vesica)
1 oz Lustau Fino Sherry (Tio Pepe)
1/4 oz El Dorado 3 Year White Rum (Privateer Tres Aromatique)
1 tsp Giffard Passion Fruit Liqueur (Passion Fruit Syrup)
1 tsp Cinnamon Syrup

Stir with ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass, and garnish with grapefruit oil from a twist.Two Sundays ago, I came across and intriguing vodka drink in Death & Co.'s Welcome Home book called the Reef Break. This vodka Martini of sorts by Tyson Buhler in 2019 took things in a tropical direction, so I was definitely interested in giving it a try. Once prepared, the Reef Break proffered a grapefruit, passion fruit, and cinnamon aroma. Next, a semi-sweet sip flowed into passion fruit and cinnamon notes on the swallow. The sherry and rum did add a bit of complexity, but here, the modifiers directed the flavor profile.

gilded cage

2 oz Vodka (Bak's Bison Grass)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Honey Syrup
7 drop Regan's Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with 5 drop Peychaud's Bitters.Two Sundays ago, I returned to The Bartender's Manifesto and landed upon Toby Maloney's Gilded Cage that he crafted in 2008 as a riff on the Bee's Knees. To make this vodka egg white drink a bit more interesting, I opted for a bison grass vodka instead which can add spice notes to the finish as I did with the Visionary Cocktail. Here, the Gilded Cage proffered honey, cherry, and anise aromas. Next, a creamy and lemon sip led into honey and a hint of cinnamon on the swallow.

tao of pooh

2 oz Coconut Water
1 1/2 oz 42 Below Honey Vodka (Barr Hill)
1/4 oz Galliano L'Autentico
2 dash Bitter Truth Lemon Bitters (Berg & Hauck)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.
Two Saturdays ago, I returned to the PDT Cocktail Book and spotted the Tao of Pooh that would make good use of the coconut water that I had in the refrigerator. The recipe was created by bartender and bar owner Jim Meehan in 2010 as "a tribute to Winnie the Pooh's love of honey." Lacking 42 Below's product, I instantly recalled the vodka distilled from honey crafted by Caledonia Spirits in my collection. Once prepared, the Tao of Pooh met the nose with a honey, star anise, and vanilla bouquet. Next, a briny sip with some heft to it gave way to honey, anise, vanilla, nutty, and lemon flavors on the swallow.

paradise lost

1 oz Vodka (Deep Eddy)
1 oz Coconut Water)
1 oz Fino Sherry (Lustau)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat

Whip shake, pour into a Pilsner glass (Tiki mug), and garnish with 2 dash aromatic bitters (Jerry Thomas Decanter) and a mint bouquet.
Two Fridays ago, I was in a tropical mood, and I reached for Chloe Frechette's Easy Tiki to find a use for the orgeat batch that I had just bottled. There, I selected Kirk Estopinal's Paradise Lost that he created at Cane & Table in New Orleans. Kirk's recipe was inspired by the Green Isaac's Special that Ernest Hemingway invented in Key West sometime in the 1930s, and it was mentioned in his Islands in the Stream book. Here, the gin was swapped for a mix of vodka, Fino sherry, and orgeat to resemble something more Tiki-inspired rather than a Collins. Once prepared, the Paradise Lost met the nose with a clove, allspice, cinnamon, and mint aroma. Next, a creamy lime sip slipped into a nutty and saline-savory swallow.

yoi-yoi-comber

2 oz Vodka (Barr Hill)
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1/2 oz Cucumber Syrup (*)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
5 dash Absinthe (1/8 oz Kübler)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, and top with crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple frond, pineapple half moon, and cucumber rosette (mint sprigs and a cucumber slice).
(*) Equal parts cucumber juice and sugar. While the original used a juicer, I muddled cucumber chunks followed by a fine straining step. At one bar I worked at, we used a blender followed by fine straining.
With a beautiful cucumber from our farm share (my garden's cucumbers will be ready by the time this post airs) in my possession, I returned to a recipe from Brian Maxwell's quarantine drinks on his Shaker of Spirits blog. The recipe was the Yoi-Yoi-Comber which was he posted on the eleventh day of lockdown, and I did not have a cucumber at the time but marked the page for future reference. The concept was a tribute to Joe Scialom's Cou-Cou-Comber as well as to Myron Cope, the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers who used the word "Yoi!" a lot during his announcing. The Yoi-Yoi-Comber greeted the senses with an anise, mint, and cucumber aroma. Next, lime, vegetal, and pineapple notes on the sip announced the arrival of pineapple, cucumber, ginger, and anise flavors on the swallow.

garibaldi wallbanger

1 Orange, Juiced and Blended (2 1/2 oz)
1 oz Campari
1 oz Vodka (Barr Hill)
1/2 oz Galliano

Build spirits in a small glass and chill in the freezer. Juice a refrigerated orange and blend (stick blender). Pour the fluffy orange juice into the chilled glass with the spirits, mix, and garnish with an orange slice. If a Breville juicer is used, skip the blending step.

After brunch two Saturdays ago, I was reading Instagram and noted that the day before, November 8th, was National Harvey Wallbanger Day. I had written about the last time I had celebrated that holiday which was also the first time that I had that 1970s drink back at an event at Eastern Standard in 2010, and I was curious what direction that I could take it. One of the drinks that I had heard about for a year or two but finally tried late this past summer was the fluffy orange juice-Campari Highball called the Garibaldi. What if I were to merge the two of them? I lacked the Breville juicer that makes beautiful fluffy juice, so I improvised by whipping up freshly squeezed juice with a stick blender. It felt like a solid tribute to the holiday albeit 12 hours late.
The Garibaldi Wallbanger surfed on in with a star anise and bitter orange aroma. Next, a creamy orange sip landed with a slightly bitter orange, vanilla, and star anise swallow. The spice elements of the Galliano melded well with the orange juice and Campari flavors to elevate the classic Garibaldi. And using a local and quality vodka did not hurt things here.

Postnote 11/28/19: I later discovered that there was a 2017 Garibaldi Wallbanger consisting of "Stoli Vanilla, Galliano, San Pellegrino Blood Orange Soda." Considering the absence of Campari or orange juice, mine is closer to a mashup whereas theirs is closer to a spritzy abstraction, but they did beat me to the punch by 2 years or so.

cou-cou-comber

1 1/2 oz Vodka (Barr Hill)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 tsp Pernod (Herbsaint)
1 tsp Simple Syrup (1/4 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a hollowed-out cucumber placed into a receptacle to hold it vertical. Drink with a straw and eat the cucumber as you go.

With the second cucumber from my garden, I decided to make a classic Tiki drink that had always caught my eye. The recipe did not call for cucumber juice like the Irma La Douce, cucumber syrup like the White Buddha, or muddled cucumber like in the Hole in Cup, but it utilized the cucumber as the drinking vessel. That drink was the Cou-Cou-Comber created by Joe Scialom of Suffering Bastard fame while at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, circa 1959. Otherwise, the drink inside was a simple Vodka Gimlet elevated by herbal notes from pastis as laid out in Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari.
The cucumber certainly contributed to the nose along with the anise from the Herbsaint and mint and peppery floral aromas from my garnishes. Next, the lime dominated the sip, and the swallow followed along with the aroma (minus the garnishes) with cucumber and anise flavors. I could not help but think that a white rum, gin, or agave spirit would work wonders here, but I kept true to the recipe with the vodka and let the other flavors sing out.

blue hawaii

2 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Blue Curaçao (3/4 oz Cointreau + 1 drop blue food coloring)
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 tsp Cream (1/4 oz Soy Milk)
1 1/2 oz Vodka (Bak Bison Grass)

Shake with crushed ice and pour into a tall glass (snifter).

Two Wednesdays ago, I decided to make the Blue Hawaii recipe that appeared in Beachbum Berry's Remixed. What got me thinking about this drink was receiving a request for one a few weeks back, and my fellow bartender Peaches and I brainstormed on how to make one. Honestly, I had never made one or had one (but have read various recipes) before; since the guest fell in love with them on vacation, we wanted to get it right. Without looking it up, we decided on this recipe minus the dairy. After the shift, Peaches and I messaged back and forth about the drink and the various recipes out there. The recipe that we both honed in on was Beachbum's, and his was a 1980s version of the 1950s drink named after the Elvis movie from earlier in that decade.
Lacking the bottom shelf blue curaçao at home that I had at work, I simulated things with Cointreau and a drop of blue food coloring that had worked in the past. In the glass, the Blue Hawaii pleased the senses with a pineapple and orange aroma. Next, lemon, orange, and a hint of tropical notes on the sip led into pineapple and orange on the swallow. Indeed, the swallow would have been more intriguing if I went with one of the modern variations that split the base spirit with white rum; however, the Blue Hawaii in my mind is a vodka drink just like the Chi Chi. Instead, I compromised with a bison grass-flavored vodka that donated a light cinnamon-like spice to the mix.

lemon drop crusta

2 oz Vodka (Ketel One)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/8 oz Orange Liqueur (Cointreau)
3/8 oz Simple Syrup
2 dash Citrus Bitters (1 dash Regan's Orange, 1 dash Berg & Hauck's Lemon)

Shake with ice, strain into a narrow-diameter glass rimmed with sugar, and garnish with a long, wide lemon swath wrapped around the interior diameter of the glass.

On Saturday night two weeks ago, I was working the front bar at River Bar with my coworker Peaches when a ticket came in for a trio of Lemon Drops. I enthusiastically demanded to do the ticket that Peaches had pulled which amused one of our industry guests. Peaches was already familiar with my joy in making this drink despite my general hating to rim glasses with salt or sugar save for Crustas and Sidecars; however, our bar guest found it quite entertaining. I explained the circumstances of my first Lemon Drop: I went with my friend to go hangout with his girlfriend at the bar around the corner from her house, namely the B-Side Lounge circa 1999, before continuing on to a party nearby. The B-Side has been cited as the birthplace of the Boston cocktail renaissance and my visit was within the first year or so of it being open. At the time, I rarely drank cocktails save for club drinks like the Mind Eraser and Red Death and the occasional Manhattan when I needed to be a bit more business like. Therefore, when my friend's girlfriend ordered a Lemon Drop from the waitress, I panicked and said that I would have one too. And it was good -- with fresh lemon juice and a fancy sugared rim, it was a step up from the drink culture around town. Though I cannot recall having another in the next nearly two decades, I have made plenty for guests at various establishments.
My industry bar guest after taking a photo of me and posting it with the hashtag #fredloveslemondrops suggested that I ought to write up the drink on the blog. At first I thought about non-ironically revisiting the Lemon Drop; however, it seemed a touch out of place even if I could explain it as a vodka Chelsea Sidecar (or a Vodka Sour). So I got to thinking, and it dawned on me that the drink already has a sugared rim like the Crusta, so why not add some bitters and a wide citrus swath garnish? That way I could take the infamous 1970s neo-classic crafted at Henry Africa's Bar in San Francisco and give it some dignity by crossing it with the 1852 Crusta. Once prepared, the Lemon Drop Crusta sang out with lemon oil aromas to the nose. Next, lemon with hints of orange filled the sip, and the swallow continued on with the lemony flavors along with spiritous notes from the vodka. Like my first Lemon Drop, this was still rather good. While I cannot say complex or dynamic, it had a solid structure that I also witnessed in the Casper Sour that utilized a quality rice wine vinegar as the acid source.

brazilian vesper

1 oz Cachaça (Seleta Gold)
1 oz Vodka (Bar Hill)
1 oz Lillet Blanc (Cocchi Americano)
1 bsp Passion Fruit Syrup

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Tuesdays ago, I was lured in by a cachaça recipe posted by Imbibe Magazine, namely the Brazilian Vesper by Jacyara de Oliveira of Chicago's El Che. I had previously written a rant about the Vesper for a Mixology Monday event about how I did not understand the drink and why one would slightly want to diminish the flavor of gin by 25% with neutral spirits. In addition, I have only had one person ever request gin and Lillet Blanc before (previously, I had said no one, but one of the servers at Our Fathers preferred her Martinis that way as she tasted through the gins). Here, instead of a 3:1 of flavorful spirit to vodka, the mix is equal parts and this could help to mitigate cachaça's grassy funk (although I love it especially in Seleta and other better brands). For a vodka, I opted for the brand I used in the classic Vesper post -- a fuller one made from honey by Caledonia Spirits so that it would not be perfectly neutral. And my complaint about the Lillet taking up one-ninth of the pre-melt build volume in the classic was solved by putting it in equal parts footing with the cachaça and vodka; moreover, the fruit element was bolstered by a dash of passion fruit syrup here.
The Brazilian Vesper's lemon twist garnish offered up citrus aromas to accent the Brazilian spirit's grassy funk and complement the Cocchi Americano and passion fruit to follow. Next, a peachy citrus sip led into a delightful medley of cachaça, honey, passion fruit, orange, and lemon flavors on the swallow.

les sablons

1 1/2 oz Absolut Elyx Vodka (Citadelle Gin)
1/2 oz Manzanilla Sherry
1/2 oz Benedictine
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Wendnesdays ago, I met friends at Les Sablons in Harvard Square. For a drink, I went with the namesake cocktail that has been attributed to bar director Jackson Cannon who also put the drink on the menu at sister restaurant Eastern Standard. As I have done with drinks such as the Parisian Orchid and Beacon Fix, I asked if I could have the Les Sablons with gin; in keeping with the French theme, I requested Citadelle Gin which I had spotted elsewhere on the menu. With gin, the drink recipe read like a Barbara West with Benedictine in the mix.
The Les Sablons with gin greeted the senses with a lemon, savory, and juniper nose. Next, the lemon and savory notes continued into the sip, and the swallow provided complementary gin and herbal flavors with a clean sherry 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?

da nang

3/4 oz Tito's Vodka Plantation 3 Star Rum
3/4 oz St. Germain
3/4 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a lime wheel-cherry flag.
Two Wednesdays ago, I ventured over to Tiger Mama for a drink where bartenders Schuyler Hunton and Sam Kontny were at the stick. There, I asked Schuyler if I could have the Da Nang with rum or gin instead of the vodka on the menu, and he gladly made it with his choice of Plantation white rum. On paper, the combination reminded me as a cross between the Dunniette and Don's Special Daiquiri given the combinations of elderflower, Aperol, and citrus and rum, passion fruit, and lime, respectively. Once prepared, it offered passion fruit and citrus aromas to the nose. Next lime with a vague fruitiness on the sip gave way to rum, orange, and floral notes on the swallow with a passion fruit finish.
After the Da Nang, I switched to a tasty hibiscus-tinged beer, Revolution Brewing Company's Rosa. In the midst of that glass, Nick Korn who was across the bar sent over a Cynar Colada! Nick was involved with Grupo Campari during Camp Runamok were our cabin's counselor, Steve Yamada, crafted the cabin's Cynar Colada. This one was Schuyler's creation using the more potent 70 proof Cynar as well a house orange-tinged coconut cream.

Tiger Mama's Cynar Colada
• 2 oz Cynar 70
• 1 oz House Coconut Cream
• 1 oz Pineapple Juice
• 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 1/4 oz Orange Juice
Blend with ice, pour into a Tiki mug, and garnish with mint, orchid, and freshly grated nutmeg.

This Cynar Colada began with a nutmeg, floral, and mint bouquet. Next, a creamy coconut sip shifted to the swallow's combination of pineapple and Cynar's funky bitter.

vesper

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CIV) was picked by Dagreb of the Nihil Utopia blog. The theme he chose was "Forgiving Cocktails," and he elaborated on the concept with his description of, "It could be the antithesis of a drink so delicately structured that even 1/8 oz too much or too little of an ingredient causes a trainwreck. I'm not suggesting all out free-pouring but perhaps you've come across a recipe that can roll with the punches of an over/under pour now and again. Perhaps you're at a ballroom or a hotel and the unenthusiastic and/or fresh-faced (bar) staff doesn't inspire confidence. They may not know Campari from calamari but if you want a cocktail what do you do? Order something that can't go too wrong. A Manhattan? Perhaps a Negroni?... This idea of forgiving cocktails first began for me when one night I swapped the 'bottom shelf' for the 'top middle shelf' and was delighted by the results. It wasn't exactly the same but it was delicious none the less! The idea continued with other drinks that welcomed whichever brand I was pouring... Whatever it may be find or invent a drink you feel is a forgiving cocktail and share the results."

While looking up another cocktail that utilized gin and Lillet, I was reminded of the Vesper. The Vesper is one of the drinks in the world that confuses me to no end. The initial time I took an order for one at my first professional bar, I could not remember whether there was more gin or more vodka, so I made it equal parts. Then I learned the drink recipe via the illogical idea that there is only a small amount of vodka to weaken the flavors of the botanicals in the gin. I could see a vodka lover preferring 3 parts vodka to a single part of gin to make something as boldly flavor as say Plymouth out of Beefeater, but could any one detect gin diluted by 25%? Well, that part is symbolic for the Vesper is named after a double agent in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale and appearing British with a secret Russian ingredient in the mix is kind of crafty in a literary way. The Kina Lillet part is intriguing to me since today's Lillet or Cocchi Americano is rather light on the quinine, and I do not see many people getting excited about a gin-Lillet Martini such as the Richmond Cocktail. However, throw vodka into that with even less flavor and people request it with glee? And request it shaken? I have told guests that I will trust an author's take on mixology when an author will take my advice on how he should develop his book's plot. In the remake of the Casino Royale movie, James Bond is agitated about losing at the gambling table and his drink request is particular, but I see his shaken aspect as a sign of frustration instead of wanting a smooth cocktail like it should be. The more I thought about the cocktail and my opinions on it, the more I realized that I had never had more than a straw-taste of ones with Cocchi Americano and one with Kina l'Avion d'Or and that I ought to sink into my own glassful to contemplate it.

Vesper
"Three measures of Gordon's [gin], one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel."
• 1 1/2 oz Death's Door Gin
• 1/2 oz Barr Hill Vodka
• 1/4 oz Cocchi Americano
Stir with ice and garnish with a lemon twist.

The Vesper fulfills that idea of "forgiving cocktails" since the exact ratios are not incredibly important and probably an equal parts drink would be delightful (albeit a hint sweeter and more citrus-wine flavored). Or perhaps fitting it to the Drink bar's 2:1/2:1/2 formula? That would probably taste about the same as the literary recipe. And then there are the ingredients. Kina Lillet is defunct and few quinquinas of that style have a crisp quinine signature to them, so using Lillet Blanc, Cocchi Americano, or Kina l'Avion d'Or are all punts. Is Gordon's gin the same now as it was then? Here, I opted for the quirky Death's Door gin with its minimalist botanical blend and grain-forward distillate. And what about the vodka? Was it as clean then as it is today with its hyper-marketed dozen distillations and ultra-premium multiple filtration steps? Moreover, what about the proof dropping over the years to the point that most gins and vodkas are only 80? Instead of worrying about that, I went for a more flavorful vodka from Caledonia Spirits that distills fermented honey to donate earthy and floral components. True, I killed the British and Russian symbolism by using solely American products (save for the aromatized wine component that is), but I was after flavor considerations to make this mix more appealing to my palate. Surely most non-literary and non-movie buff drinkers would forgive my changes and perhaps some of my opinions? Maybe not, but it is the weekend before Mixology Monday and my deadline convinces me that I am rather forgiven.
At least I should be forgiven for giving this cocktail a whirl for once and for taking a photo utilizing an elegant piece of glassware from around the time the Casino Royale book was written. Once prepared, my Vesper shared lemon, floral, and juniper aromas. Next, honey, bready, and white wine notes filled the sip, and the swallow gave forth juniper from the gin and citrus peel from the Cocchi Americano and the gin's coriander. With my spirit choices, the drink was certainly not flabby or uninteresting, and it had a lot more depth than a cold glass of gin.

So thank you to Dagreb for picking the theme to challenge us to be less uptight about drinking. And may he forgive all of us for our choices this month and may he forgive the rest of you who did not pick up the mixing glass and keyboard by Monday night to participate in this 104th Mixology Monday. Finally, thanks again to all of you hosts and participants who have kept this nerdy online cocktail party alive and well for all these years!