friar tuck

1 oz Perry's Tot Gin
1 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Combier Peche
1/2 oz Amargo Vallet

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Two Tuesdays ago, Andrea and I had dinner at Mei Mei and wandered around the block to Audubon for drinks. Both Andrea and I were smitten by Audubon's cartoon-themed section options and ordered a pair. The one that she selected was bartender Taylor Knight's Friar Tuck. In the glass, the Friar Tuck shared a peach aroma accented by grapefruit oil notes. Orchard fruit and citrussy flavors on the sip were followed by juniper, peach, and herbal elements on the swallow. The success of the drink hinged on how well the peach liqueur paired with the Amargo Vallet bitter herbal notes; I previously noticed that peach worked well with Campari and Gran Classico in the Bitter Peach and the Campeche, so perhaps other peach-amaro pairings would blossom.

fair trade

2 oz Scotch (Buchanan 12 Year)
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Coffee Liqueur (Galliano Ristretto)
3 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Mondays ago, I looked to Food & Wine: Cocktails 2015 to a nightcap idea. There I spotted Meghan Eastman's Fair Trade that she created at San Diego's Noble Experiment, and the combination of Cynar and coffee made me think about how much Andrea enjoyed the pairing of a Unicorn Blood coffee custard with Cynar 70 at Loyal Nine. Meghan described her concept as, "Cynar and coffee liqueur are great flavor buddies" and how the drink conjures the flavors of an espresso with a twist of lemon.
The Fair Trade donated a lemon aroma over peat smoke and darker roast notes. Next, caramel and malt on the sip gave way to smoky Scotch, coffee, and earthy herbal flavors on the swallow. As the Fair Trade warmed up over time, the orange notes from the bitters became more evident.

dolores park swizzle

2 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc (Vale d' Paul Aguardente Nova de Santo Antão)
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Cane Syrup (Syrup JM)
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
1/2 tsp Absinthe (Herbsaint)

Build in a tall glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with 1-2 mint sprigs and 4 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters.

After the Kiki, I turned to Paul Clarke's The Cocktail Chronicles book and spotted Thad Volger's Dolores Park Swizzle. Thad created this recipe at Beretta in San Francisco as a riff on the Queen's Park Swizzle (and similar classic Swizzles) using rhum agricole instead of Demerara rum. Instead of a rhum agricole, I opted for an agricole-style rum from Cape Verde.
The Dolores Park Swizzle, named after the park only a few blocks away from the bar, began with anise and mint aromas. Next, lime on the sip led into the elegant pairing of grassy funky rum and nutty Maraschino on the swallow with an anise-driven spice finish.

kiki

3/4 jigger Gin (1 1/2 oz Bluecoat)
1 dash Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1 dash Noyaux (1/2 oz Tempus Fugit)
2 spoon Sweet Sour (3/4 oz Lemon Juice)
2 drop Bitters (1 dash Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Sunday two weekends ago, I began the cocktail hour by flipping through Boothby's 1934 World Drinks and How to Mix Them. In the pages was the curiously named Kiki which seemed like a good use of my new bottle of crème de noyaux in what appeared to be a gin Mai Tai of sorts. Perhaps it was named after Kiki de Montparnasse who was served by many an expatriate bartender during Prohibition including Jimmy Charters as described in his This Must Be the Place biography. Moreover, the name also triggered the Scissor Sister's song "Let's Have a Kiki" that got referenced here and there at Camp Runamok this past September.
So when we had a Kiki, it proffered a lemon and almondy bouquet. The lemon continued on into the sip where it was complemented by the Cointreau's orange, and the swallow donated gin, clove, apricot, and almond flavors. Instead of the anticipated gin Mai Tai similar to the Blande Dubois, it felt a bit closer to an Amaretto Sour.

ibo lele cocktail

2 oz Barbancourt 5 Star Rum (Coruba Dark)
1/2 oz Dubonnet or Port (Taylor Fladgate Ruby)
1/2 oz Grenadine
Juice 1 Lime (1/2+ oz)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry (mint sprig impaled on a citrus peel raft).

Two Saturdays ago after my work shift, I was feeling the Tiki mood and reached for Trader Vic's 1974 Rum Cookery & Drinkery. There, I spotted the Ibo Lele Cocktail named after a hotel in Haiti. Since I lacked the Dubonnet option (I often substitute another quinquina instead until I can acquire some French instead of Kentucky-made Dubonnet), I chose the port route. Port appears in a few Tiki drinks like Martin Cate's Dead Reckoning and Trader Vic's South Sea Dipper, but it still feels like it is underutilized as a Tiki ingredient. The closest that I have come to using it that way is in my Josephine Baker cocktail riff, the Banana Dance.
The Ibo Lele Cocktail presented a funky rum and mint aroma. Caramel, grape, and pomegranate flavors were balanced by the lime's crispness on the sip, and the swallow gave forth funky rum, clove, and allspice notes with a dry finish.

pink flag

2 oz Tanqueray Gin
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
1/4 oz Crème Yvette
2 leaf Sage

Muddle the sage leaves. Add the rest of the ingredients and ice, shake, and double strain into a coupe glass.

While drinking the Widow's Word, I thought about the last Widow's Kiss variation that I had which was Joaquín Simó's Widow's Laurel. Therefore, as a follow-up drink, I reached for the Death & Co. Cocktail Book and stumbled upon Eryn Reece's Pink Flag. Between being a big fan of the band Wire as well as having a large amount of unpicked sage in the garden, I decided to give this one a go.
The Pink Flag began with a pineapple and sage aroma with hints of floral notes. Next, lemon and pineapple on the sip gave way to juniper, floral, and berry flavors on the swallow with a nutty finish. Overall, the Pink Flag was very similar to the Royal Hawaiian with berry-floral and sage elements in the mix.

widow's word

3/4 oz Calvados or Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)
3/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
3/4 oz Benedictine
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Two Fridays ago, I decided to start my post-work nightcaps with a drink from Boston cocktail enthusiast and old booze bottle collector Eric Witz via his Instagram. Like his Red Right Hook that mashed up two (neo)classics, here Eric merged the Last Word with the Widow's Kiss. Once prepared, the Widow's Word shared an herbal and clove aroma. Next, autumn arrived to the palate with lemon, honey, and lemon on the sip and spiced apple on the swallow.

wooden leg

2 oz Bacardi 8 Year Rum
3/4 oz Manzanilla Sherry
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup
1 dash Pernod Absinthe

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a mint leaf.

After my adventures at Highball Lounge, I continued my tour of Boston and eventually ended up at Blue Dragon where bartender Tyler Murphy was working. Besides Blue Dragon, Tyler also does a few shifts at Loyal Nine, and I recently attended the Bacardi Legacy competition event here in Boston a few weeks ago to support him. Due to the structure of the event, I was unable to try his creation which was a stirred Tiki number called the Wooden Leg. Therefore, I asked Tyler to make me one that night.
The Wooden Leg shared a mint aroma over a semi-sweet grape sip. Next, the swallow was much more complex with rum, molasses, herbal, and spice notes.

all seeing eye

1 oz Leblon Cachaça
1 oz Plantation 5 Year Barbados Rum
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Pilsner glass. Top with crushed ice, garnish with a trio of pineapple fruit leaves and a lime wheel-cherry flag, top with a splash of soda water, and add a straw.
When I was last at Highball Lounge at the end of September, bartender Shaher Misif showed me their secret Tiki menu (I put a photo of it on Twitter). So when I returned two Wednesdays ago, I asked bartender Matt Schrage about the list. Matt brought over bartender Steve Bookman who created many of the libations on that second menu, and I requested the All Seeing Eye. Steve described that the drink was his riff on a classic Mary Pickford. Once in the glass, it offered a lime aroma that preceded a pineapple-driven sip. Finally, the swallow showcased the funky rum medley pairing with nutty Maraschino notes.