[campari swizzle]

2 oz Barbancourt Rum
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Demerara Syrup
1 dash Bittermens Tiki Bitters

Add ingredients to a tall glass, fill with ice, and swizzle until cold. Garnish with a mint sprig, a lime wedge, a cherry, and a straw.

On Friday night, Andrea and I went to Lineage in Brookline for dinner. For my first drink, bartender Ryan Lotz mentioned that he had been tinkering with two different Swizzle ideas; while the first was more of a traditional rum one, the second caught my attention for its Campari content. Although I have heard of Campari-laden Swizzles such as Giuseppe Gonzalez's Negroni Swizzle and Tiare's Bird Swizzle, I have not experienced one myself, so I gave Ryan the go ahead. Here, the mint sprig garnish's aroma overwhelmed that of the Campari, rum, and other ingredients. Flavorwise, the sip contained the lime with hints of the Campari poking through; next, the Campari showed its full potential on the swallow along with the rum. For what starts somewhat sharply on the sip ended rather smoothly on the swallow perhaps due to the Barbancourt Rum.

pokey crocus

2 oz Gin (Knockabout)
1/2 oz Green Tea Syrup (1:1)
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1 barspoon Crème de Violette (Rothman & Winter)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
For Mixoloseum's Thursday Drink Night last week, the theme was "Spring." I found it rather amusing for it had already started snowing for our April Fool's Day surprise. When I mentioned the theme to Andrea, she came up with a possible drink name, the Pokey Crocus, after the inhabitants of our tardy flower patch next to our drive way. From there, I came up with a drink to match it. Using an Aviation as a starting point, I did two ingredient swaps to create my take on the season with perhaps Todd Maul's Spring in the Afternoon in mind. Beside switching the lemon juice for dry vermouth to counter the other ingredients' sweetness, I exchanged the Aviation's Maraschino liqueur for a green tea syrup. The syrup was rather flavorful as an equal part of Houji-Cha Roasted Green Tea combined with an equal part of sugar. Here, the tea syrup would represent the large amount of green in the crocus plant and the mere barspoon of crème de violette would add the hint of flowers attempting to peek through. Once mixed, the Pokey Crocus provided a hint of floral scent on top of a sweet aroma. With the tea syrup, the sip was sweet and grassy and preceded the floral and herbal swallow.

Update April 4, 2012:
The Pokey Crocus won Drinking in America's spring-themed Cabin Fever Cocktail Challenge! Judge Michael Cerretani, a bartender at Boulder, Colorado's Bitter Bar, described the drink as, "Nicely balanced between sweet and dry, hints of mint and chamomile, with a nice light floral finish. A great springtime cocktail in the sense that it's refreshing and at the same time has multiple layers of flavor. Additionally it's a nice transition from winter in the sense that it’s still spirit forward and intense. I think this cocktail would hold up well at the Bitter Bar because it is unique, well balanced, and nicely reminiscent of the classics."

j.r.t.

2 oz Ron Diplomatico Rum Reserve
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Housemade Allspice Dram
1/2 oz Burnt Cinnamon Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass containing one large ice cube. Freshly grate nutmeg over the top and add a pinch or two of ground mace to the top of the ice cube. Add a straw.

For my second drink at Clio last Wednesday night, bartender Todd Maul wanted to make me the J.R.T. off of the new Spring cocktail menu. Luckily, I asked Todd what the initials stood for instead of trying to guess later if he had a fascination with Jack Russell Terriers or other. The name is a series of initials standing for John, the regular for whom the drink was made, Randy Wong, the creator of Clio's allspice dram and other recipes, and Todd Maul himself.
The nutmeg and mace aromas greeted me before I took a taste of this Tiki number. While nutmeg and mace come from the same fruit, mace is the outer covering of the nutmeg seed and packs a more potent punch and reddish hue. Once I did take a sip, it was full of a semi-sweet lime flavor that paired well with the caramel richness from the aged rum. Moreover, these notes were chased by the spice from the cinnamon syrup and allspice dram on the swallow. The spice quotient was augmented over time as the nutmeg and mace notes dissolved into the drink.

spring in the afternoon

2 oz Fava Bean Leaf-infused Brugal White Rum
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Brut Sparkling Wine
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
2 dash Grapefruit Bitters

Light a piece of dried loomi (black lime) on fire so it smolders; overturn a rocks glass to capture the smoke. Shake the drink contents with ice. Upright the rocks glass, add a large ice cube, and strain the drink into the glass. Garnish with a fava bean leaf over the ice cube and add a straw.

On Wednesday, I paid a visit to bartender Todd Maul at Clio in Boston. I had gotten wind that his new Spring menu had launched, and I was eager to try a drink or two from the list. The cocktail that Todd wanted to show me first was his abstraction of Ernest Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon called Spring in the Afteroon. Instead of an absinthe-filled Champagne cocktail, the absinthe was removed for a Rum Sour base and the sparkling wine aspect was minimized and shaken with the drink to impart the flavor but remove the carbonation. One of the secrets to the drink was a white rum infused with fava bean leaves using an iSi Cream Whipper as written about by the Cooking Issues blog; when I tasted a fava bean leaf, it reminded me a lot of the bean shell (minus the salt) when eating edamame at a sushi restaurant. The other trick Todd utilized was similar to the one in his Smoking Cinnamon; however, instead of a cinnamon stick, he used a Middle Eastern black lime (or loomi) as a smoke source to flavor the inside of the glass. Todd explained that his drink was like a picture of a spring day -- the high notes of the fava bean leaf were like the grass and the low notes of the smoke were like the wet earth underneath.
Todd's two tricks contributed greatly to the Spring in the Afternoon's nose; the aroma started with a smoky nose with a green note poking through at the end of the inhale. The smoke entered the flavor as well as a slight acrid note that dissipated over time. The base of the drink contained a slightly sharp citrus sip that ended sweeter with lingering rum notes. The Champagne, while not contributing carbonation, did provide a white wine flavor on the sip that complemented the grapefruit bitters.

revision cocktail

1 1/2 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Combier Triple Sec
2 dash Bittermens Grapefruit Bitters

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

Last Monday, Andrea and I stopped into the Citizen Public House outside of Kenmore Square after my DJ gig. There, I was drawn to the Revision Cocktail for its sherry content and lighter style intrigued me. The drink reminded me of an orange liqueur-laden Bamboo or Amour Cocktail, and given the name, I figured that it could be a similar variation on the Reform Cocktail. When I asked bartender Corey Bunnewith about the name, he described how bar manager Joy Richard was trying to come up with a sherry aperitif drink for the Citizen's menu. Revision after revision, she eventually found one that worked for her.
The Revision Cocktail started with a lemon oil and Amontillado sherry aroma. The triple sec's flavor dominated the sip and was followed by the dry vermouth notes and the sherry's nuttiness on the swallow. As the drink warmed up, the sip became reminiscent of a dry orange Lifesaver candy, a sort of caramel orange flavor. Overall, the Revision Cocktail was really light and made a good aperitif like the Bamboo albeit a touch on the sweeter side.

vanilla brandy flip

2 oz Pliska Preslav 5 Year Bulgarian Brandy
1 oz Vanilla Syrup
2 dash Aromatic Bitters
1 Egg

Shake once without ice and once with. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.
For my second drink at Deep Ellum on Sunday, I decided to end the evening with the Vanilla Brandy Flip. Given the name, the drink seemed pretty straight forward, but the use of an aged Bulgarian brandy did surprise me. The pairing of brandy and vanilla is a classical one and harkens back to the 19th century (if not earlier) such as with Jerry Thomas' Vanilla Punch from 1862 and the Lalla Rookh. Like most traditional flips, the Vanilla Brandy Flip presented itself with a nutmeg aroma from the garnish. On the sip, caramel notes from the brandy's barrel aging paired splendidly with the egg's creamy richness. Moreover, the richness continued on the swallow with the brandy and vanilla notes. Overall, the drink was sweet and desserty but complex, especially with the bitters on the swallow that were later joined by nutmeg notes as the garnish integrated into the drink's flavor over time.

sao paulo summer

2 oz Germana Aged Cachaça
3/4 oz Honey Ginger Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 sprig Mint (leaf only)
1 wedge Lime

Shake with ice and pour into a rocks glass without straining. Add straws.

Last Sunday, Andrea and I crossed the river to visit Deep Ellum in Allston. For a first drink, I asked bartender Evan Harrison to make me the São Paulo Summer since Andrea had enjoyed it a lot the last time we were there. Despite it being still a bit chilly here, São Paulo in Brazil experiences their summer along with the rest of the Southern Hemisphere from November to March. The Brazilian aspect of the drink was the spirit, Germana Cachaça, which is distilled in copper pot stills and aged for two years in balsam and Sherry oak casks. Beside the mint, lime juice, and lime wedge (for peel oils), the last component of the São Paulo Summer was a honey ginger syrup that Deep Ellum has at the bar for the Little Branch Cocktail.
The Germana Cachaça donated to São Paulo Summer's aroma along with the lime and mint. Moreover, the cachaça contributed greatly to the flavor where its aged aspect coupled with the lime and honey in the sip and its funk paired with the ginger and the mint on the swallow. The São Paulo Summer was flavorful yet easy to drink and was more dimensional than a standard Caipirinha or Cachaça Mojito alone.

[exchange place fizz]

2 oz Redemption Bourbon
1 oz Pineapple Shrub
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Allspice Dram

Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with soda water, add a straw, and garnish with a mint sprig.

While drinking the Millionaire of Havana, bartender Dave Delaney gave me a small glass of the Menta Flip (Fernet Branca Menta, demerara syrup, cacao tincture, whole egg) that was a more mint and chocolate version of the Fernet Flip. When it came time for the next round, I was not sure what to order next since Dave had already read my mind with the flip. Therefore, I asked him to showcase something new especially since he had mentioned that the Spring menu was due out shortly. Instead of pulling a drink from that collection (or giving me a sneak peak at his winning drink to appear on the cover of Imbibe magazine), he improvised with the pineapple shrub that they had just crafted. At Tales of the Cocktail last year, I did have the Averna Pineapple Shrub that was delicious, but that was not as much of a properly made shrub as just a combination of pineapple puree, simple syrup, and vinegar added to the other ingredients in the shaker. For a direction, Dave went with a highball idea using the new Redemption Bourbon.
In the Fizz, the mint sprig donated a great aroma that paired well with the Bourbon. Next, the fruit notes appeared on the sip as a pineapple and lemon flavor that was sharpened by the soda's carbonation. The swallow though was spicy from the allspice dram which paired well with the Bourbon's barrel notes. Overall, it was a Kentucky taken in a more refreshing and flavorful direction.

millionaire of havana

1 oz Old Monk Rum
1 oz Apricot Liqueur
1 oz Swedish Punsch
1 dash Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
For my second drink at the Citizen Wine & Cheese Bar in Worcester, I picked the Millionaire of Havana, one of the two Swedish Punsch-containing recipes on the menu. Bartender Dave Delaney merged two apricot liquer-laden classics, the Millionaire and the Havana, and I was curious to taste the resulting hybrid. Here, the lemon twist provided much of the drink's aroma. While the sip was mainly the richness of the dark rum, the swallow contained a lot more complexity with apricot, tea, citrus, and vanilla notes. As the drink warmed up, the Millionaire of Havana became more apricot driven and sweeter in balance.