50 shades of maguey

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Montelobos)
3/4 oz Triple Sec (Cointreau)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup (BG Reynolds)
1/4 oz Campari

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wheel and add a straw.

For Valentine's Day two weeks ago, I decided to make a mezcal drink that Jackie Patterson Brenner reposted on Instagram via Nuestra Soledad Mezcal called 50 Shades of Maguey. I was torn on whether to love or to groan at the name, but the thought of a mezcal Margarita supplemented by the great flavor combination of passion fruit and Campari set me in the shaker tin direction.
The 50 Shades of Maguey began with a lime and smoke aroma with hints of citrus and passion fruit on the nose. The lime and passion fruit came out strongest on the sip though, and the swallow offered the smoky mezcal followed by a bitter orange and Campari finish. Indeed, the drink did come across like a mezcal Margarita with more fruit notes and a more complex bitter finish.

schooner punch

1 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac (Pedro Domecq Fundador Solera Reserva)
1 oz Plantation 3 Star Rum (Privateer Silver)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Syrup
2 oz Strong Black Tea, cooled (English Breakfast)

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass or two punch cups.
Two Thursdays ago, I uncovered my collection of recipes from the Maine-Portland Pop-up Event at Thirst Boston 2014. From that series, I honed in on the Schooner Punch created by Central Provisions in Portland, Maine. With classic-feeling ingredients like a split spirit base of rum and brandy, black tea, citrus, and pineapple syrup, I felt it could do no wrong. Once prepared, the punch shared a roasty tea aroma with fruitiness from the lime and pineapple. The tea continued on into the sip in a drying sort of way along with the lime notes. And finally on the swallow, the brandy and rum mingled with the pineapple flavors.

yeomen warder

2 oz Beefeater Gin
3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/4 oz Cynar
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass.

Two Tuesdays ago, I reached for my copy of Death & Co. Cocktail Book and spotted the Yeomen Warder in the stirred gin section. This Martini variation was crafted by Phil Ward in 2008, and I figured that it would have work for Mixology Monday "That's Not a Martini!" if it were not for the Baton Rouge that I had made three nights before. Yeomen warders are the official guards at the Tower of London, so I figured that keeping the Beefeater Gin identity (with the guards on the label) was important symbolically here. Overall, the recipe fell between Craigie on Main's gin Brooklyn, the Montmartre, and Death & Co.'s Grand Street.
The Yeomen Warder offered a nutty cherry aroma with hints of juniper. A white wine sip with tinges of cherry gave an almost kirsch-like aspect to the sip. The swallow then showcased a combination of gin botanicals, nutty Maraschino notes, and Cynar's herbal complexity.

spindrift, jr

]1 1/2 oz Demerara Rum (El Dorado 3)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Orange Juice (Cara Cara)
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup (BG Reynolds)
1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup

Shake with ice and pour into a tall glass. Top with more ice and add a straw. I opted to garnish with an orange slice and a cherry

Two Sundays ago to help honor the Pegu Blog's February is Tiki month theme, and I therefore reached for Beachbum Berry's Remixed. There, I spotted the Spindrift, Jr. which was a 2008 variation on what was originally Trader Vic's Rum Pot. In 1994, the junior's predecessor, the Spindrift, was created at the Venetian Hotel's Taboo Cove in Las Vegas; the junior stripped away two rums and a syrup from the mix.
The Spindrift, Jr. began with an orange aroma with hints of cherry from the garnish. The sip was a medley of fruit flavors including orange, lemon, and passion fruit, and the swallow focused more on the rum and vanilla flavors. Probably the drink would blossom more with an darker, richer Demerara rum instead of the white on the I selected.

newkirk crusta

1 jigger Bacardi (1 1/2 oz Caliche Rum)
2 dash Port Wine (1/2 oz Taylor Fladgate Ruby)
2/3 Lime Juice (1/2 oz)
1/2 tsp Raspberry Syrup (1/4 oz Royal Rose brand)

Shake with ice and strain into a small wine glass rimmed with lime juice and encrusted with sugar on the rim. Add a wide lime twist.

After the Midnight Stinger, I decided to take it back to earlier in the century via Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933. There, I spotted a quirky Crusta recipe in the rum section called the Newkirk Crusta. The Crustas in that book, such as the Rye Crusta often leave out key aspects or make strange additions (one has egg in it?!); here, both the Rye and Newkirk Crustas leave out bitters which seem to be a hallmark of the spirit plus small amounts of citrus and liqueur(s) plus bitters structure (not to mention the sugar-crusted rim) laid out in the mid 19th century. Regardless, I was game to try their nonstandard recipe.
The Newkirk Crusta began with a lime oil aroma from the twist along with a fruitiness from the raspberry syrup and port; later, the nose became more rum and lime driven. Next, the fruity grape aspect of the port joined the lime on the sip, and the swallow offered the rest of the port notes in addition to rum and raspberry flavors. Indeed, Andrea commented that despite the lack of bitters, it still "tastes very old school."

midnight stinger

1 oz Bourbon (Wild Turkey 81)
1 oz Fernet Branca
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup

Build in a rocks glass and stir to mix. Fill with crushed ice, garnish with a mint sprig (here, lemon twist), and add a straw.

Two Fridays ago, I decided to make a drink that I had spotted on Campari-America's Instagram feed called the Midnight Stinger. The drink was attributed to Milk & Honey's Sam Ross although other sources include Michael McIlroy in on the action. Campari was promoting the recipe as part of a series of drinks in 2014 honoring the 6 decades that Jimmy Russell has been Wild Turkey's master distiller. I made the drink with Wild Turkey to pay tribute, although the recipe was perhaps developed initially with another whiskey. The use of Fernet Branca as a mint flavor source reminded me of the Prizefighter even though that was vermouth instead of whiskey based.
The Midnight Stinger began with a lemon oil (instead of a minty one since my mint patch is dormant not to mention buried under 4 feet of snow) aroma with herbal notes from the Fernet Branca poking through. A malty lemon sip gave way to a Bourbon swallow with a lot of Fernet Branca flavor. The Midnight Stinger was definitely Fernet-forward but the amaro did not linger on the palate like it often can. And over time, the libation mellowed with the dilution from the melting ice.

eye of the storm

1 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1 oz Clement Premiere Canne
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Caffè Borghetti
1/2 oz Vanilla Syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass containing 2-3 oz ginger ale, ice cubes, and 3 lime wheels. Add a straw.
One of my favorite new drinks on the Russell House Tavern cocktail menu is the Eye of the Storm. This recipe was created by bar manager Ashish Mitra as a play on a Dark & Stormy with inspiration from the Jungle Bird and other tiki drinks. To me, it seemed like a more complex Suffering Bastard or a riff on a Mr. Bali Hai before I read the recipe notes. Once prepared, it offered the respective funkiness of the Smith & Cross and rhum agricole on the nose. Next, carbonated lime, rum's caramel, and hints of coffee roast filled the sip. Finally, the swallow was a combination of grassy and funky rums that finished with ginger, vanilla, and lingering dark roast coffee notes.

[la nuez de jerez]

1 1/2 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quinquina
1/2 oz Nocino Walnut Liqueur
1 dash Fee's Walnut Bitters
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Build in a wine glass and stir briefly without ice to mix. Note: this is a room temperature cocktail.

For a nightcap at Estragon, I asked Sahil Mehta for another one of his Scaffa recipes. Similar to his (not Scaffa) Little Sinner, he paired sherry and Bonal along with a liqueur. Here, the liqueur was a walnut one which works rather well with oxidized sherries such as in the Bittersweet Serenade. Lacking a name, I dubbed this one La Nuez de Jerez (the walnut of Jerez where sherry is produced).
The Scaffa began with dark aromas from the sherry and Nocino. While the sip was mostly grape, the swallow showcased nutty notes from the sherry and walnut liqueur and complex ones from the Bonal. Overall, the taste came across as a cohesive flavor combination such that I could almost believe that it came from a bottle as is.

tigress of forli

2 oz Carpano Bianco Vermouth
1/2 oz Cynar
1/4 oz St. Germain
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 pinch Salt

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Add straws. Optional garnish of lemon twist.

For my first drink at Estragon, bartender Sahil Mehta mentioned that he had Carpano Bianco vermouth back in stock so he could make me the Tigress of Forli that I requested on previous visits. The recipe was one that won him one of the ShakeStir site's flash mixology competitions, and on his competition entry there, he lists his inspiration as "Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forli." I was intrigued since the combination of Cynar and St. Germain has worked quite well starting with the Alto Cucina and here it was offered with a pinch of salt to perhaps alter the Cynar aspect.
The Tigress of Forli began with Cynar's herbal and St. Germain's floral aromas. A lemon and wine sip shared a fruity note from the St. Germain. Finally, the swallow paired up the St. Germain and Cynar which still had the complementary mix of bright floral and dark herbal elements.