gustin gang

3/4 oz Dry Gin (Hardshore)
3/4 oz Sloe Gin (Glendalough)
1 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Cynar
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

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

For my shift drink at Our Fathers two Fridays ago, I decided to riff on the 1919 Cocktail utilizing dry and sloe gin as the two spirits. While I kept the Punt e Mes intact, I switched from molé to Peychaud's Bitters due to their working well with sloe's fruit notes. Moreover, I swapped the original's Benedictine for Cynar to pair with the sloe gin akin to Phil Ward's Lipspin especially considering my decent results in the Perverted by Language. For a name, I was looking for a year to attach to the drink and began thinking about 1662, the year that the original bridge on my route to work was built. However, that had little to do with the drink, so I thought about what else was happening around 1919 -- namely, gangs were gearing up for Prohibition. One famous Boston gang to work bootlegging into their operations was the Gustin Gang. The Gustin Gang was formed in the mid-1910s and by the 1920s began to dominate Boston's underworld. During Prohibition, they purchased rum-running boats that brought booze from international waters into South Boston where they supplied their South Boston speakeasy, the Sportlight, as well as other local establishments.
The Gustin Gang cocktail shared a lemon and berry nose. Next, the berry continued on into the sip where it mingled with hints of grape and caramel, and then the swallow proffered bitter, floral, and pine flavors.

the zemurray

2 oz Bourbon (Four Roses)
1/4 oz Banana Liqueur (Giffard Banane du Bresil)
1/4 oz Palo Cortado Sherry (Lustau Oloroso)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a Luxardo cherry.
Two Thursdays ago, I reached for Sarah Baird's New Orleans Cocktails book for the evening's nightcap. There, I spotted the Zemurray by Vince Lund then of French 75 that he named after "Sam the Banana Man" Zemurray, the long time king of the New Orleans banana business. Sam entered into the trade back in 1895 where he bought already ripe bananas arriving in New Orleans that could not be delivered further to market before they rotted. Sam found homes for these fruits at local groceries, and with that entrepreneurship, he amassed a fortune that allowed him to expand his business nationwide. Cocktailwise, the Zemurray shared a Bourbon bouquet with a hint of dark fruit and anise spice on the nose. Next, malt and a touch of grape on the sip peeled off into Bourbon, nutty, and banana flavors on the swallow with a clove and anise finish.

blackthorn martinez

50 mL Gin (1 1/2 oz Beefeater)
20 mL Sloe Gin (3/4 oz Atxa Patxaran)
25 mL Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Maurin)
5 mL Maraschino (1/4 oz Luxardo)
2 dash Angostura Bitters
2 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with an orange twist.

Two Wednesdays ago, I decided to make a recipe that I had spotted earlier in the week created by my Instagram friend Matthias Soberon who runs the blog ServedBySoberon. His drink was a sloe gin riff on the Martinez called the Blackthorn Martinez. Since sloe plums are also called blackthorns especially in England and Europe, this name made sense for the insertion of sloe liqueur in the mix; however, there are many cocktails out there called the Blackthorn that strangely lack this ingredient.
In the glass, the Blackthorn Martinez gave forth an orange oil over berry and grape aromas on the nose. Next, a rich grape and red fruit-laden sip gave way to gin, nutty, and tart plum flavors with a clove finish. Indeed, the sloe liqueur worked rather well with the sweet vermouth and Maraschino here to balance the gin.

the departed

1 oz El Dorado 12 Year Rum
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz Averna
1/2 oz Mezcal (Sombra)
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass filled with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.
Two Tuesdays ago, Imbibe Magazine's blog posted a supplementary recipe to their March/April 2018 issue, and that drink was The Departed by Toronto bartender Sandy de Almeida. Its amari with a hint of mezcal at the end reminded me of a few cocktails including the Devil's Soul (with a smoky Scotch drink of similar format and name being the Devil's Backbone), so I was definitely curious. Once prepared, The Departed provided an orange and caramel nose. Next, the caramel from the rum and Averna continued on into the sip, and the swallow shared rum and bitter orange flavors that transitioned into smoke notes. Over time, the mezcal became more apparent with hints of smoke on the nose and agave flavors on the swallow.

scout

1 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac
1 oz Jägermeister
1 oz Benedictine
1 bsp Absinthe

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with lemon oil from a twist.
Two Monday afternoons ago, I attended the first Jagermeister Monday Club which was held at Drink in Fort Point. On the menu were two drink options on one side, and a bunch of available ingredients on the other. For a start, I asked the bartender for the Scout which I later learned was crafted by Drink's Brit McMahan, and once delivered, it led off with a lemon, caramel, and hint of herbal bouquet. Next, the caramel continued on into the rich sip, and the swallow gave forth star anise and minty flavors with a dry Cognac finish.
For a second drink, they allowed the attendees to get behind the center bar at Drink to create their own Jagermeister drink. When I had spotted heavy cream and crème de cacao on the menu's backside, my mind wandered in an Alexander direction and considered how the Galliano Alexander, (a/k/a the Golden Cadillac) might be similar to a Jagermeister Alexander since there are overlapping spices in the two liqueurs such as star anise.

Jäger Alexander
• 1 oz Marie Brizard Dark Crème de Cacao
• 1 oz Jägermeister
• 1 oz Heavy Cream
Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

The Jager Alexander was most certainly decadent adult chocolate milk, and it began with a woody spice from the nutmeg over cacao aromas. Next, the chocolate's roast joined caramel notes in the milk-laden sip, and the swallow allowed the Jagermeister to spice up the chocolate flavors on the swallow.

continuum

2 oz Bully Boy OFD Gin
3/4 oz Alessio Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Cynar
1/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with an orange twist. Note: the OFD Gin is a special floral-citrus formulation that Bully Boys created for the bar.

Earlier two Sundays ago, I had planned out my shift drink for later that night at work. After having recently made a guest The Drink of Laughter and Forgetting, I thought about how well Green Chartreuse and Cynar pair in other drinks such as the Toto, Two from L.A., and Monk's Thistle. My mind then lept to how both liqueurs partner well with curaçao such as the Prospector and Bitter End. For a form, I considered a sweet vermouth-gin direction akin to the Bijou.
For a name, I dubbed it after Our Fathers home in the Continuum building here in Allston, MA, and the Continuum cocktail lent an orange aroma with herbal notes mostly from the Green Chartreuse. Next, grape and Cynar's caramel on the sip led into gin, minty, and herbal flavors on the swallow with a minty orange finish. Moreover, as the drink warmed up, the swallow became a bit more funky flowing into Chartreuse herbal on the swallow.

peking

1 tsp Grenadine (1/2 oz)
1 dash Pernod or Herbsaint (1/2 bsp Herbsaint)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 1/2 oz Puerto Rican Rum (2 oz Don Q Añejo)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass; I added a lemon wheel as garnish.
After work two Saturdays ago, I was in the mood for something tropical, so I sought out a Trader Vic book. The one from my collection that I found first was Trader Vic's 1981 Book of Food & Drink, and there I stumbled upon the Peking. The name reminded me of the Mighty Peking Man, but it was a simple Rum Daisy with Herbsaint instead of a gin drink. I decided to give it ago after having read in Alice Lascelles' Ten Cocktails about how both Herbsaint and absinthe pair really well with red fruit notes including pomegranate similar to what I saw in the Pan American Clipper. In the glass, the Peking proffered a lemon and anise bouquet to the nose. Next, lemon and berry on the sip slid into aged rum and red fruit on the swallow with an anise-driven Herbsaint finish.

alcatraz

1 1/2 oz Tequila Ocho Añejo (Lunazul Reposado)
3/4 oz Lustau Oloroso Sherry
1/2 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur
1/4 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida (Sombra)
1 bsp Agave Nectar
2 dash Fee's Chocolate Bitters (Bittermens Mole)

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass, and garnish with an orange twist.

Two Fridays ago, the same Difford's Guide article that contained the Youth & Treachery had a recipe from Gaz Regan's 101 Best New Cocktails 2015 called the Alcatraz. I then sought out the original from Regan and learned that it was crafted by Christin Wagner at La Petite Grocery in New Orleans. Overall, the combination of agave, sherry, and gentian liqueur has worked well in drinks like the L'Année du Mexique and Cesare, so I was definitely interested in trying this one out.
Once prepared, the Alcatraz shared an orange oil over tequila aroma. Next, rich grape notes filled the sip, and the swallow began with agave and a hint of smoke melding into nutty, chocolate, and gentian-herbal flavors on the tail end. Like the Youth & Treachery, agave spirits and gentian liqueur are indeed a great pairing.

pappy chalk

1 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
1/2 oz Old Bahamian or other Caribbean Rum (R.L. Seale 10 Year)
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a lime wedge (omit).

Two Thursdays ago, I decided to make a rum drink that I had spotted in Benny Roff's Speakeasy that seemed like one of his own creations instead of a early 20th century number. The recipe was the Pappy Chalk named after a retired WWI pilot, Arthur "Pappy" Chalk, who established the first commercial airline between Ft. Lauderdale and the Bahamas in 1917; during Prohibition, he expanded his business into Bahamian rum importing. Here, the combination of spirit, Swedish punsch, Cocchi Americano, and lime juice reminded me of the tequila-based Chutes & Ladders and the pisco-based Undiscovered Country, so I was game to give this one a try.
The Pappy Chalk proffered a caramel nose with citrus undertones that preceded the caramel and lime sip. Finally, the swallow began with rum followed citrus and hints of tea and Batavia Arrack funk.