little devil

1/6 Orange Juice (1/2 oz)
1/6 Lemon Juice (1/2 oz)
1/6 Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1/6 Bacardi Rum (1/2 oz Atlantico Platino)
1/6 oz Dry Gin (1/2 oz Death's Door)
1/6 oz Caloric Punch (1/2 oz homemade Swedish Punsch)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
For a nightcap two Monday's ago, I decided to make the Little Devil that I spotted in the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild's Approved Cocktails book. Its quirky 3 spirit Daisy structure got the better of my curiosity. The Little Devil began with an orange, gin, and rum aroma that led into a slightly crisp orange sip. What started slightly sweet on the sip ended drier with rum, lemon peel, tea tannin, spice, and gin notes on the swallow. The Punsch helped to tie together the disparate gin and rum components; while the two spirits worked well in the Fog Cutter, my choice of Death's Door, an unusual and strongly flavored gin, might not have been the best option here.

madrid

2 oz Diabolique Bourbon Infusion
3/4 oz Fino Sherry
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist and one scant dash each of Orange, Angostura, and Falernum Bitters.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I ventured over to the South End to get dinner at Estragon. For a first drink, bartender Sahil Mehta suggested his Spanish-influenced Manhattan variation. Since Estragon only has a cordial license, Sahil made use of the locally infused Diabolique Bourbon which is a sweetened spirit flavored with figs, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. Sahil mentioned that with a regular, drier Bourbon, the sweetness level of the other ingredients would need to be adjusted.
The Madrid's nose showcased lemon oils, orange notes, and spice. The spice continued on into the sip where it interacted with the sherry's light grape and the Diabolique's malt notes. The Bourbon, sherry, and clove flavors then wrapped up the profile on the swallow. Indeed, I was impressed at how the fino sherry gave the Madrid a cleanness to the sip and swallow.

the burlington

2 1/2 oz Old Overholt Rye Whiskey
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Smoked Maple Syrup (*)

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.
(*) 2 parts smoked salt simple syrup to 1 part maple syrup. Smoked salt simple syrup has 5 tsp of smoked salt per quart (~1 tsp per 6 oz simple syrup).

For my second drink at the Citizen Public House, I asked bartender Jess Li for the Burlington. When I inquired about the syrup, Jess flagged down bartender Chad Arnholt. Besides providing the recipe for the syrup, Chad gave a few details about the smoked sea salt he used. Chad prefers an imported sea salt that appears rather tacky and moist instead of dry crystals; in addition to the smoke notes, it also imparts flint and iodine flavors.
The Burlington provided a smoke and rye aroma that came across in a Famous Grouse Scotch-like way, and the sip was full of grape and malt notes that yielded hints of salinity at times. Next, the swallow offered maple, whiskey, Punt e Mes' bitter, and light smoke notes; moreover, the drink was neither overly maple or smoke flavored. The salt functioned quite well to combat the drink's sweetness along with the Punt e Mes' bitterness; in addition, the salt seemed to function well to cut the drink's finish.

thompson schneider

1 1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
1 1/2 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino

Build on ice in a rocks glass and stir. Top with less than 1 oz of ginger beer and float a dash of absinthe (Kübler?) on top. Add a straw.

On New Years Day, we made our way over to the Citizen Public House in Boston, one of the handful of places that were thankfully serving on this day of rest. For an opener, I asked bartender Jess Li for the Thompson Schneider as it seemed like a delightful twist on the Half Sinner, Half Saint, one of my favorite aperitifs. When I asked Jess who Thompson Schneider was, she explained that it was not a person but two people. Bartender Chad Arnholt named the drink after his two roommates, Will Thompson of Drink and Jack Thompson (not a bar or restaurant worker). Strangely, Will showed up as I was drinking this, and while he was aware of the libation on the menu, he had never tried one before.
The Thompson Schneider began with an absinthe aroma; while the small bottle with the absinthe was unlabeled, its aroma and flavor did remind me of Kübler. Next, the carbonated sip contained citrus-grape notes, and the swallow presented the ginger balanced by red wine flavors. Later as the absinthe halo integrated into the drink, anise notes began to populate the swallow as well. My only complaint was that I was hoping for a greater absinthe amount in the drink similar to what I am used to in my Half Sinner, Half Saint experiences.

bittered old coot

1 1/4 oz Rye Whiskey (Sazerac 6)
3/4 oz Drambuie
3/4 oz Fernet Branca
3 dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters (or other aromatic bitters)

Build in an Old Fashioned glass with a large ice cube and stir until well chilled.

For a New Year's Eve cocktail before we left to go to a party, I selected a drink from the most recent issue of Imbibe magazine that had just arrived. The one that seemed like the perfect way to send 2011 out was Derek Coffelt's Bitter Old Coot. While many of the drinks at Justus Drugstore in Missouri are made with house infusions, this one uses only standard, off the shelf ingredients. One of the other reasons that the recipe called out to me was that it made good use of the strange 1-1/4 over 3/4 oz jigger that I was sent for taking BarSmarts; moreover, the topic of 1-1/4 oz pours being stylishly done with a set of 3/4 and 1/2 oz jiggers by one bartender to the lament of his fellow bartenders (since house recipes began having this odd 1-1/4 measurement) was fresh in my head.
The Bitter Old Coot greeted our noses with a Fernet aroma coupled by Drambuie to me and caramel notes to Andrea. The sip was honey and malt notes, and the swallow had an herbal focus of Fernet and the Drambuie's heather. Overall, it was like an intense Toronto with honey flavors from the Drambuie instead of less notable ones from a sugar cube. Lastly, the drink we later ushered 2012 in with once we got home was the Ramos Gin Fizz to counter this bitter year ender.

low rider

2 oz Siembra Azul Blanco Tequila
1/2 oz Zucca Rabarbaro Amaro
1/2 oz Dark Créme de Cacao
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

For my next drink at Brick and Mortar, I asked bartender Crystal for the Low Rider. The drink's aroma presented agave notes with darker ones from the Zucca. The sip had a spicy caramel richness to it that led into a chocolate and agave swallow that gained complexity from the Zucca and Angostura's bitter notes.

streets of gettysburg

1 1/4 oz Lustau Dry Amontillado Sherry
1 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Galliano Ristretto
1 dash Angostura Bitters

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

After Backbar, I made my over to Central Square where I was meeting Andrea for dinner later on in the evening. In the meantime, I stopped in at Brick and Mortar and I found a seat in front of bartender Evan Harrison. For a first drink, I asked for the Streets of Gettysburg; when I inquired about the name, owner Patrick Sullivan had apparently spotted it as the caption to a friend's photo on Facebook, and bartender Misty Kalkofen grabbed it from the drink name notebook for her creation.
The Streets of Gettysburg's aroma began with orange notes from the twist and coffee ones from the Ristretto liqueur; later, the sherry notes stepped forward in the nose. The sherry's grape combined with the rye's grain notes on the sip, and the swallow offered the amontillado's nuttiness, the dark roast of the coffee liqueur, and the herbal spice of the Benedictine and Angostura. Indeed, the trio of sherry, Benedictine, and Ristretto worked well here as they did in Eric Alperin's tequila-based Bebida de Puebla.

model t

1 3/4 oz Jim Beam Black Bourbon
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass spritzed twice with a clove-infused rum. Garnish with a clove-infused cherry and an addition spritz of clove-infused rum.

Last Friday afternoon, I got home early so I decided to visit Backbar shortly after it opened up. The drink that called out to me was their signature Manhattan variation, the Model T. The name pays tribute to the bar's location that was built in 1921 as the area's first Ford dealership, and the staff will proudly point to the filled in oil trough in the floor as one of the vestiges of the former inhabitants.
The clove essence contributed greatly to the drink's aroma as well as in the taste. In the sip besides the clove were malt and grape notes, and the swallow contained whiskey and herbal notes as well as a continuance of the clove. This spice note took the Model T in a very different direction from the Green Point despite having a rather comparable recipe.

atwood grove

1 1/4 Milagro Silver Tequila
1 oz Pimm's No. 1
1/2 oz Spiced Grapefruit Cordial (*)
1 dash Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Build in a hot drink glass and fill with boiling water. Garnish with a quarter wheel of a pink grapefruit.
(*) Grapefruit peels steeped in simple syrup. Allspice Dram and Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters were added.

For my second drink at Craigie on Main, I asked John Mayer for the Atwood Grove that recently appeared on their drink menu. The libation was named after one of the largest grapefruit groves in the world where the first pink grapefruit was discovered in 1906. Given John's proclivity for serving drinks with a nod to Texas culture and given the long history of grapefruit production there, I was somewhat surprised to learn that the grove was actually in Florida. I do regret having this hot drink second for it would have been a great way to warm up after walking in the cold.
The Atwood Grove presented a steamy fruit aroma from the Pimm's and grapefruit with a hint of tequila coming through. The sip offered light grapefruit, Pimm's, and cinnamon flavors, and the swallow presented the tequila and spice. Interestingly, with the dilution from the larger than average amount of hot water, the drink came across more like a fruity herbal tea than a potent Hot Toddy.