every dream a dream of escape even when it doesn't look like it

1 oz Rainwater Madeira (Blandy's 5 Year Verdelho)
1/2 oz Cointreau
3 dash Angostura Bitters
3 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, add a Champagne float (1 1/2 oz Willm Blanc de Blancs), and garnish with a knotted lemon twist.

Two Sunday mornings ago, I was perusing Instagram when I had spotted a literary-inspired drink by Chantal Tseng at Washington DC's Petworth Citizen called the Every Dream a Dream of Escape Even When It Doesn't Look Like It that impressed me first due to the name length for it had one more than the previous champ of 12 words, The Facts Concerning the Late Van Hagen & The Thirsty Man's Safari. This The Underground Railroad-themed drink also caught my eye for it reminded me of a Prince of Wales minus the brandy; however, Chantal revealed her influence as a "Seelbach Cocktail with Madeira replacing the Bourbon and half the bitters." Finally, it seemed like a great brunch drink (we had the Seelbach on the brunchtails list back at Russell House Tavern for a season or two), so I did not wait until the night to enjoy this creation.
The Every Dream shared a citrus aroma of lemon and orange along with darker notes from the Madeira on the nose. Next, a carbonated grape and orange sip escaped into an elegant red wine merging into bitter orange swallow. Indeed, the Madeira-orange liqueur duo seen in drinks like the 91st Division, Brotherly Advice, and Come Sail Away made this fortified wine for whiskey swap sing delightfully.

burlington

1/2 Scotch (1 1/4 oz Famous Grouse + 1/4 oz Laphroaig 10 Year)
2 dash French Vermouth (1 oz Dolin Blanc)
2 dash St. Croix Rum (1/2 oz Privateer Navy Yard)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

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

After a Saturday night at Our Fathers in Allston, I came home to have late night dinner followed by a cocktail. For inspiration, I flipped through Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 and came upon the Burlington. This Rob Roy variation spiked in some rum complexity, and I opted for the Jim Meehan theory that sometimes "French vermouth" drinks can taste better with a somewhat sweetened blanc vermouth instead of a dry one. For a rum, the burly Navy Yard from Privateer caught my eye despite going over to my shelf to select a funky Jamaican rum (that pairing came to mind through the Modernista, Quarter Deck, and Captain Kidd) with a secondary concept being an agricole (that duo was spawned from the Start of a New Road and Two Worlds Sour).
The Burlington gave forth a lemon oil over peat smoke bouquet to the nose. Next, malt mingling with white grape on the sip gave way to Scotch merging with rum on the swallow with floral and orange notes and a smoky finish.

lexington

1 1/4 oz Rye Whiskey (Ryan & Wood)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Maurin)
1/2 oz Ginger Liqueur (King's Ginger)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass rinsed with Herbsaint, and garnish with a lemon twist.
After work two Fridays ago, I was in the mood for a nightcap, so I turned to Sarah Baird's New Orleans Cocktails and selected the Lexington from T. Cole Newton of Twelve Mile Limit. I finally made a trip out to that bar last July during Tales (see below) but sadly the afternoon's light made me think more of beer than consulting their cocktail expertise. The Lexington is Cole's riff on the Sazerac that reminded me of my Sazerac-Manhattan hybrid the Merchants Exchange Manhattan but here with the added angle of ginger spice. Once prepared, the Lexington gave forth a familiar lemon and anise nose. Next, grape and malt held hands through the sip, and this was chased by rye spice, dry grape, ginger, cinnamon, and anise on the swallow.

palm viper

3/4 oz Zacapa "23" Rum
3/4 oz El Dorado 12 Year Rum
1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Cynar
2 dash Bittercube Corazon Bitters

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

Two Thursdays ago, Andrea and I ventured down to Brookline to dine at the Baldwin Bar's new sibling, the Blossom Bar, that hosts the same style of Sichuan cuisine as the Woburn location but with cocktails inspired by Central and South America. For a start, I selected the Palm Viper that reminded me of a rum Little Italy. I later discovered that the drink was crafted by Patrick Andrew as a riff on the 1919 Cocktail, and he utilized aromatic bitters from Bittercube that have chili pepper, cocoa, and coffee flavors akin to a mole to give some extra regional flare to the two Central American rums in the mix. And for a name, he dubbed this one after a poisonous snake lurking in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama.
Once prepared, the Palm Viper gave forth bright lemon oil aromas over the bass notes from the dark rums and amaro. Next, caramel from the rums and amaro mingled with the vermouth's grape on the sip, and the swallow paired rum and funk with an elegant spice finish.

a'a'po'e

1 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1 1/2 oz Coruba Dark Rum
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 1/2 oz Passion Fruit Juice
1/4 oz Don's Spices #2 (1 bsp vanilla syrup + 1 bsp Hamilton's Allspice Dram)
1/4 oz Grenadine

Blend briefly with crushed ice and pour (shake with ice and strain) into a Tiki mug with 1 1/2 oz soda water; fill with crushed ice and garnish with an orchid (strawberry fan + paper umbrella).

Two Wednesdays ago to round out Tiki the Snow Away month on Instagram, I searched to see if there were any recipes from Hale Pele in Portland that I had never tried. When I visited Hale Pele in 2012, the bar program was so new that they only offered classics like the Penang Afridi. My web search turned up the A'A'Po'e, and I was able to piece together the recipe from a video on The Oregonian and the BG Reynold's webpage. Overall, the drink looked like it had elements of the Saturn mashed together with some from the Hurricane.
In the mug, the A'A'Po'e gave forth a lemon, passion fruit, and caramel aroma before I added on the garnish which donated complementary strawberry notes. Next, a carbonated lemon and passion fruit sip led into dark rum, pine, allspice, and vanilla flavors on the swallow.

sven-tiki

1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Grenadine
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Coruba)
2 oz Light Virgin Island Rum (Privateer Silver)
1/2 oz Club Soda

Shake all but the club soda with ice, pour into a Tiki mug with the soda water, and fill with ice.
For the penultimate night of Tiki the Snow Away month two Tuesdays ago, I began flipping through Beachbum Berry's Remixed for ideas that I have not tried yet. There, I honed in on Jeff Berry's 2002 tribute to Sven "Sven-Tiki" Kirsten who authored the 2000 The Book of Tiki and later a few other Tiki-themed books. Berry's combination reminded me of a Shrunken Skull with orange and pineapple juices in the mix, so I figured it would be a delightful tropical number. Once prepared, the Sven-Tiki offered a citrus, berry, and rum funk bouquet to the nose. Next, dark caramel, lime, and berry notes on the sip gave way to dark rum, orange, and pineapple flavors on the swallow.

jungle grog

2 oz Dark Rum (Coruba)
2 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Grenadine

1/2 oz Campari
1/4 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's)

Shake with ice, strain into a Tiki mug or tall glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with Tiki intent.

Using the Tiki the Snow Away month as inspiration, I thought about riffs of the Jungle Bird that I could do. Fixating on Campari as a common ingredient, I then honed in on my Negroni-Navy Grog mashup, the Negroni Grog as well as the original Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic Navy Grogs, and I proceeded to design a merger of the two concepts. Instead of the honey in my Grog, I opted for grenadine that worked well with Campari as "bittersweet" in the Freaky Tiki and the night before's Isla Tortuga. Indeed, the pairing of grenadine and amaro was one that Trader Vic utilized with Amer Picon in the Jayco, Kahala Cooler, and other drinks. For a name, instead of the Navy Bird, I dubbed this one the Jungle Grog.
The Jungle Grog presented a tropical nose along with dark rum funk notes. Next, the sip's lime, grapefruit, and rum's caramel was chased by funky rum, pineapple, and berry-bitter orange "bittersweet" flavors on the swallow with a pineapple and allspice finish.

isla tortuga

1 1/2 oz Column Still Gold Rum (Don Q Añejo)
1 oz Overproof Black Rum (Plantation OFTD)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Maurin)
1/4 oz Grenadine
1/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz Curaçao (Senior)
1/2 oz Orange Juice
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a Tiki mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with citrus peel sails.

During the Tiki the Snow Away hashtag event on Instagram, I was taken by London home bartender @tikildn's riff on Trader Vic's 1946 Tortuga (which was in turn possibly a riff on the Floridita Daiquiri). Here, he dropped the lemon juice to reduce the citrus from 3 to 2 juices, swapped the crème de cacao to Campari, and made a few small touches to the ratios and rum identities. The combination of the grenadine left over from the original and the inserted Campari reminded me of the "bittersweet" mix in the Freaky Tiki. For a name, he called this one the Isla Tortuga after the given name of the island where Columbus landed in his first voyage in 1492 before it became a haven for pirates and later developed into the country of Haiti.
The Isla Tortura gave forth fruity aromas plus hints of dark rum and citrus oils from the garnish. Next, a fruity medley of lime, orange, and grape on the sip transition into rum, berry, and bitter orange flavors on the swallow.

black francis

1 3/4 oz Smoky Scotch (1 1/2 oz Famous Grouse + 1/4 oz Laphroaig 10 Year)
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry (Oxford 1970)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a cherry and lemon oil from a twist.

After getting home from work two Saturdays ago, I was in the mood for somethings straight spirits to wrap up the evening, so I turned to the Black Francis that I had previously spotted on the BarNotes app. This drink was a The Pixies reference crafted by Manhattan bartender Rafa Garcia Febles in 2013, and the combination of Scotch, vermouth, and fortified wine reminded me of the Chancellor and other drinks. That connection made me override Rafa's tempting suggestion that this recipe also is rather tasty as a mezcal drink.
In the glass, the Black Francis shared a bright lemon oil nose over smoke and deep dark grape elements. Next, a raisin-y grape sip gave way to smoky Scotch and raisin melding into bitter complexity on the swallow.