dawn of hospitality

2 oz Old Overholt Rye
1/2 oz Borghetti Espresso Liqueur
1/4 oz Pineapple Syrup
6-7 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass rinsed with absinthe, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Tuesdays ago, I was leaving my second day of training to re-open Drink (closed for 4 1/2 months for structural work and to stop the flooding when it rained) and ended up at Shore Leave after a dinner in Chinatown. There, I found a seat in front of bartender Abigail Winn who I asked for a Dawn of Hospitality; it was subtitled on the menu with "If we were on vacation, we'd hope this tropical-inspired Sazerac would be for breakfast." The concept of a Sazerac with coffee flavors was one that I had tried in the Mid-City and with pineapple syrup in the Bounty, but never in the same glass. Here, a lemon and anise bouquet greeted the nose. Next, roast and fruity notes on the sip slid into rye, root beer, and coffee flavors on the swallow.

miles ahead

3/4 oz Rittenhouse Rye
3/4 oz Linie Aquavit (Aalborg)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/2 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/4 oz Honey Syrup
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)
2 pods Cardamom

Muddle cardamom pods, add the rest of the ingredients, shake with ice, and strain into a cocktail coupe.Two Mondays ago, I selected The NoMad Cocktail Book for the evening's libation, and I uncovered the Miles Ahead by Pietro Collina that would be a good bridge from Sherry Week 2021. This complex Sour utilized the rye-aquavit duo observed in the Frontier and other recipes, so I was intrigued to give it a go. The Miles Ahead produced a spiced aroma of caraway and cardamom to the senses. Next, lemon, honey, and grape notes on the sip transversed into rye, caraway, nutty, cardamom, and floral flavors on the swallow.

beginning of the end

1 1/2 oz Aged Rum (Don Q Gran Añejo)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Lacuesta Rojo)
1/3 oz Amer Picon
1/3 oz Oloroso Sherry (Lustau)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a flamed orange twist.For the final night of Sherry Week 2021, I turned to Difford's Guide for an answer. There, I landed upon the Beginning of the End crafted by Paul Mathew of The Hide in London for the 2008 Boutique Bar Show's cocktail competition. The name reflects how it is a riff on the classic Fin de Siècle but with aged rum and sherry in place of the original's gin and orange bitters. For a last #SherryKu (sherry Haiku) to accompany my Instagram entry, I composed, "Solera system/No beginning or finish/Fractional blending." In the glass, the Beginning of the End donated an orange oil over rum, nutty sherry, and dark orange aroma. Next, caramel and grape notes swirled on the sip, and the swallow rounded things out with rum, nutty sherry, and dark orange flavors.

poa pretensis

1 oz Bourbon (Old Grand-Dad Bonded)
1 oz Oloroso Sherry (Lustau)
1/2 oz Punte e Mes
1/2 oz Drambuie
1 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

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

Two Saturdays ago was day six of Sherry Week 2021, and I sought out a recipe on the Shake Stir site. There, I uncovered a 2018 creation by Sahil Mehta at Estragon called Poa Pretensis which is the genus and species name for the meadow grass better known as Kentucky Bluegrass. Sahil had previously paired Drambuie with sherry in the Sebastian and Pan-European Pandemonium, and that combination that has existed in the literature since at least the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book with the Golden Heath. For a #SherryKu (sherry Haiku) to accompany my post on Instagram, I penned, "Kentucky bluegrass/Sherry, Bourbon, & horses/For win, place, & show."The Poa Pretensis brought forth an orange aroma from both the twist's oils and the bitters. Next, the sherry and Punt e Mes' grape notes filled the sip, and the swallow crossed the finish line with Bourbon, bitter, and nutty flavors and a honey-tinged finish.

auld acquaintaince

1 1/2 oz Scotch (1 1/4 oz Famous Grouse + 1/4 oz Caol Ila 10 Year)
1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Palo Cortado Sherry (3/8 oz each Lustau Amontillado + Oloroso)
1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 dash Bitters (Angostura)

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube.For evening five of Sherry Week 2021, I turned to the Kindred Cocktails database and spotted the Auld Acquaintance by New York City bartender Rafa Garcia Febles in 2013. To pair with this recipe on Instagram, I generated this #SheryKu (sherry Haiku), "A cup of kindness/With old sherry to the brim/Days of auld lang syne." Once prepared, the Auld Acquaintance greeted the senses with a smoke and cinnamon aroma that introduced a grape-driven sip. Finally, smoky Scotch, apple, nutty, and cinnamon flavors rounded out the swallow with a peat-tinged finish.

in the stacks

1 oz Scotch (Famous Grouse)
1 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry
3/4 oz Cynar
1/4 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
2 dash Angostura Bitters
2 dash Chocolate Bitters (Angostura Cocoa)

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

After returning home from Offsuit, I still wanted to participate in Sherry Week 2021. Therefore, I decided to riff on the Library Card that I had created a few years ago as my fourth night's submission. I originally crafted this variation with Amontillado sherry, but that first pass was too stark, so I swapped in Lustau's cream sherry, East India Solera, with better success. For a #SherryKu (sherry Haiku) to add to my Instagram post, I penned "Sherry & book night/It's time to pamper one's self/A pour per chapter."
For a name, I kept the library theme and dubbed this one In the Stacks. Here, the nose was greeted by orange, apricot, and herbal aromas. Next, caramel, grape, and orchard fruit notes on the sip selected a Scotch, nutty, and herbal swallow with an apricot and spice finish.

hard bargain

1 1/2 oz Sazerac Rye
1/3 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1/3 oz Passion Fruit Liqueur
1/3 oz Falernum
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz 2:1 Demerara Syrup
3 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.Two Thursdays ago after my final day bar shift at the Smoke Shop BBQ, I took the subway to meet some out of town friends at Offsuit. For a drink, I selected the Hard Bargain off the menu that reminded me of a Last Rites or a Sexpert by its ingredients and balance. When I received the recipe, I was not all that wrong to fit it to the Test Pilot build in my head. Once served, the Hard Bargain proffered rum funk and passion fruit aromas to the nose. Next, lemon, melon, and tangerine notes on the sip led into rye, rum, and spice flavors on the swallow.

flower & vine

1 oz La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry
1 oz Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal (Mezcal Union)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Syrup
1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/2 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil (Tempus Fugit)
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Shake with ice and strain into a double old fashioned glass.For night three of Sherry Week 2021, I ventured back to the Hawthorne bar bible and spotted the Flower & Vine by bartender Jason Kilgore. The drink on the menu was subtitled "Throw caution to the wind," and I paired it on Instagram with a #SherryKu (sherry Haiku) of "Mezcal & sherry/Savory & smokiness/A heavenly match." In the glass, the Flower & Vine conjured up smoke and vegetal aromas with a hint of caramel and pineapple. Next, lemon, caramel, and roasted fruit on the sip flowed into tequila, savory, tangerine, and banana flavors on the swallow with a pineapple finish.

christmas in prison

1 1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1/2 oz Cruzan Blackstrap Rum
1/2 oz Lustau Palo Cortado Sherry (1/4 oz each Lustau Oloroso + Amontillado)
1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/8 oz Maple Syrup
1 dash Bittermens Cranberry Bitters (Crude's Orange-Fig)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.

For the second day of Sherry Week 2021, I found an interesting sherry recipe on Kindred Cocktails by Timothy Miner at the since closed Jake Walk in Brooklyn circa 2013. Like the beer cocktail I had in Louisville a few years ago, this one was named after the 1973 John Prine song. After reading through the lyrics, I was inspired to pen the #SherryKu (sherry Haiku) "Christmas in prison/There's no sherry to be had/One day I'll be free."Christmas in Prison proffered an orange, apple, and maple bouquet. Next, caramel and maple notes on the sip locked down an apple, rum, and cinnamon swallow.