seven seas swizzle

2 oz Batavia Arrack
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz 2:1 Green Tea Syrup (3/4 oz 1:1)
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Build in a tall glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with a mint sprig and freshly grated nutmeg.

A few Thursdays ago for my post-work shift nightcap, I decided to make a drink that I had spotted in Punch Magazine article about Batavia Arrack. The recipe that caught my eye, the Seven Seas Swizzle, was Nick Bennett's riff on the Queen's Park Swizzle that he crafted at the Porchlight in Manhattan. Besides the rum to Batavia Arrack switch, he swapped the muddled mint and simple syrup to a green tea syrup as well as changing the aromatic bitters to orange.
The Seven Seas Swizzle generated a woody spice and mint bouquet. On the palate, sweet lime on the sip led into funky rum, green tea, and a dry finish on the swallow.

tiki alexander

3/4 oz Lost Spirits 151 Proof Cuban Rum (Lemon Hart 151)
3/4 oz Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Heavy Cream

Shake with ice and strain into a snifter glass. Fill with crushed ice and garnish with nutmeg, a pineapple wedge, and pineapple leaves (nutmeg and borage flowers).

After my night out on the town, I decided to make a drink from TurnTableKitchen that I had spotted on the Instagram of Jeffrey Levy, the drink's creator. The article was on the Brandy Alexander, and Jeff's riff on it was a rum one that took it in a Tiki direction.
The Tiki Alexander shared a nutmeg aroma from the garnish. Next, a creamy lime sip gave way to chocolate, rum, and pineapple flavors. I could not help but think that Green Chartreuse would not be out of place here to convert it into a Pago Pago Alexander, but that would take the drink even further away from its roots.

4 devils

1 1/2 oz Bulleit Rye
1 oz Lustau Oloroso Sherry
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Fernet Branca

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Wednesdays ago, I made a field trip to the South End to stop into Wink & Nod. For a drink, I asked bartender Jace Sheehan for the 4 Devils off of the "Featured Releases" movie-themed section of their menu. The 4 Devils was a 1929 black and white movie subtitled "A swinging circus trapeze becomes the pendulum of passion." Besides the circus theme, I was drawn towards the drink for it reminded me of an Oldfield with sherry.
The 4 Devils began with a nutty aroma with a hint of menthol and other herbal notes. Next, the dry grape sip offered a bit of body, and the swallow shared rye spice, nutty, and menthol herbal flavors.

argentina

1/3 jigger Gin (1 oz Hayman's Royal Dock)
1/3 jigger Dry Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat)
1 spoon Cointreau (1/3 oz)
1 spoon Benedictine (1/3 oz)
1 spoon Orange Juice (1/3 oz)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)
2 drop Bitters (1 dash Jerry Thomas Decanter)

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

After getting home from Audubon, I treated myself to a nightcap. For inspiration, I opened Boothby's 1934 World Drinks and How to Mix Them and spotted the Argentina. The combination of ingredients reminded me of a Satan's Whiskers perhaps crossed with aspects of the Tango #2.
In the glass, the Argentina proffered orange aromas from the twist oils and the juice. Next, a crisp orange sip with hints of white wine gave way to juniper, orange peel, herbal, and spice elements on the swallow. Overall, the drink was definitely a step up from a Bronx given the richer orange flavors as well as the spiced and herbal components.

darkwing duck

1 oz Royal Thistle Scotch
1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Russo Nocino
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a single old fashioned glass. Garnish with a cherry.
Tuesday two weeks ago, Andrea and I ventured over to Audubon for dinner. For a drink, I asked bartender Taylor Knight for the Darkwing Duck from the cartoon-themed section of the menu, and he mentioned that it was bar manager Tyler Wang's menu item. Once prepared, it gave forth nutty and smoke aromas with a hint of grape. The grape continued on into the sip where it mingled with apple flavors, and the swallow presented the Scotch with nutty notes smoothed over by the Carpano Antica.

coronian

5/10 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Camus VS Cognac)
3/10 Marie Brizard Apricot Brandy (1/2 oz Rothman & Winter)
2/10 Cederlunds Swedish Punsch (1/2 oz Kronan)
1 dash Lemon Juice (1/2 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Monday two weeks ago, I turned to the Café Royal Cocktail Book and spotted the Coronian attributed to W.H. Taylor. I was drawn in to the recipe for it reminded me of the Havana Cocktail but with brandy instead of gin. Once prepared, the Coronian shared a brandy and apricot bouquet. Next, lemon on the sip was joined by hints of orchard fruit, and the swallow proffered brandy, tea, and apricot notes. Overall, the Swedish punsch donated a dryness and complexity to the swallow, and its flavors worked rather well with the apricot to modify the other's flavors.

st. columbus rill

2 oz Bushmills Irish Whiskey (Teeling's Small Batch)
3/4 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass.
A few Fridays ago, I decided to open up the Death & Co. Cocktail Book to find my evening's nightcap. Phil Ward's St. Columbus Rill from 2008 called out to me and reminded me of the Flushing-Main St. that I had tried earlier in the week. Once mixed, the St. Columbus Rill presented a malt, Chartreuse herbal, and hints of nutty cherry on the nose. Next, a light malt and grape sip gave way to smooth whiskey and a Last Wordy combination of Green Chartreuse and Maraschino.

:: fred's picks for the top cocktails of 2015 (in) ::

I will complete my sixth annual trilogy of year end wrap up posts by picking out the best recipes we tried at our home bar this year. Given my schedule of working nights, I find myself having the home bar as the only drinking option available, so I definitely put a bit more focus on my closest and dearest bar. I used to also tack on the best of my own creations at the end of the post, but I think I covered that in the first part of the trilogy (and you can see the whole collection here). Thus, this list is dedicated to the best recipes created by bartenders, living, deceased, and unknown, from around the world all brought to me at my home bar (where pants are optional).

January: To start the year off, I selected the Turn Signal by Portland's Sean Hoard and Daniel Shoemaker as a great fruity, bitter, and Bourbon drink. Luna de Cosecha by Justin Noel of 1534 in NYC with a stirred bitter and chocolatey tequila Manhattan and the strange early 1900's cassis for Maraschino Martinez, the Marblehead got honorable mentions.

February: Despite the name, 50 Shades of Maguey captured my attention with the ever delightful passion fruit-Campari pairing. Seattle's Scott Diaz's A Simple Quandry as a gin and aquavit 1919 Cocktail of sorts and Central Provisions' Schooner Punch that they created up in Portland, Maine, to show off a classic punch style have my attention as well.
March: I rather enjoyed Natalie Jacob's Jake Barnes for combining the Jack Rose with the pineapple-laden Jersey City. March's secondary honors go to Jeremy Oertel's Haunted House from The Old-Fashioned book with its use of Swedish punsch as the sweetener, and the sherry and orgeat Youngs from Pioneers of Mixing in Elite Bars: 1903-1933.

April: April was quite a Manhattan-filled month. First, I was quite impressed with the gin-pineapple-IPA beer combo in Thomas Waugh's Strange Brew from The Death & Co. Cocktail Book. Next, for runners up, Phil Ward's R'Cobbler -- a Rosita riff he created at Mayahuel, and Jesse Vida's Square Root -- an earthy Paper Plane-like equal parter that he created at Dead Rabbits.

May: May brought things back to Boston with Ryan Lotz's Benny & the Jets Tiki-style drink that he created for a Beachbum Berry event in town. Keeping with the Tiki theme, one of the second spots goes to Pleasure Island by Seattle's Ryan Lobe. And on the elegant side, Morning from Boothby's 1934 book captured elements of the Brandy Crusta without all the peel and sugar rim.
June: Tiki did continue on with the 1961 Puka Punch as a top pick, and Blair Reynold's Hilo Hala that he created before he even opened Hale Pele as a runner up. The other runner up, the Baltimore Cocktail, was created by Andrew Willett as a Madeira and spice variation using the Vieux Carré structure. The photo above was also from this month, the 1946 Zombie, which was also delightful but the photo and garnishing were more top notch than the variation recipe.

July: The month was a tough one to narrow down, and the top nod will be shared by two bartenders mentioned already. One was Scott Diaz's The Count's Swizzle which veered from the Negroni into Swizzle-land but still kept the Campari; and the other was Jeremy Oertel's Cynar and fire Artichoke Hold. For honorable mention in July, Jessica Gonzalez's Night Watch from The Death & Co. Cocktail Book made for a great nightcap. A garnish nod to myself went to my pirate ship on Blackbeard's Ghost.

August: It was easier to narrow the pack down to three than it was to pick a top drink. Perhaps Seattle's Connor O'Brien's Unique Bird that split the difference between a Jungle Bird and a Daisy de Santiago and graced the pages of Paul Clarke's The Cocktails Chronicles book. The Spiced Park Swizzle from Tiki Drinks: Tropical Cocktails for the Modern Bar and a leftover recipe from Tales of the Cocktail, the Sip Sip Hooray from San Diego's Noble Experiment, both were solid drinks.
September: Jason Alexander's Golden Shellback offered Tiki with elegant Benedictine and Swedish punsch notes for September's pick. Next, Maksym Pazuniak's A Moment of Silence still holds up after all these years since Beta Cocktails was published, and Gregory Buda's update of the Japanese Cocktail -- the Orientation at Dead Rabbits both deserve some recognition.

October: When Will Isaza of Fairsted Kitchen competed for Bacardi Legacy in Boston, I went home and made his winning drink the Paraiso at home to show myself why it was top dog. October also found me drinking a lot of quirky banana liqueur drinks with the Banana Boulevardier from the Anvil being one of the better ones. And for the other runner-up, a strange Daiquiri variation using an already taken name -- the White Lion from the irreverent Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 reminded me of a little of a Periodista.
November:Hale Pele's Mindy Kucan crafted one of the better seasonal drinks this year with the Nutty Like a Fruitcake. Silver and bronze medals (in no particular order) go to Eric Witz's Last Word-Widow's Kiss hybrid the Widow's Word and Boothby's 1934 dry vermouth elegant yet tropical egg white Pantomime.

December: Another great seasonal drink came from Chicago's The Whistler with Billy Helmkamp's South Pole Swizzle. A nod should be given to a pair of egg drinks, namely Griffin Lawler's Treaty of Paris with its Earl Grey tea notes and Pip Hanson's Angophile with a hearty dose of Angostura balanced and complemented by the vanilla-driven Licor 43.

:: fred's picks for the top cocktails of 2015 (out) ::

In December 2010, someone asked me the difficult question of what was my favorite cocktail of the year, and I was a little lost for words for there were so many. In working out a post for this, I decided to sort it out by dividing the list down by month and also by whether I had them out at a bar or in at home. My choices were influenced by two factors -- tastiness and uniqueness; it had to be both memorable and worth repeating. The drinks were organized by when the drink post appeared and not when they were had. Here is the sixth yearly installment with my monthly breakdown for drinks I had out on the town for 2015 with a runner up or two listed. When looking for interesting trends, banana whether in liqueur (more common) or syrup (seen twice this year) was done well without the candy-fake liqueurs of yesteryear. Gentian liqueurs were utilized in varying amounts to give a certain earthiness to drinks, and sherry especially in Tiki drinks continued on with Madeira taking a growing role in the fortified usage in cocktails. In addition, room temperature drinks still hold a place in Boston's heart as well as do amaro of all sorts albeit used less abrasively than in the past.

January: For best drink out, I selected Ames St. Deli's Zig Zag Wanderer that they named in honor of the anniversary of Captain Beefheart's passing; the combination of mezcal, herbal liqueurs, and chocolate was rather elegant. For runners up, Sichuan Garden II's addition to the sherry Tiki theme, the Sherry Colada, was so good that we ordered it again a few months later. Also notable was Backbar's reworking of the Trinidad Sour into the Trinidad & Toboggan.

February: A close call here with this trio, but I will give the nod to West Bridge and their tribute to Seattle's coffee capital Lake Union. Of note were Russell House Tavern's Eye of the Storm that reminded me of a Suffering Bastard with a hint of Mr. Bali Hai and Citizen Public House with its delightful mezcal and sherry sipper Smoke and Mirrors.
March: Another tough choice to pick a top spot, but Estragon's Payaso de Roseo (Rodeo Clown) had an aperitif classiness to another mezcal and sherry combination. Townsman's rum and spice Kingston Cup and Brick & Mortar's pineapple juice-less Jungle Bird, the Jets to Brazil, were also rather delightful.

April: Sichuan Garden II made a point early that banana liqueur could be used in a classy way, and their Father's Advice partnered it with bitter elements and sherry. For runners up, Backbar's room temperature Derby Scaffa and Audubon's rum riff on the Lawhill, the Law Harbor, deserve recognition.

May: Another strong month for Sichuan Garden II where the Absinthe Buck tamed the anise-driven cordial with almond and spice. Also intriguing was the Independent's Kapuna Kane that worked a large amount of gentian liqueur into a drink did not feel overwhelmed by it.
June: A Piña Colada-Negroni hybrid for Negroni Week? Count No. 9 Park in for the top seat in June with their Amaro di Cocco (they ignored my suggestion for the name Piña Negrada though). For honorable mention, Townshend's Chartreuse-y Peacefield and Lincoln's mezcal and spice Battle of Puebla.

July: For July and August, I will segregate out the New Orleans and Tales of the Cocktail drinks and deal with the local talent here. Just north of the city, I was intrigued by Barrel House's Jersey Isle Julep, and for a silver showing, Spoke with their A Bird Named Rufus.

New Orleans & Tales of the Cocktail: With 16 recipes written up from the event and around the city, I felt that it needed its own category. I was definitely impressed with Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29 and found myself there quite often (the only bar that matched it was the 24 hour craft beer bar near my hotel, the Avenue Pub); I was advised to start with their take on the classic Pearl Diver called the Pontchartrain Pearl Diver and that recommendation was strong. Pouring Ribbons' Sing for Your Supper was probably the best drink at the Bartenders Breakfast, and for over the top elegance, the Meyer's Cobbler at Compère Lapin stood out.
August: August was indeed a challenge. Top honor will go to Frogmore's tribute to Charleston's role in Madeira trade with the Sun City. The Golden-eyed Treefrog at a rum event at Felipe's and the New Orlean's tribute, the Easy E, at Backbar get the tip of the hat.

September: Things did not get any easier in September to make a choice, and it was hard enough to narrow it down to three. So here they are without any designation. Hawthorne's Boulevardier in the Heather as the beginning of the banana Negroni phase for me. Estragon's Tropicalia with cachaça, spices, and tropical flavors. And Hojoko's Budokon as an overproof rum-madeira Sazerac of sorts.

October: It was tough to pick a best drink at No. 9 Park this month with a strong showing on their new menu; perhaps their Declaration with Madeira edged out the Sherry Painkiller and the I'wi Bird. A duo of gentian liqueur cocktails deserve the nod: Monument Park at State Park and the Barnyard Punch at Highball Lounge.
November: I couldn't narrow down which four equal part drink was the top dog, so why not split the difference with the Franklin's Almost Famous and Brick & Mortar's One One Thousand. Off of Audubon's cartoon-themed section of the menu, the Friar Tuck deserves some notice.

December: Just opened this month, Tiger Mama impressed me with their rum Manhattan of sorts, the Long Eclipse. A downtown duo of the amusingly named High Five, So Am I with its tequila, Cynar, and honey action at JM Curley and the Bela Vista with rye, banana, and Ramazzotti and No. 9 Park round out the month.

So there are my 34 best drinks in Boston for 2015 a trio from Tales of the Cocktail and New Orleans thrown in. From the local talent, those drinks stem from 25 different establishments across town (and some just outside of town). I also left out any drinks that I had a hand in at Russell House Tavern and Loyal Nine. And as I said last year, there were certainly ones that got edged out that I wish I could mention, but the scope of this post was kept tight (although not as tight as a top 12 would have been). I am looking forward to what 2016's list will bring. Cheers!