heart throb

2 oz Flor de Caña 4 Year Rum (Bacardi 4 Year)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Giffard Grapefruit Liqueur (St. Elder)
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.Two Saturdays after getting back from my bar shift, I selected Death & Co.'s Welcome Home book for the evening's libation. There, I was lured in by Scott Teague's 2014 Daiquiri riff that reminded me of the Zombie Essence with grapefruit liqueur instead of juice here. Scott explained, "This spec was born out of our 'Gangster Time Daiquiri' sessions" which was their term for a Snaquiri. Once shaken and strained, the Heart Throb began with a cinnamon and grapefruit nose. Next, lime on the sip flowed into rum, grapefruit, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow.

sacred monkey forest

2 oz Batavia Arrack (von Oosten)
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/4 oz Crème de Banane (Tempus Fugit)
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
2 dash Chocolate Bitters (Angostura Cocoa)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe rinsed with smoky Scotch (Laphroaig 10 Year).

Two Thursdays ago, I was inspired by the Krakatoa that I had at Drink as a patron back in 2008 and that I started making in the past few weeks on the other side of that same bar. That night, I made a first pass at a riff, and I improved it a few days later. To the house classic, I removed the Chartreuse on fire aspect and included the liqueur in the mix. Taking a page from Avery's Arrack-Ari, I added in a smoky Scotch rinse, and from the Banana Toronto, I dosed in some banana liqueur to mingle with the Fernet. For a name, I uncovered the Sacred Monkey Forest which is a park in Indonesia (where Batavia Arrack is made) where one can feed and interact with the monkeys at one's own risk (yes, they do and will bite).The Sacred Monkey Forest began with a peat smoke and herbal nose. Next, caramel and tropical fruit notes on the sip swung into funky rum, bitter herbal, and banana flavors on the swallow.

panama papers

1 oz Plantation Pineapple Rum
1/2 oz Ginger Liqueur (King's Ginger)
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/4 oz Orange Juice (Cara Cara)

Shake with ice, strain into a flute glass containing 2 oz champagne (La Burgondie Cremant de Bourgogne), and garnish with a lime twist.Two Wednesdays ago, I continued on with my search for sparkling wine recipes and recalled that there was one in T. Cole Newton's Cocktail Dive Bar called the Panama Papers. This pineapple wonder was crafted by Megan Devine at New Orleans' 12 Mile Limit. Once assembled, the Panama Papers proffered a lime, ginger, and sparkling wine aroma to the nose. Next, a carbonated white wine and pineapple sip wrote off rum, pineapple, and ginger flavors on the swallow.

seven year itch

1 1/2 oz Calvados (Morin Selection)
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz Cane Sugar Syrup
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters (Jerry Thomas Decanter)

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe with 1 1/2 oz dry sparking wine (La Burgondie Cremante de Bourgogne).Two Tuesdays ago, we had an opened bottle of sparkling wine, so I returned to Death & Co.'s Welcome Home book for a possible use. There, I was charmed by Eryn Reece's Seven Year Itch that she created in 2014 that came across like an apple brandy for Cognac Champs-Élysées plus bubbles. In the glass, the Seven Year Itch gave forth an apple and herbal bouquet. Next, lemon, apple, and honey notes on the sip led into apple, tart, and herbal flavors on the swallow.

mocking bird

1 1/2 oz Krogstad Aquavit
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Syrup
1/2 oz Cane Syrup 1:1

Shake with ice, strain into a Collin glass (double old fashioned) with fresh ice, and garnish with a pineapple leaf or lime wheel (omit).Two Mondays ago, I was perusing the ShakeStir site's drink database when I spotted a curious Jungle Bird riff called the Mocking Bird. The recipe was crafted by Natasha Mesa in 2017 at Raven & Rose in Portland, Oregon; here, the base spirit was swapped from rum to aquavit, and the pineapple juice to pineapple syrup akin to the Unique Bird and Jungle Bird Negroni. With aquavit in the mix, the drink proffered a caraway and star anise aroma to the nose. Next, lime and pineapple notes mingled on the sip, and the swallow came through with caraway, bitter orange and pineapple flavors with a star anise finish.

cooper's regard

1 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
3/4 oz Manzanilla Sherry (Tio Pepe Fino)
1/4 oz Falernum (Velvet)
2 dash Celery Bitters (Homemade)

Build in an old fashioned glass with ice, stir to mix and chill, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Sundays ago, I decided to make a cocktail that one of my Instagram friends had made from Punch Drinks called the Cooper's Regard. The recipe was created circa 2016 by Caitlin Pfeiffer at Los Angeles' Break Room 86 which would place its creation around a year after I met her during our session of Camp Runamok on the Bourbon Trail in 2015. Once prepared, the Cooper's Regard donated a lemon and rye bouquet to the nose. Next, a cherry-driven sip flowed into a rye, savory, and cherry swallow.

1910 cocktail

3/4 oz Mezcal (Mezcal Union)
3/4 oz Cognac (Du Peyrat Selection)
1 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

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

I recently came to the realization that the 1910 Cocktail on the blog was off by an ingredient, and I decided to redo the drink two Saturdays ago. Drink bartender Ezra Star created the 1910 as a tribute to the start of the Mexican Revolution and based it off of the house classic, the 1919 Cocktail. When I was served this in 2012 by another Drink bartender, it was made with a split of mezcal and reposado tequila akin to the Oaxacan Old Fashioned. Difford's Guide lists 2014 as the 1910's birth year but with Cognac instead of aged tequila, so either the recipe developed over those two years or the bartender who served it to me made a mistake (and thus Difford's Guide has the wrong year). Regardless, both versions are delicious, but the Cognac version adds more flavor diversity being a grape distillate instead of another agave one.This more modern version of the 1910 began with orange oil, smoke, and nutty cherry aromas. Next, grape and cherry notes on the sip were overturned by Cognac, mezcal, nutty, and anise flavors on the swallow.Postnote 9/19/22: I discovered this in the "Drinks of Drink" notebook at work and found the Rosetta Stone -- it was created as a tequila-mezcal cocktail and switched to Cognac-mezcal one later.

touch of evil

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1 oz El Dorado 8 Year Rum (El Dorado 5 Year)
1/2 oz Appleton Signature Rum
1 tsp Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 tsp Fernet Branca
1/2 dash Saline Solution (1 pinch)

Stir with ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass, and garnish with orange oils from a twist.After my bar shift two Fridays ago, I opened up Death & Co.'s Welcome Home and found the Touch of Evil. Bartender John Armstrong was inspired in 2015 by Brad Bolt's Cynar Julep from the 2011 Beta Cocktails book (misattributed to Maks Pazuniak in Welcome Home). The touch of evil that was added to the original's rum-Cynar split was scant amounts of Fernet Branca and Maraschino plus a little saline solution to round out the balance. In the glass, the Touch of Evil greeted the nose with an orange, caramel, herbal, and minty aura. Next, Cynar's caramel notes flowed into the sip, and the swallow conjured up rum, vegetal, nutty cherry, and bitter menthol flavors.

golden phone

1 oz Blanco Tequila (Cimarron)
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc (Cocchi Americano)
1/4 oz Crème de Cacao (Tempus Fugit)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass, and garnish with a lemon twist and two cherries on a pick (lemon twist only).Two Thursdays ago, I decided to make an intriguing dessert cocktail of sorts that appeared in Punch Drinks called the Golden Phone. It was crafted by Michael Fifelski at the Harvey House in Madison, Wisconsin, and the idea was a stirred riff on Jim Meehan's 21st Century. Once assembled, the Golden Phone greeted the senses with a lemon, chocolate, and herbal aroma. Next, a roast note on the sip from the chocolate liqueur flowed into tequila, minty-herbal, and chocolate flavors on the swallow. Overall, it was a touch on the sweet side as expected which is why I did not mind that it was three quarters the size of my usual cocktail build.