dare i say cocktail

1 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Aperol
2 dash Rhubarb Bitters or sub Peychaud's (Peychaud's)

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass.
Two Friday nights ago, I reached for the recent issue of Imbibe Magazine that had just arrived earlier that day. The Dare I Say Cocktail seemed like the perfect post-shift nightcap with its amari-tinged Manhattan structure similar to the Decolletage; it was created by Karah Carmack of Cured in San Antonio. Once prepared, the Fernet's menthol was the most evident aroma on the nose. Next, malt and caramel with hints of orange filled the sip, and the swallow began with rye and orange-rhubarb bitter elements and ended with a menthol finish.

jerusalem's between the sheets

Equal parts:
Cognac (3/4 oz Camus VS)
Cointreau (3/4 oz)
Dry Gin (3/4 oz Barr Hill)
Lemon Juice (3/4 oz)

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

Two Thursdays ago, I decided to make a recipe that I had spotted in my cover-to-cover reading of The Gentleman's Companion called the Jerusalem's Between the Sheets. Charles H. Baker, Jr. cites the source as "from [the] bar book of Weber at the King David" sometime during Prohibition and compared it to the "American Side Car." Instead of the rum in the classic Between the Sheets, this variation substitutes gin. The combination of the two with lemon and a sweetener reminded me of a French 75 I once made for a guest when he could not figure out whether he wanted the brandy or the gin version, so I we decided to split the difference.
The Jerusalem's Between the Sheets began with a rather orange nose accented by lemon oil and hints of juniper. The sip was a combination of orange and lemon reminiscent of the "American Side Car," and the swallow shared Cognac, orange peel, and pine flavors.

brasserie special

1/2 Seagram's Bourbon Whiskey (1 1/2 oz Old Granddad Bonded)
1/2 Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1 tsp Passion Fruit Syrup (1/2 oz)
1 dash Lemon Juice (3/4 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

For an after work drink a few Saturdays ago, I turned to the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book. There, I uncovered the Brasserie Special that was a Tiki-feeling Bourbon drink that paired orange liqueur and passion fruit similar to that book's Bluebeard's Passion and Tiki classics like the Tonga. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make things less sweet and to bring up the passion fruit and citrus aspects. Perhaps giving the passion fruit and orange liqueur equal footing was not the intended flavor profile of W.E. Edwards of the UK Bartender's Guild, but it seemed to work. Modifying the above to be 1/4 oz passion fruit syrup and 1/2 oz lemon juice might keep the same level of sweetness and be a touch truer to the original concept. I could have done all the sweeteners and citrus at 1/2 oz akin to the Don's Special Daiquiri as well. Regardless, it was delightful.
The Brasserie Special gave forth a tropical aroma with orange and passion fruit notes along with hints of whiskey. Next, lemon, orange, and malt on the sip elegantly slid into Bourbon on the swallow with a dry passion fruit finish.

joy division

2 oz Beefeater Gin
1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/2 oz Cointreau
3 dash Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe (1/8 oz Butterfly)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.

A few Fridays ago after my work shift, I was in great need of a nightcap. This quest led my hand to pull out the Death & Co. Cocktail Book where I found Phil Ward's 2008 Joy Division. Indeed, I was drawn in by the name for Joy Division is one of my favorite bands and by the fact that the recipe reminded me of Robert Hess' Black Feather. The Black Feather was created in 2000 and was the most popular drink at our home's 2008 International Migratory Bird Day event featuring 20 bird-themed cocktails. The two major differences between the drinks are that the Black Feather is brandy based and the herbal element is aromatic bitters instead of absinthe -- all with the same 4:2:1 ratio.
The Joy Division began with lemon, orange, and pine aromas. Next, the drink played a dry white wine sip with a hint of orange that was followed by a juniper, orange, and anise swallow.

niagara crusta

2 jigger Rye (1 1/2 oz Old Overholt)
1/2 Lemon Juice (1/2 oz)
1 tsp Sugar (1/2 oz Simple Syrup)
1 Egg White

Shake with ice and strain into a sugar-crusted glass. Put 2 dash Crème Yvette at the bottom of the glass (1/4 oz inserted at the bottom via plastic pipette). I added a wide lemon twist curled around the inside of the glass.

Every once in a while, there is a historical aberration from a classic style that makes you either shake your head or curious enough to give it a try (and sometimes like here, both at the same time). And many of these can be found in Pioneers of Mixing in Elite Bars: 1903-1933. I associate the classic 1852 Crusta as being a spirit, citrus, a sweetener (usually a liqueur), and bitters in a sugar-rimmed glass that contains a wide citrus twist garnish. In the Pioneer's Niagara Crusta, some of the basics are there, but there is an egg white, no bitters, and no citrus twist? I have made others from that book that lacked the bitters like the Newkirk and Rye Crustas (and the rye one lacked the citrus twist and recommended garnishing with fruits, berries, and mint instead), but to me it is the early presence of citrus in a cocktail (and by cocktail I mean in the classic sense where they need to have bitters) that make the Crusta important (besides being a predecessor of the Sidecar). The egg white is also an oddity; however, the sink of liqueur makes this recipe a dandy! Most Crustas have some liqueur like curaçao or Maraschino as the sweetener, but here the sweetener is sugar and the liqueur element is present in Pousse-café style. I added a citrus twist to the book's instructions to round out the drink and help adjust the recipe slightly to my perceived norm.
The Niagara Crusta had made a list of recipes to try, but I had always skipped over it until two weeks ago after my work shift. I definitely needed to tweak the proportions since I was not downing 2 jiggers of whiskey to test out this drink; moreover, that amount was odd since most of the recipes in the book are for smaller sized libations. Once built, the Niagara Crusta provided a lemon aroma from the citrus swath I added. Next, the creamy sip offered malt notes and a tart lemon aspect that was assuaged by the sugar on the rim; and lastly, the rye began the swallow that ended with a return of the tart lemon on the finish. Once the Crème Yvette entered the picture (assisted by agitation of the glass once it was half drained), the flavor gained berry, floral, and vanilla notes as well as an increase in sweetness.

sailor's delight

3/4 oz Laird's Applejack
3/4 oz Beefeater Gin
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/4 oz Orgeat
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass. Fill with crushed ice, "float" 1/4 oz Cherry Heering, garnish with a paper parasol and a cherry, and add a straw.

For my drink at Backbar, I asked bartender Kat Lamper for the Sailor's Delight that was a drink of the day earlier in the week. The recipe was created by Dan Braganca as his riff on Trader Vic's Fog Cutter. Instead of a light floatable ingredient like sherry in the classic or aquavit in the Viking Fog Cutter, Dan opted for the heavier Cherry Heering that created a Sunrise effect as it cascaded down the crushed ice like the liqueur in a Bramble. Moreover, instead of a Sunrise, perhaps a Sunset would be more appropriate, for Dan named this after the historical nautical saying, "Red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning."
The Sailor's Delight had a vague fruity aroma from the orange and cherry elements. The Heering did add cherry notes when the straw was near, but otherwise, the sip was grape, orange, and lemon flavored, and the swallow was apple and nutty. Stirring in the Cherry Heering so it took up the bottom third or so of the drink made the flavor profile more balanced than the dense layer once the liqueur settled to the bottom.

the skeptic and the believer

1 oz Olmeca Altos Tequila
1/2 oz El Bujo Mezcal
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Bittermens Boston Bittahs

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

A few Wednesdays ago, Andrea and I dropped into Backbar after getting dinner in Union Square. Andrea's choice of a drink was one of Backbar's drinks of the day from a few weeks prior called the Skeptic and the Believer. Bartender Kat Lamper described how her creation was inspired by catching up on the previous season of X-Files shows before the new season came out with Mulder being the believer and Scully being the skeptic. The structure reminded me of Lasky Last Knight that inspired me to create the Knight Fizz with agave and lime instead of brandy and lemon.
The Skeptic and the Believer put forth an agave aroma with a hint of smoke. On the sip, lime and orange paired Margarita style, and the swallow showcased the great combination of agave's vegetal and Chartreuse's herbal flavors.

sherry twist

1/2 jigger Sherry (1 1/2 oz Lustau Amontillado)
1 spoon Brandy (1/2 oz Foret)
1 spoon Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1 spoon Dry Vermouth (1/2 oz Noilly Prat)
2 dash Lemon (1/2 oz Juice)
1 small piece Cinnamon (1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup)

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.

A few Tuesdays ago, I began to flip through Boothby's 1934 World Drinks and How to Mix Them and was intrigued by the Sherry Twist. It reminded me of the Ceylon but with a flip of the respectively forwardness of the brandy and sherry elements. Strangely, I garnished both drinks in a similar fashion six years later...
The Sherry Twist provided a lemon aroma from the garnish and a nutty grape from the Amontillado that I chose as the sherry here. Next, the sip offered grape, lemon, and orange notes, and the swallow was a bit more complex with nutty, orange, and cinnamon flavors.

under the gun

1 oz Olmeca Altos Tequila
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Falernum
1/2 oz Crème de Cassis
2 dash Chili Bitters (*)

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass.
(*) A house-made habañero pepper in vodka infusion. A dash of hot sauce will work in a pinch.
A few Mondays ago, I popped into Brick & Mortar to get a nightcap on my way home from an event. There, I asked bartender Paul Yem for the Under the Gun which turned out to be his invention. I was drawn in for it reminded me of Trader Vic's Diablo with clove and chili instead of ginger as the spice element but kept short like a Count Diablo. Once built, the Under the Gun shared a tequila, cassis, and hint of pepper aroma. Next, lime and berry notes filled the sip, and agave, currant, and clove came through on the swallow along with a light heat aspect on the finish.