human rocket

1 1/2 oz Bulleit Bourbon
1/2 oz Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
1/2 oz Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur
1/2 oz Suze Gentiane Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

For my second drink at Brick & Mortar, I asked bartender Kenny Belanger if he had the recipes from the Spin the Bottle event in late February that featured Hollis Bulleit on the turntables as the DJ for the evening. The drink that caught my eye, the Human Rocket, was crafted by Misty Kalkofen; I surmise that this fruity, nutty, and bitter Bourbon drink was named after a DEVO song, but I did not ask that night to confirm. It also seemed like a fruitier variation of Misty's Penn Cocktail that she crafted for the Ivy League College menu last autumn.
The Human Rocket offered up a walnut aroma, and some of those notes bled into the sip along with the Bourbon's malt flavors. Next, the whiskey's barrel notes came through on the beginning of the swallow followed by apricot, gentian, and the rest of the walnut.

frequent flier

1 1/2 oz St. Teresa Rum
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with ~2 oz ginger beer, garnish with an orange twist, and add a straw.

For Andrea's first drink at Brick & Mortar, she asked bartender Kenny Belanger for the Frequent Flier. The recipe was created by Kenny's fellow bartender Phil MacLeod who we met shortly after he started working behind the bar at Green Street around October of 2011. With aged rum, Cynar, allspice liqueur, lime juice, and ginger beer, it would have tempted me for my next round if Andrea had not ordered it first.
The orange twist's oils greeted the nose and led into a carbonated lime and caramel sip. Next, the rum, ginger, and allspice filled the swallow; the Cynar's herbal notes were harder to detect in this mix, but it probably worked rather well to support the aged rum.

4-5-6

2 oz Douglas XO Scotch
1/2 oz Luxardo Amaro Abano
1/2 oz Demerara Simple Syrup
2 dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters

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

Two Sundays ago, Andrea and I visited Brick & Mortar where Kenny Belanger and Cory Buono were bartending that night. For a first drink, I asked Kenny for the 4-5-6 which was one of his creations. When I saw the name, I wondered if it was a continuation of the 3-2-1 on the Green Street menu given that Misty Kalkofen has worked at both establishments. With the exception of a whiskey and an herbal liqueur, the recipes appear unrelated though.
The orange oil's brightness contrasted the dark aroma from the amaro on the nose. The amaro's caramel paired well with the richness of the demerara syrup on the sip, and the Scotch came through on the swallow along with the amaro's earthy herbal flavors and the bitter's cinnamon note.

yellow bird

1 1/2 oz Light Rum (Caliche)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Galliano
1/2 oz Triple Sec (Cointreau)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Sunday afternoons ago, Andrea was in the mood for a cocktail. For an idea, my eyes latched onto one of the recipe sheets from the Boston USBG-sponsored talk about aperitifs and digestifs that I attended at Backbar about a month ago. There I found the Yellow Bird, a drink that we served at an International Migratory Bird Day party that we threw in 2008 (and I wrote up here). The Yellow Bird was one of the 20 bird-themed drinks on the menu, but it never made it onto the blog. The recipe provided by Bols-Galliano was somewhere between the sweeter 2:1:1:1 recipe we made that night (unsure now as to which book was the source) and the crisper 3:2:1:1 recipe in Stan Jones' Complete Barguide. Of course, when we made the Yellow Bird the last time in 2008, it was with the old Galliano (the New Coke-like) formulation, and this time it would be with the new (the Coca Cola Classic-like) one.
The Yellow Bird shared an orange, anise, and vanilla aroma. A citrussy lime and orange sip gave way to a rum swallow with a mint-like and star anise finish. Indeed, the Yellow Bird came across like an herbal Rum Sidecar.

white rene

1 1/2 oz Pisco (Macchu Pisco)
1/2 oz White Rum (Privateer)
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

After having the Black Rene, I felt it was good but it could be improved. Taking Max Toste's conversion of the Black Devil into the White Devil for the Deep Ellum menu as inspiration, I set to work. In place of the brandy and aged rum, I swapped in pisco and white rum. I kept the Maraschino liqueur the same, as well as the only color in the drink -- the lime juice.
The White Rene had an interesting Maraschino-pisco funk to the nose, while on the tongue, it offered a lime sip with some cherry-like fruit notes. The swallow was mostly about the great pisco-Maraschino pairing that had worked well in Kevin Martin's Carnivale (a/k/a the Pisco Disco) with some rum flavors providing accent here. Overall, the White Rene was a definite improvement to my palate.

black rene

2/3 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Foret)
1/2 Lemon (1/2 oz Lemon Juice
2 dash Bacardi Rum (1/2 oz Thomas Tew)
2 dash Maraschino Liqueur (1/2 oz Luxardo)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a green olive (omitted, and instead garnished with a lemon twist).

Two Fridays ago, I was scanning through the brandy section of Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 when I spotted the Black Rene. Overall, it seemed like a brandy-forward and Maraschino instead of triple sec variation of the Between the Sheets, and it seemed worthy of a try.
The Black Rene's bouquet was filled with lemon, Maraschino, and caramel notes from the rum. A slightly tart lemon-caramel sip led into brandy, rum, and Maraschino flavors on the swallow. Moreover, as the drink warmed up, it became a bit more grassy and rhum agricole-like; Andrea surmised that the Maraschino played a role modifying or pushing this flavor forward.

[pau d'arco]

2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1/2 oz Honey-Ginger Syrup
3 dash Bittermens Mole Bitters
3 dash Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lemon twist and add a straw.

Two Thursdays ago, I met up with Andrea at Rendezvous for dinner. For a drink, bartender Scott Holliday mentioned that he had been tinkering with a Penicillin-like drink but without citrus juice or a second spirit as a rinse. Since it was agave-based, it would be more like a Little Branch though. Instead of a spiced honey Sour, this came across more like an Old Fashioned. For a name, Scott was thinking about riffing off of Penicillin, and I later thought that Pau d'Arco, a botanical cure-all extract that originates in a tree found in Mexico and parts of South America, might work.
The lemon twist's aroma brightened the smokey agave notes and worked well with the honey ones. Next, a honey sip led into the mezcal swallow that faded away into a ginger and chocolate finish.

catedratico

1 1/2 oz El Maestro Oloroso Sherry
1 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
2 dash Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top.
For a second drink, I was tempted by the Catedrático which was based off of the classic Martinez and asked bartender Chris Danforth to make me one. Once mixed, the Catedrático shared an orange oil and sherry aroma at first that later became more Maraschino driven. Next, a sweet grape sip led into a swallow dominated by nutty notes from the sherry and Maraschino and herbal ones from the gin and bitters.

columbus exchange

1 1/2 oz Ron Pampero Rum
1/2 oz S. Maria al Monte Amaro
1/2 oz Carpano (or Cocchi) Sweet Vermouth (*)
1/4 oz Grand Marnier
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top.
(*) Usually made with Cocchi sweet vermouth, but they were out.

Two Wednesdays ago, I made my way over to the Blue Room where Chris Danforth was tending bar. For a first drink, I asked for the Columbus Exchange, a drink that Chris had created about a month or so ago. Chris thought about the New World rum and falernum as well as the Old World vermouth, amaro, and orange liqueur in the recipe, and he named the drink after the Grand Exchange, the widespread exchange of animals, plants, humans, and ideas between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia following Columbus' voyage in 1492.
The Columbus Exchange offered an orange oil aroma that brightened the aged, caramel and herbal notes. A caramel, grape, and orange sip gave way to a rum, clove, and minty swallow. Overall, I was impressed at how well the rum and vermouth seemed to tame the S. Maria al Monte and its strong menthol signature.