old alhambra

1 1/2 oz Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch
3/4 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/2 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry
1/4 oz Crème de Cacao (Marie Brizard)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Two Fridays ago, we began the evening with a drink I had spotted in TastingTable from Nomad in Manhattan. The drink was named the Old Alhambra after "a once-debaucherous saloon in the Flatiron neighborhood" and has become a popular menu item at the current day bar. According to David Wondrich in Esquire, while the area had stylish hotel bars, the neighborhood "earned the sobriquet 'Satan's Circus' for the gambling halls, dance halls, and brothels surrounding the hotels."
The twist's grapefruit oils joined the Laphroaig's iodiny peat smoke aroma. Next, a malt and grape sip led into a smoky Scotch swallow that gained a chocolate finish after a few sips. Indeed, the Scotch seemed to diminish the sherry's prominence in the Old Alhambra.

br'er rabbit

2 oz Old Overholt Rye
1/2 oz Crème de Cassis
1/2 oz Salers Gentiane Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Float a barspoon of absinthe and twist a lemon peel over the top. Add a straw.

After a drink at J.M. Curley, I ventured over to the Red Line for I had to meet up with Andrea at Rendezvous for dinner. Once there, bartender Scott Holliday suggested a drink he had recently created to fulfill a customers request for something bitter and blackberry-like but not sweet. For the berry and bitter elements, Scott utilized black currant and gentiane-based liqueurs, respectively.
The lemon oil mingled with the floated absinthe's anise on the nose. A malt and berry sip led into rye, black currant, and bitter gentian flavors on the swallow. Later, as the absinthe integrated into the drink, anise and other herbal elements joined the Salers on the finish. Overall, I was impressed as how well the gentian worked with the cassis; it made for an interesting pairing for the Salers complemented the tartness of the black currant berry.

jenna haze

1 1/4 oz Drambuie
3/4 oz Fighting Cock Bourbon
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Amaretto
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a rocks glass, top with ice cubes, and garnish with an orange twist and a cherry.

After the Pumpkin Toddy, Tara convinced me to accompany her to J.M. Curley a few blocks away where bartender Kevin Mabry had a new Drambuie drink to showcase. Kevin's recipe was in rebuttal to Sam Gabrielli's tribute at Russell House Tavern to the American actress Taylor Rain.

Taylor Rain
• 1 1/2 oz Bacardi 8 Year Rum
• 3/4 oz Drambuie
• 1/2 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
• 1 oz Lime Juice
Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass containing fresh ice. Top with 1-2 oz ginger beer.

Keeping the theme of American filmstars going, Kevin named his Bourbon-Drambuie Sour after thespian Jenna Haze. Kevin mentioned that the original version lacked amaretto, but he found that a small amount added an extra dimension to the drink.
The orange peel and cherry garnish contributed greatly to the Sour's aroma. Next, a creamy lemon and honey sip was followed by Bourbon and amaretto on the swallow.

pumpkin toddy

1 oz Drambuie
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 1/2 oz Pumpkin Butter

Stir to mix in a pre-heated Irish coffee mug. Fill with boiling water (~4-5 oz) and stir again. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

As I was drinking my Scarlet Letter at Scholars, Tara, Boston's Drambuie rep, showed up. When bartender John Henderson pointed out that I was drinking a Scarlet Letter, she got very excited and mentioned that she had a hot Drambuie recipe using pumpkin butter that she wanted me to try next. This drink, the Pumpkin Toddy, was created by Chris Hannah at Arnaud's French 75 in New Orleans; originally, it was a Cognac drink that later incorporated some Drambuie in the mix.
The Pumpkin Toddy that John Henderson made proffered a delightful pie aroma containing pumpkin, cinnamon, and allspice notes. Next, the honey-pumpkin sip was followed by Scotch and brandy on the swallow. The pumpkin returned on the finish along with the allspice and later a lingering honey note.

scarlet letter

1 1/2 oz Bacardi 8 Year Rum
3/4 oz Drambuie
1/2 oz Pimm's No. 1
1/4 oz Balsamic Vinegar
1 dash Bittermens Mole Bitters

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

For a second drink at Scholars, I narrowed it down to two drinks I was curious about, and bartender John Henderson recommended the Scarlet Letter for it was the more dynamic of the duo and changed over successive sips. The drink may have been a Nathaniel Hawthorne reference especially given the subtitle, "deep red, the addition of balsamic could be considered taboo." While I have had vinegar-based shrubs as cocktail ingredients, I have only been served one other drink, the Averna Pineapple Shrub, that used vinegar as a mixing ingredient. And I did tinker with it in the Casper Sour. With the honey liqueur being the main sugar source in the Scarlet Letter, perhaps this was an instant Drambuie shrub.
The Scarlet Letter's twist's lemon oil covered over much of the balsamic vinegar's aroma. A rich, sweet sip showcased the Pimm's berry fruit flavor. The swallow began with the rum and Drambuie's Scotch followed by the vinegar's zip and the mole bitters' chocolate. Indeed, the balsamic vinegar dried out the swallow and donated an almost citrussy tang to the finish whereas citrus acids generally appear more on the sip. Moreover, grape notes in the balsamic worked rather well with the aged rum and Drambuie here.

señor elmo's fire

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1/2 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Tuesdays ago, I finally stopped by Scholar's in Boston. For a first drink, I asked bartender John Henderson for the Señor Elmo's Fire that was subtitled, "smoke not fire, with a taste of fall spices." I picked it for it reminded me of a spice-driven Division Bell. And like a man in motion, John set off to make the drink.
The Señor Elmo's Fire proffered a smoky mezcal aroma that was softened by the lemon and spiced by the allspice dram. Next, a lemon and light cherry sip was followed by a mezcal, Maraschino, and allspice swallow. Overall, the Maraschino rather tempered the mezcal, and the combination worked well with the spice notes in the drink.

spice trade

1 oz Bols Barrel-Aged Genever
1 oz Zacapa 23 Year Rum
1/2 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quinquina
1/2 oz Lustau Pedro Ximenez Sherry
2 dash Bittermens Tiki Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a cherry and an orange twist.

For my last drink at Sichuan Garden II, bartender Ran Duan pointed out the Spice Trade that just appeared on the menu. My guess is that the drink's name reflects the Dutch origin of the Genever in honor of their power in the spice trade starting at the beginning of the 17th century.
Orange oil and grape notes greeted the nose. The richness of the sherry and aged rum joined the sherry and Bonal's grape and Genever's malt flavors on the sip. Finally, the swallow began with the Zacapa Rum, followed by the Genever's botanicals and Bonal's bitter herbal elements, and finished with the bitters' spice. This Spice Trade was more on the softer, richer side as opposed to the kümmel and Herbsaint-laden Spice Trade in Beta Cocktails.

domo arigato

2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 barspoon Sesame Oil

Shake with ice and strain into a Highball glass with ice. Top with 4 oz of ginger beer, add a straw, and garnish with a lime wheel.

At Sichuan Garden II in Woburn, bartender Ran Duan suggested the Domo Arigato for Andrea, and its inclusion of sesame oil in the ingredients list definitely intrigued her. Ran explained how he discovered how well mezcal and sesame paired when he happened to drink the agave spirit with a  sesame dish, and thus, he crafted this Mezcal Buck as a result. Perhaps this should not be so surprising once you consider that sesame seeds play a large role in Mexican cuisine in many mole and adobo recipes; however, as the drink's name suggests, sesame's role in Asian cooking is also quite important.
The sesame in the Domo Arigato played a large role in the aroma department where it joined the lime and hints of mezcal. A carbonated lime sip led into the return of the sesame on the swallow along with the smoky mezcal and spicy ginger flavors. Definitely the drink was as delicious as it was curious.

:: cocktails: a global history ::

During the Boston Cocktail Summit in October, I met Joseph Carlin, a nutrition and food history professor at UMASS Boston who wrote Cocktails: A Global History. As we got to talking, we had an interest in each other's books and swapped copies. Joseph's book is part of a recent series of books that covers general cocktails as well as a half dozen or so base spirits. The best known author of that bunch to me is 12 Bottle Bar's Lesley Solmonson who wrote the Gin: A Global History volume.

Cocktails: A Global History does not try to take the history of cocktails and spirits to the same depth of say David Wondrich's Imbibe! or William Grime's Straight Up or On the Rocks. However, it would make a great first overview from the scientific breakthroughs in distillation to the globalization of the cocktail. Moreover, the social aspects of the cocktail covered here reminded me of the RISD museums's 2011 "Cocktail Culture" exhibition with a focus on the tools, cocktail dresses, traditions, and symbolism involved in drinking culture. Despite some simplification of details or taking some hypothesis as fact, the book does a good job of covering a wide swath of history in a short format.

Even with my description of it being an overview, I was still gleaning bits of trivia and learning aspects of cocktails that I was unaware of or had forgotten. In the chapter on punch, for example, Carlin describes how it was common in making a bowl of punch to finish with draping a long curlicue of citrus peel over the edge of a punch bowl to signify that it was freshly made; many Dutch still-life painters captured this in their art. Carlin suggests that this tradition may explain why citrus twists, slices, and wedges are still popular garnishes today. Furthermore, in the tavern chapter, the etymology of bar was proposed. Back in the colonial tavern, the area where the spirits and punch bowls were stored and the drinks were made was locked up in the off hours with bars and slats which extended from counter top to ceiling and were raised when the drink making time began.

The book is not too much of a cocktail recipe collection but is instead an overview of the various classes of drinks and their ingredients. This also includes the wide assortment of food and drink that acquired the name cocktail such as fruit and shrimp. The most curious cocktail contained within is the 19th century libation, the Brompton Cocktail. Created at a London hospital, it contained gin, honey, and morphine for the very sick; in fact, it often got dubbed by the staff as the Terminal Cocktail.  Even some of today's medications, such as AIDS anti-retroviral drug combinations, are still called cocktails.

Overall, Cocktails: A Global History and perhaps the whole spiritous series would make a great primer for someone trying to learn the basics before they delve into the more advanced studies of David Wondrich, Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, and the like.  In addition, its rapid pace and great illustrations put it in the realm of a great gift idea.