arrowhead limited

1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Montelobos)
1/2 oz Campari

Build in a Highball glass filled with ice. Add 3-4 oz IPA (Founder's All Day) and garnish with grapefruit slices.
A few Fridays ago, I turned to a beer cocktail recipe that I had spotted on the PunchDrink site called the Arrowhead Limited. Damon Boelte crafted this mezcal Negroni riff at the Grand Army Bar in Brooklyn, and he named it after a train that used to run from Minnesota to Wisconsin several decades ago. Once prepared, the Arrowhead Limited shared with the senses a grapefruit aroma with hints of malt. On the palate, dry malt and grape notes on the sip gave way to mezcal, herbal, and citrus flavors on the swallow. Finally, the swallow ended with a smoke finish with lingering bitter notes. The drink overall reminded me of the more citrus juice-driven End of Days

hillside

2/3 Applejack (2 oz Laird's)
2 dash Sherry (1/2 oz Lustau's East India Solera)
2 dash Pineapple Juice (1/2 oz)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
A few Thursdays ago, I reached for Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 and stumbled upon the Hillside. Since sherry and pineapple juice are a great pairing, this Algonquin-like number seemed worthy of a spin. In the glass, the Hillside proffered pineapple and nutty sherry aromas. The pineapple then filled the sip and was followed by apple and sherry notes on the swallow.

ortensia

1 oz Blended Scotch (Pig's Nose)
1 oz Punt e Mes
1 oz Aperol

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist.
A few Tuesdays ago, I reached for Food & Wine: Cocktails 2008 and spotted a great Negroni variation created by Holly Roberts then of Amalia in Manhattan. Overall, it appeared like a Scotch riff that fell between a Contessa and a Patrician. Once prepared, the Ortensia gave forth an orange oil aroma that brightened the briny smoke nose. The sip was full of malt, grape, and hints of orange flavors, and it led into the swallow which mirrored the sip with Scotch and Punt e Mes's bitter notes with an orange finish.

bywater cocktail

1 3/4 oz Aged Rum (Turkey Shore's Old Ipswich Tavern Style)
3/4 oz Picon (Torani Amer) (*)
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1 tsp Falernum (Velvet)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
2 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
(*) Postnote 8/16/24: More recent recipes such as in Punch have this with Averna instead of Picon with everything else held the same but the falernum upped to 1/4 oz. Punch also dated the original to 2007. 

A few Tuesdays ago, I turned to Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide and spotted a drink recipe by Chris Hannah of Arnaud's French 75 in New Orleans called the Bywater. Chris described his recipe as, "On a much smaller scale, I've thought of the neighborhoods of New Orleans like the boroughs of New York City. I've always compared New Orleans's Bywater to Brooklyn, so... I decided to create the Bywater Cocktail following the Brooklyn's direction. Swapping an aged rum for rye whiskey and falernum and Chartreuse for the maraschino, I came up with a balanced cocktail." What drew me to the combination besides always enjoying Hannah's craftsmanship was the pairing of Picon with Chartreuse which worked so well in Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli's Jaguar at Eastern Standard; that drink which I tasted in 2007 was quite memorable for was the first stirred tequila drink that I had ever tried or even heard about.
The Bywater Cocktail greeted the senses with dark orange aromas. The orange notes continued on into the sip along with the rum and picon's caramel flavors, and the swallow offered funky rum and herbal notes with a caramel and spice finish. Indeed, Andrea commented that Chris Hannah "undertands the poetry of Chartreuse."

[chappe telegraph]

1 oz Laird's Applejack
1 oz Bonal Gentiane Quina
1/2 oz Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters
1 dash Bar Keep's Apple Bitters (*)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
(*) Perhaps sub a scant dash of spice-driven aromatic bitters or leave out in a pinch.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I utilized my Monday night off to go visit Sahil Mehta at Estragon. While looking through Sahil's recipe notebook, I spied an applejack recipe that reminded me of a Marconi Wireless. To play on that theme, I wanted to dub this nameless drink after another form of wireless communication, a semaphore or optical chain called the Chappe Telegraph after the creator of this 1792 system, Claude Chappe. Towers with light shutters on blades could spread a communication from one tower to a distant one down the line, and Napoleon utilized this system to transmit messages across France on the order of a couple of  hours. Maybe the Napoleon Wireless would have been more catchy of a cocktail name though.
The Chappe Telegraph transmitted an orange aroma that later let through some apple notes. Next, the sip featured the Bonal and sherry's grape and the amaro's caramel. Finally, the swallow offered apple and nutty sherry notes that melded with the Bonal and Ramazotti bitter notes, and it ended with an orange peel finish.

madeira old fashioned

1 1/2 oz Don Pancho 8 Year Rum
1/2 oz Blandy's 10 Year Malmsey Madeira
1 barspoon 2:1 Demerara Syrup
2 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with a lemon twist.
A few Mondays ago, I attended a Boston USBG-sponsored product showcase at Tavern Road. One of the cocktails that bar manager Ryan McGrale was making with some of the products was what he dubbed a Madeira Old Fashioned. In actuality, it was a madeira-tinged Rum Old Fashioned that featured Don Pancho 8 Year Rum. This rum is made by Francisco "Don Pancho" Fernandez who also makes Ron de Jeremy and 86 Co.'s Caña Brava, but this product line with his name on it were much more sipping rums especially the older expressions. Once prepared, the Old Fashioned offered bright lemon oil aromas. A rich orange and caramel sip gave way to more caramel on the swallow along with dried orange peel and coffee notes. Overall, the rich complexity of both the rum and the aged madeira were an excellent complement to the other.

baltimore cocktail

3/4 oz Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
3/4 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
3/4 oz Blandy's 5 Year Verdelho Madeira
1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
A few Sundays ago, I turned to my new purchase, the Elemental Mixology book, and found an interesting recipe from the author, Andrew Willett. With the trinity of early spirits imported to America, namely brandy, rum, and Madeira, in the mix, I was definitely game to try the Baltimore Cocktail. Once prepared, the drink displayed bright lemon oil aromas over the rum's funk. The madeira's grape flavors filled the sip, and the swallow was rather complex with Cognac's richness, rum's funk, madeira's dried fruit, and cinnamon and spice notes from the syrup and bitters.

benny & the jets

1 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
1 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup
3 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Kübler Absinthe (1 bsp Butterfly)

Shake with ice and strain into a Tiki mug. Fill with crushed ice and garnish with a lime, cherry, and a mint sprig.

A few weeks ago, I spotted a recipe on the DrinkLikeAPro section of BostonChefs about a Tiki event held at Empire. The event featured Beachbum Berry talking about the genre and No. 9 Park's Ryan Lotz making said libations at the bar. The article presented one of Lotz's recipes, Benny & the Jets, which had little overlap with Brick & Mortar's Bonatti & the Jets save for the Benedictine.
Benny & the Jets began with a mint bouquet. The sip was rather fruity with lime and grapefruit along with a hint of caramel from the barrel-aged spirits. The swallow then showcased the spirits especially the funkiness of the rum and the smooth richness of the Cognac, and this all ended with a minty, anise, and spice finish.

aviacion

3/4 glass Applejack (2oz Laird's)
1/2 glass Lemon Juice (1/2 oz)
A tsp Grenadine (1/2 oz)
Dashes of Absinthe (1 barspoon Butterfly)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added a lemon twist.

A few Wednesdays ago, I turned to The Art of Making a Cocktail & More published in Cuba in 1927 for drink inspiration. There, I spotted the Aviacion which was not a riff in the 1916 Aviation but closer to a Jack Rose with absinthe for complexity. Moreover, it reminded me of Scott Holliday's apple brandy Corpse Reviver #2, the Johnny Jump Up. Therefore, I did not mind making a drink with the same (or in this case similar due to it being in Spanish) as a really well known classic. Interestingly, the history of aviation in Cuba was well timed with American Prohibition for the first Cuban airlines were founded in 1919 flying out of Havana's Columbia Airport that opened that same year.
The Aviacion greeted the nose with lemon and anise notes. The lemon continued on into the sip and mingled with the pomegranate, and the swallow was a mix of apple and crisp berry-like flavors accented by the absinthe on the tail end.