smoking section

1 1/2 oz Compass Box Glasgow Blend Scotch
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Averna
1/2 oz Campari

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.
Two Mondays ago, I ventured down to Kenmore Square to grab a seat at the Hawthorne where Backbar's Carlo Caroscio was doing a guest shift in conjunction with Compass Box Whiskey. For a first drink, I asked Carlo for the Smoking Section that he described as his Scotch Negroni riff; since the recipe was not the typical equal parts structure, the combination reminded me a little of the Bitter Nail as well as some of Phil Ward's gin Negroni variations like the Cornwall Negroni and Baltasar & Blimunda. Once prepared, the Smoking Section segregated the nose into orange, peat, and darker aromas. Next, caramel and grape on the sip led into smoky Scotch and rounded bitter herbal flavors on the swallow with a smoky finish.

lahaina noon

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Fidencio)
3/4 oz Plantation OFTD Rum (*)
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Combier)
1/2 oz Cynar
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Whip shake, pour into a Tiki mug , fill with crushed ice, and garnish with mint sprigs.
(*) Sub a Demerara 151 rum in a pinch.

After crafting a mezcal drink for an event utilizing apricot, Cynar, lime, and Peychaud's Bitters, I thought about the role of apricot liqueur in tropical drinks. My mind drifted towards Joe Scialom's Sol y Sombra and wondered if I could adapt it using aspects of the cocktail I had created at work. I also included in elements of Trader Vic's rather related Sun and Shadow to craft the Lahaina Noon. Lahaina Noon is when the sun is directly overhead and vertical objects do not cast a shadow; it happens twice a year in Hawaii every May and July.
The Laihaina Noon proffered smoke seeping through the mint garnish's aroma. Next, pineapple, lime, and apricot generated a fruity sip, while the swallow donated smoky mezcal, funky rum, and Cynar's herbal bitterness on the swallow with smoke and anise notes on the finish.

the bainbridge

1 oz Moderately Aged Rum (Angostura 7 Year)
1 oz Amaro di Angostura
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat

Shake with ice, strain into a pineapple glass, and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple leaf and a cherry (mint sprig and nasturtium).
Two Saturdays ago, I returned from a bartending shift and felt the need for something tropical. Therefore, I turned to Matt Pietrek and Carrie Smith's Minimalist Tiki book, and I spotted one of Matt's originals called the Bainbridge. Bainbridge is an island near Seattle, Washington, where (or near) Matt and Carrie lived before they recently moved down to New Orleans, and the drink itself seemed like it would make good excellent use of my bottle of Amaro di Angostura on my shelf. Once prepared, the Bainbridge proffered clove, allspice and almond aromas underneath the floral and mint ones from the garnish. Next, caramel, pineapple, and lime played on the sip, and the swallow gave forth rum, clove and allspice flavors with a nutty and cinnamon finish.

road flare

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
1 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup 1:1
1/4 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a fresh or dehydrated lime wheel (fresh).
Two Fridays ago, I was clicking through my open tabs of drinks to make when I came across the Road Flare from Imbibe Magazine. The recipe crafted at last Light in New York City reminded me of a Hemingway Daiquiri in structure with tequila and gentian liqueur as the base and modifier. Once prepared, the Road Flare offered an earthy and vegetal bouquet to the nose. Next, a citrussy sip with grapefruit and lime notes flowed into tequila melding into gentian flavors on the swallow.

juno

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
1 oz Batavia Arrack (Van Oosten)
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
2 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a single old fashioned glass, and garnish with lemon oil from a twist.

Two Thursdays ago, I found an old file that I received from a previous bar manager for our house specs that I strongly surmised was from Drink in Boston (i.e.: it had recipes like the Krakatoa). In that file, I spotted the Juno that was an Alaska Cocktail riff with a split base of reposado tequila and Batavia Arrack in place of the gin. Given that John Gerten was fond of riffing on the Alaska such as with the Last Frontier and perhaps the Farley Mowat, it might have been one of his creations; however, Phil Ward's pairing of agave spirits with Batavia Arrack such as in the Shattered Glasser and Airbag made me wonder if the recipe had come from New York. On the other hand, John was not shy of utilizing that combination himself as demonstrated in the Smoking Jet Pilot.
Despite not knowing the exact who or where of the drink, I was curious to try the Juno. It met the senses with a lemon, vegetal agave, and Batavia Arrack funk aroma. Next, a honey-tinged sip led into vegetal tequila and funky Batavia Arrack melding into gentle herbal flavors on the swallow. Overall, the change in spirits shifted the drink from botanical driven to a more earthy feel.

improved 1794

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse Bonded)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Martini Grand Lusso)
3/4 oz Campari
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
2 dash Absinthe (1 bsp Kübler)
2 dash Mole Bitters (Bittermens)

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

Two Wednesdays ago, I was thinking about how Maraschino can soften Campari into an almost Aperol-like feel as I first learned in the Carnivale, and I wondered what it would do to "improve" a Negroni. Instead of just Maraschino, I could utilize Jerry Thomas' 1876 Improved technique of adding Maraschino and absinthe. However, I felt that I had tinkered enough with the Negroni and considered Dominic Venegas' rye-based 1794 that he crafted in 2004 as a three part drink, and it later gained chocolate bitters circa 2007 (our blog post was the first evidence on the web that this was a thing; when the drink was created, there were no chocolate bitters on the market). The 1794 had been softened and expanded into the 1795 at Craigie on Main, but I was curious if it could be Improved.
The Improved 1794 met the nose with orange, rye, nutty, and anise aromas. Next, grape and cherry notes mingled on the sip, and the swallow proffered rye and bitter cherry-orange flavors with a chocolate and anise finish. Overall, the result was softer -- it was less bitter and more bright and herbal akin to the effect of a pinch of salt. And perhaps the profile was somewhere between a 1794 and a Red Hook.

tour le carbet

2 oz Rhum Agricole (Clement)
1/2 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur
3/4 oz Falernum (Velvet)
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a lime wheel.
I was struck with a rum mood two Tuesdays ago, so I opened up Shannon Mustipher's Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails book. The recipe that called out to me was the Tour le Carbet that was her agricole-based riff on the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club with gentian liqueur in place of the curaçao. Le Carbet is a town in Martinique where the Carib Indians convened and where Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1502. In the glass, the Tour le Carbet welcomed the senses with grassy, earthy, and lime aromas. Next, the lime continued on into the sip that was followed by grassy rum, earthy gentian, ginger, and clove flavors on the swallow.

havana smash

1/2 Lemon, in wedges or pieces (*)
6-8 leaf Mint
1 1/2 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1/2 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Combier)

Muddle lemon wedges, add mint, and lightly muddle again. Add the rest of the ingredients, shake with ice, and double strain into a double old fashioned glass. Fill with crushed ice and garnish with mint sprigs.
(*) A medium lemon that will generate around 3/4 oz juice when muddled.

Two Mondays ago, I returned home late and was in the mood for a final drink. Instead of looking up a novel recipe, I became inspired about the apricot-Swedish punsch combination in the Havana Cocktail via thinking about the Transatlantic Orbit's apricot-cinnamon duo a few nights before. I decided to take the Havana Cocktail in the direction of Eastern Standard's Smash with muddled citrus wedges and mint (opposed to the classic Smash which is a Mint Julep on a smaller scale).
The Havana Smash met the nose with a mint and lemon bouquet. Next, lemon and orchard fruit notes on the sip set up for gin's botanicals and Swedish punsch's funky rum flavors on the swallow with mint, tea, and fruity notes on the finish.

mary garden (merry widow)

1 1/2 oz Dubonnet or Byrrh Quinquina (Dubonnet Rouge)
1 1/2 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino or Grand Marnier (Luxardo Maraschino)
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a cherry.

Two Sundays ago, I ventured into Frank Caiafa's The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book where I spotted a doubly named aperitif. The recipe was both the Mary Garden after a turn of the century opera singer and the Merry Widow after a 19th century operetta. Caiafa pointed out that Hugo Ensslin had a Merry Widow that was a fifty-fifty Dry Martini with New Orleans-style accents of Benedictine, absinthe, and Peychaud's Bitters that was quite delightful, and this is why I posted this recipe as the Mary Garden to help differentiate it (although Caiafa listed it as the Merry Widow).
The Mary Garden when made with Dubonnet and Maraschino curtsied to the nose with a grape and cherry and almost licorice aroma. Next, red grape and cherry on the sip bowed into darker cherry flavor on the swallow with a nutty finish.