crusade

1 1/2 oz Pousse-Rapiere Orange Armagnac Liqueur
Mumm Napa Champagne

Add liqueur to a Champagne flute and top off with sparkling wine.

Eventually Andrea arrived from her hair appointment and we ordered a flatbread pizza and a pair of drinks off of the Beehive's Champagne cocktail list. Last time I ordered the yellow Chartreuse and St. Germain-laden Yellow Jacket, and this time I went with the Crusade. I was surprised when Russ only poured from one bottle before topping the drink off with sparkling wine since the menu read that it was "Armagnac & Orange Liqueur". He then showed us the bottle that the two were combined in one. My later research tells me that the drink originates from Gascony in France and is often called a Pousse-Rapiere (rapier-sword thrust). Often the drink is made with equal parts of Armagnac and orange liqueur, and at least one Armagnac house has combined the two in one, a liqueur d'orange a l'Armagnac, which suggests how popular this cocktail is in France. The end result was a pretty intense orange flavor unlike most other orange liqueurs (perhaps Grand Marnier as an exception) with a sweetness wave on top of the sparkling wine's crispness. Normally this drink would be had as an apertif, but it worked rather well with the food.

vieux carre

1 oz Old Overholt Rye
1 oz Brandy
1 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth
1 barspoon Benedictine
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir on ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

For my second drink, I went off of their menu (seven cocktails and seven Champagne cocktails) and asked Russ what he could do rye. From the plethora of rye cocktails in his drink vocabulary, I later asked where he had bartended before. It all made sense once he replied that he was a B-Side alum. For the drink, I was thinking of something New Orleans-like akin to a Cocktail a la Louisiane, so when he mentioned the Vieux Carre, that seemed close enough to my original idea. For this recipe, he stopped his free pouring and picked up a shot glass as a make-shift jigger (I am still surprised at how some places not only do not use but do not have proper jiggers) to get the equal proportions just right. His extra care did pay off from the lemon oils in the nose to the bitters in the swallow. I would have drank this one quicker, but Andrea was going to be a bit later from her hair appointment than expected so I settled into my book and savored this one with an extended leisure.

cold turkey

1 1/2 oz Wild Turkey American Honey Liqueur
1/2 oz Calvados
1 dash Monin Cinnamon Syrup
2 oz Sidre Doux Sparkling Cider

Shake all but the cider with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top off with cider.

On Tuesday, I went down to the Beehive to wait for Andrea to be done with her hair appointment. I sat down at the bar with my friend Bukowski (Portions from a Wine Stained Notebook) and picked out the Cold Turkey off of their cocktail list for Russ the bartender to make for me. I was a little surprised when I saw him top off the drink with sparkling cider when the menu stated that it contained Champagne; however, the cider probably worked a lot better with the Calvados and cinnamon flavors than Champagne might have. The cider did impart a nice crispness to the drink similar to a sparkling wine's effect so it was indeed a good substitution. In the end, it was a decent autumnal-themed cocktail albeit a little on the sweet side of things but not overly so.

[dubonnet tequila]

2 oz El Tesoro Tequila
3/4 oz Dubonnet Rouge
1/4 oz Drambuie
1 drop Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist orange rind over the top and discard peel.

For my last cocktail at Drink on Sunday, I asked Misty for a Dubonnet and gin drink. When Misty re-tasted the Dubonnet, she asked if she could go with tequila instead. Since her tequila-fu is rather strong (as evidenced by Andrea's tequila drink requests in the past), I told her that I trusted her. What surprised me more than her base spirit choice was when she pulled out a bottle of Drambuie, a honey-laden Scotch liqueur that I have never had in a cocktail or on its own. When she saw my surprise, Misty commented that Charlotte Voisey, bartender and brand ambassador for Hendricks and other products, had taught her how Drambuie and tequila mix rather well together.

First, the tequila and the Dubonnet made for a nice flavor combination with the Dubonnet riding on the first part of the sip before the tequila flavors kicked in. Next, the wonders of the Drambuie and tequila pairing became apparent with the honey matching up well with the tequila and with the smokiness of the Scotch meshing with the tequila. Andrea, who is a lot better versed in tequila than I, thought that the mix gave it the complex combination of flavors she has tasted in good tequilas.

[rumaro]

3/4 oz Averna
1/2 oz Nux Alpina
1 1/2 oz Rhum JM Blanc
1/4 oz Old Monk Rum

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top and discard.

For my second cocktail at Drink, I diverged momentarily from aromatized wine and requested that Misty make me a drink with some sort of amaro. She ended up choosing two: Averna, a full-bodied Italian Alpine herbal and floral liqueur, and Nux Alpina, a rich liqueur flavored with walnut from a nearby region in Italy. While Misty knew that she wanted to pair it with the white rhum agricole, she hesitated on the fourth ingredient for a while. She ended up picking Old Monk, a dark rum spiked with vanilla, which added a nice contrast to the Rhum JM Blanc. The drink itself was full of rich and funky flavors with a grassy-nutty one predominating. The richness of the drink's darker components gave a delightful smoothness that was punctuated with a sharp and bitter finish.

[laird's lillet love]

1 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
1 oz Laird's Apple Brandy
1/2 oz Famous Grouse Scotch
1/2 oz Sorgum Syrup
1 dash Smoking Ban Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top and discard.

For my first drink on Sunday at Drink, I asked Misty for either a Lillet Blanc or a Dubonnet Rouge drink since I wanted to give the other aromatized wines (i.e.: non-sweet or dry vermouth) some love. Misty chose Lillet, although we returned later to the theme at the end to do a Dubonnet drink.

The first mouthful of this cocktail yielded a bit of sweetness, but after that the sensation subsided. What remained was a smoky honey fruity bitter flavor which flexed one aspect over the other depending on what part of the swallow it was. If only they taught people to appreciate the layout of the tongue with cocktails instead of swabs dipped in chemical solutions to map the sweet, salty, bitter, and sour receptors... Andrea thought the drink tasted like dried apricots which was probably due to the Lillet Blanc interacting with the apple brandy. I picked up a dried fruit taste as well but it was more raisiny to my mouth. Andrea also commented that the drink had a muddled finish that was hard to identify. I assume that was due to the Scotch and the complexity of the tobacco bitters. Overall, I must say that this drink intrigued me through out especially with the multitude of notes that were singing to senses.

nonantum cocktail

2 parts Old Overholt Rye
1 part Punt e Mes
1 part Strega
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Marasca cherry.

Yesterday, the Grand in Somerville (home of the Boston Shaker's shop) was holding its monthly Sip & Shop sale event. The guest bartender was Evan Harrison of the Independent who was making one of his newer creations, the Nonantum cocktail (please read the DrinkBoston post about Evan and his cocktail). The drink is a modification of a Green Point using a little less rye and swapping Strega liqueur for the yellow Chartreuse. Cheers to Evan for being the first to make a cocktail I have tasted with Strega, a liqueur I have only seen while browsing the shelves of certain liquor stores. Although historically others must use it since there are 23 recipes on CocktailDB.com in case any of you purchase a bottle and wonder what else to do with it besides making tasty Nonantums with it (although please have Evan and the others at the Indo make them for you if you are in the area!).

The drink was indeed reminiscent of the Green Point, although with the more sweet Strega and lower rye proportion, the cocktail was a bit more syrupy smooth in comparison. While the Strega is more intense of a bitter flavor than yellow Chartreuse, the overall profile was less sharp which might be due to the fact that I am used to Green Points with spicy Rittenhouse 100 and not the Nonantum's softer Old Overholt. Regardless of the differences between the two, the Nonantum was just as addicting of a taste as I find Green Points to be.

el scotch presidente

(1 1/2 oz) Famous Grouse Scotch
(1/2 oz) Dolin Dry Vermouth
(1/2 oz) Mathilde XO Orange Liqueur
(1 bar spoon) Grenadine
1 dash Smoking Ban Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Measurements in parenthesis are based on a possible recipe for this drink (not based on visually observed or inquired data, but based on taste and splitting the difference between the 6:1:1 and 2:1:1 recipes I found).

For my after dinner drink at Rendezvous, I asked Scott to make me a Scotch cocktail. Mr. Holiday decided to make an intriguing Scotch variation of the otherwise rum-based El Presidente using the rather floral Dolin dry vermouth and an exquisite orange liqueur made from aged Cognac. The end result was a splendid combination of melony and smoky flavors. The latter was due to the Scotch and perhaps the bitters, while the former was from the interplay of the grenadine and orange liqueur. Scott thought that the floral notes in the Dolin could have also intensified the melon tastes I was experiencing.

crown of thorns

Rye
Cynar
Lemon Juice
(Simple Syrup?)
Smoking Ban Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Last Thursday, I had a hankering for Rendezvous' Bolito Miso, a hearty vegetable stew on top of a mound of polenta, so Andrea and I made the trip over there. For my before dinner drink, Scott Holliday wanted me to try out one of his creations in the works (hence no proportions in the recipe above). He had named the drink the Crown of Thorns in part for the holiday approaching and for its use of the artichoke liqueur Cynar.

The bitters provided hints of vanilla on the nose, as well as allspice and clove flavors which worked rather well with and intensified parts of the Cynar. The drink had a nice sharpness to it from the rye and lemon juice so the thorns of the drink were not just in the artichoke spines. Overall, the drink made for a good aperitif that also worked well with the food once it arrived.