[remedios varo]

1 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
3/4 oz Palo Cortado Sherry
3/4 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
1/2 oz Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters
1 dash Scrappy's Chocolate Bitters

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

Two Mondays ago during the snow storm, Andrea met me at Russell House Tavern after my shift was over and suggested that we take the #1 bus down Mass Ave to visit bartender Sahil Mehta at Estragon. The plan worked perfectly save for the harsh winds between the Southend bus stop and the restaurant. Once inside though, Sahil and Estragon's warmth cured our chilliness. For a starter, Andrea opted for a mezcal drink that Sahil posted on Facebook and Instagram as his drink of the day. Given the Mexican ingredients of mezcal and Ancho Reyes, I dubbed this one the Remedios Varo after the Spanish-born surrealist artist who moved to and gained fame in Mexico.
The orange twist donated some bright citrus oil notes to the cocktail's sherry aroma. Next, the sip presented a light grape and caramel orange flavor combination. Finally, the complex swallow shared smoky mezcal with a mix of herbal complexity from the amaro and deeper notes from the sherry, and the swallow ended with a touch of the pepper liqueur's spicy heat.

baton rouge

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo XCIV) was picked by Dagreb of the NihilUtopia blog. The theme he chose was "That's Not a Martini!", and he elaborated on the theme with his description of, "A Telecaster's not an Esquire. A Melody Maker's not a Les Paul Jr. A Marauder ain't a Crown Vic. A Blue Moon is no Martini... well, almost. Take away the dash to a quarter ounce of Crème Yvette and we're left with gin (a must!), dry vermouth, and orange bitters. That's a Martini! It's at least one canonical Martini anyway. This month's Mixology Monday theme is that which is almost, but not quite, a Martini. Perhaps there are dashes (or more) of a liqueur (or two) added to the basic structure. Perhaps a Fino Sherry (or other fortified/aromatized wine) is standing in for vermouth. Maybe there's Oxygene instead of bitters? Gin, certainly! Use your imagination! Use your library! Make a Martini, that's wearing a hat!"
The literature around the turn of the 20th century is ripe with gin, vermouth, and a little something extra recipes. Even the Income Tax with its orange juice mixed in with gin, vermouths, and bitters fell in that ball park. Given its wealth of lesser known gems, I reached for Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 from that general time period. There, I spotted a hybrid of a quintessential Gin Martini and the Hanky Panky that post-dated the Martini and potentially pre-dated the Fernet-tinged Savoy Cocktail Book classic. Here, the recipe was the Baton Rouge with gin, dry vermouth, Fernet Branca, bitters, and an olive that seemed perfect for the almost-a-Martini theme!

Baton Rouge
• 2/3 Plymouth Gin (2 oz Beefeater)
• 2 dash French Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat Dry)
• 2 dash Fernet Branca (1 barspoon)
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive (Olive-It brand Hot Turkish Pepper-stuffed Olive).

To the base recipe, I increased the dry vermouth aspect to make it the 2:1 Martini base that I prefer. Meanwhile, I kept the 2 dashes of Fernet Branca close to the amount most people add to a Hanky Panky. While not a big garnisher with olives at home (I prefer my Martinis with lemon twists), I did have some vintage samples from Tales of the Cocktail 2010 when we had access to the media sample room. Here, I opted for the Olive-It brand hot pepper-stuffed over the blue cheese-stuffed ones that reside in our fridge. Once mixed, the Baton Rouge shared Fernet Branca's menthol notes that were accented by the gin's juniper on the nose. A light wine sip had wisps of caramel and led into a gin swallow with Fernet's herbal notes in the mix. Later, the hot pepper garnish contributed a small degree of spiced heat to the finish. I have to believe that the brine from the olive garnish helped to soften the Fernet Branca's bitterness a touch especially since there was very little sweetness in the vermouth (unlike in the Hanky Panky's Italian vermouth).

So thank you to Dagreb for picking the theme to challenge us to look at the classic Martini and figure out ways to call it our own, and thanks to the rest of the Mixology Monday participants for keeping the barspoons stirring and the spirit of the event alive!

charterhouse

1 1/4 oz Cesar Florido Oloroso Sherry
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
On the way home from the Citizen Public House, I stopped into Viale. For a nightcap, I asked bartender Patrick Gaggiano for the Charterhouse as the the idea of a sherry cocktail seemed appealing. Once mixed, it gave forth Green Chartreuse herbal aromas that were tamed by that of the sherry. Next, lime and grape on the sip slid into nutty Chartreuse flavors on the swallow. The Charterhouse's structure reminded me of the Board of Directors that used dry vermouth instead of dry sherry as the cocktail backbone, but flavorwise, the Charterhouse reminded me of a more herbal form of Tavern Road's sherry "daiquiri" time out.

smoke & mirrors

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1/2 oz Oloroso Sherry
1/2 oz Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
2 dash Bitter Truth's Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.
Two Thursdays ago, I ventured over to the Citizen Public House after work. For a first drink, I asked bartender Mary Stout for the Smoke & Mirrors which recently appeared on their cocktail menu. Mary commented that she thought the drink tasted like caramelized apricots. Once prepared, it offered an apricot and grape aroma with hints of smoke. The grape continued on into the sip along with vague orchard fruit notes, and the swallow shared smoky agave, apricot, and bitter nutty grape flavors. Indeed, the oxidized sherry and apricot liqueur paired rather well together as they have in the past in drinks like the Daley Fix and the Muckraker Punch.

fleming fizz

1 1/2 oz Great King Street Scotch
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1/4 oz Ginger Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a flute glass with 2 oz of sparkling wine. Float 1/8 oz Laphroaig 10 Year and garnish with a lemon twist.

Some time last week at work, I decided to act on an idea I had about the neo-classic Penicillin Cocktail. While I have had variations that include spirit choice such as the Little Branch Cocktail (tequila and mezcal) and Panacea (Banks Rum and Batavia Arrack) and form such as the Penicillin Flip, what if I were to cross it with a French 75? I could not recall a smoky Scotch champagne cocktail off the top of my head, but I knew that blended whisky and honey do work in that format via the Dancing Scotsman.
For a name, instead of calling it a Penicillin 75, I thought about the scientist who discovered the drug back in 1928, Alexander Fleming. I opted to pay tribute with the Fleming Fizz, although the Fleming 28 did cross my mind. The drink's Islay Scotch float and lemon garnish contributed a bit of smoke and citrus oil to the aroma. A sparkling lemon, honey, wine, and malt sip gave way to the smoky Scotch swallow and a honey ginger finish. Indeed, the elegance of the French 75 was maintained with the idea of the Penicillin intact save for the flavor components being diluted a bit by the sparkling wine.

wait until spring

3/4 oz Slightly Smoky Scotch (Buchanan 12 Year)
3/4 oz Calvados (Boulard VSOP)
3/4 oz Averna or Cynar (Cynar)
3/4 oz Heavy Cream (Half and Half)
1 Egg Yolk

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Garnish with a few drops of Angostura Bitters (or freshly grated nutmeg).

Two Tuesdays ago, one of my drink recipes made it into Boston Magazine's article "A Dozen Ways to Hibernate Like a Bartender" right in the midst of the first big snow storm of the season. The drink was Wait Until Spring as the second part of my John Fante tribute, with the first being Ask the Dust. It was a variation on egg nog that start with A Drunk in a Midnight Choir, and I ended up splitting the spirit with apple brandy. The original and the variation were made with Averna first but it worked even better for my palate with Cynar here.
The Wait Until Spring began with Angostura spice aromas of cinnamon and clove. The creamy sip had hints of apple and malt, and the swallow displayed smoothed out smoke and earthy herbal flavors. Later into the drink, a spice-laden finish incorporated into the flavor profile as the bitters from the froth entered into the sip. In retrospect, I wish that I had heavy cream at home like I do at work; the Angostura Bitters garnish would have held up better given heavy cream's frothing ability. Therefore, I suggest returning to the A Drunk in a Midnight Choir's classic nutmeg garnish here if heavy cream is not available.

legend

1 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac (Pedro Domecq Fundador Brandy)
1/2 oz Appleton V/X Rum
3/4 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Amaro Nonino (Averna)
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
1 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters (BT's Jerry Thomas)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass.
After the Marqueray Cocktail, I decided to take a more modern turn and opened up the Death & Co. Cocktail Book. The recipe that caught my eye was Jillian Vose's Legend that she crafted in 2012. I was drawn to it for brandy and rum pair rather well together (a discovery made back in the days when punches ruled supreme), and the Manhattan variation-like structure of sherry and amaro could do no wrong. In the glass, the Legend presented a nutty but sweet sherry aroma. Caramel from the amaro and rum and grape from the sherry filled the sip, and the swallow proffered the rum and brandy pairing with a nutty, herbal, and spice finish.

marqueray cocktail

1 jigger Dry Gin (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray)
1/2 Lime Juice (1/2 oz)
2 dash Grenadine (1/2 oz)
1 dash Absinthe (1 bsp Butterfly)
1 Egg White

Shake once without the ice and once with the ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Two Mondays ago, I reached for my reprint of the 1934 A Life Time Collection Of 688 Recipes For Drinks and spotted an interesting egg white-laden Gin Sour accented with absinthe called the Marqueray Cocktail. The book gave no clue as to whom Marqueray was, but there is a 1920 book Marqueray's Duel written by Anthony Pryde that is perhaps the object of the tribute. Once prepared, the Marqueray Cocktail offered an absinthe aroma. A creamy lime sip shared fruity notes from the grenadine. Finally, smooth gin flavors on the swallow cleanly transitioned to light absinthe on the finish.

a simple quandry

1 oz Uncle Val's Gin (North Shore #6)
1 oz North Shore Aquavit (Krogstad)
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Benedictine
2 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

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

Two Tuesdays ago, I spotted an interesting drink on the ShakeStir website by Scott Diaz, the beverage manager for Elliott's Oyster House in Seattle. Scott's recipe, A Simple Quandry, was a finalist for the Uncle Val's Gin competition as well as making Gaz Regan's 101 Drinks list just a few days ago. I was intrigued by the drink for it reminded me of a light-spirited 1919 Cocktail.
The lemon twist on A Simple Quandry brightened the grape and caraway aroma. The Punt e Mes' grape was the most notable flavor on the sip, for most of the flavor was packed into the swallow. That swallow showcased the gin's juniper, Punt e Mes' complex bitter notes, Benedictine's chocolate-like herbal flavor, and the aquavit's caraway and anise.