champs elysees

3 glass Cognac (2 oz Du Peyrat Selection)
1 glass Chartreuse (1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse)
1 1/2 glass Sweetened Lemon Juice (1/2 oz regular Lemon Juice)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into cocktail glasses (cocktail coupe); this recipe serves six (single version).After writing up the Seven Year Itch recipe here, I realized that I did not have the Champs Elysées on the blog despite having made it and posted it on my LiveJournal's recipe entries. This was something that I noticed through the years when I wrote up various drinks including the La Belle Epoque, Destiny Street, and Howling Winds. The earliest reference to the Champs Elysées appears in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book as a tribute to that ritzy shopping district in Paris. While it was written as a Green Chartreuse drink, it benefits from changing that identity to Yellow Chartreuse to bring forward the Cognac akin to a Sidecar. Made with this softer liqueur, the Champs Elysées donated a lemon, honey, and clove aroma to the senses. Next, lemon and honey mingled on the sip, and the swallow sealed the deal with Cognac, herbal, and allspice flavors.

the bloodborne of beverages

1 oz Rhum Agricole (Rhum Clement Premiere Canne)
1 oz Campari
1 oz Jagermeister

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.Two Wednesdays ago, I was skimming through the Kindred Cocktails database and became intrigued by the Bloodborne of Beverages. The recipe was crafted by Natalie Weizenbaum of Seattle in 2017, and the combination of rhum agricole and Campari reminded me of the Sleeping with Strangers with Jägermeister here instead of Swedish punsch and grapefruit bitters. In the glass, the Bloodborne of Beverages met the nose with a rhum funk, orange, and ginger bouquet. Next, caramel with hints of orange on the sip passed into grassy-funky rhum, bitter herbal, and orange flavors on the swallow.

21st century

2 oz Blanco Tequila (Cimarron)
3/4 oz White Crème de Cacao (Bols)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass rinsed with Pernod (Butterfly Absinthe).While writing up the Golden Phone, Jim Meehan's 21st Century was cited as the inspiration. Having not made that recipe from the PDT Cocktail Book before, I decided that it was time. Meehan's 20th Century riff breaks from tradition by not having an aromatized wine in the mix but counters with an addition of pastis. The book provided 2007 as its creation date at the Pegu Club with guidance from Audrey Saunders. In the glass, the 21st Century gave forth a lemon, black licorice, and chocolate aroma. Next, lemon on the sip advanced into tequila, cacao, and anise flavors on the swallow.

close enough for jazz

2 oz Gin (Bombay Dry)
3/4 oz Fino or Manzanilla Sherry (Tio Pepe Fino)
1/4 oz Honey Syrup 1:1

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe rinsed with absinthe (Kübler), and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Mondays ago, I was writing up the Close But No Cigar post, and I was inspired by the combination of Manzanilla sherry and honey in that Manhattan riff. I wondered how it would do in a Martini riff; I had used a 3:1 dry vermouth to syrup ratio in the As Perfect as a Limerick at Nahita, and I knew that it would come across like blanc vermouth. To round off the combination, I added an absinthe rinse instead of the inspiration's Peychaud's Bitters in the mix and the Scotch rinse, and in keeping close to the original in name, I dubbed this one Close Enough for Jazz.Close Enough for Jazz introduced the senses with lemon, anise, and juniper's pine aromas. Next, an off-dry white wine with hints of honey on the sip flowed into gin, honey, savory, and anise flavors on the swallow.

koki'o punch

2 oz El Dorado 8 Year Rum (El Dorado 5 Year)
1 oz Hibiscus Syrup (*)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Batavia Arrack
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1 dash Bittermens Burlesque Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a glass with crushed ice. I strained into a Zombie glass with cracked ice and garnished with a lime wheel.
(*) A strong steap of hibiscus flower for 5 minutes to make a tisane or "tea". Combine with an equal volume of sugar and stir to dissolve.

Two weeks ago, I caught the news that Boston bar legend Aaron Butler had passed away. I met Aaron when he was on the opening staff for Drink in 2008; moreover, he helped to open Russell House Tavern as its bar manager in 2010. Those two locations are very dear to me for Russell House Tavern was where I got my start as a bartender in 2013, and Drink is my currently bar home as of November 2021. In fact, two weeks before Aaron's passing, we were chatting online about Drink's past and present and catching up on each others' lives. Aaron's passing was in the same week as Junior Ryan in Portland, Oregon, who I had met at Portland Cocktail Week 2012 and attended his Demystifying Vermouth class.

The longest legacy cocktail that Aaron had was the Battle of Trafalgar that was on the opening menu in 2010 and lasted on the menu for the two years that I was there and a few years past my leaving in 2015. That recipe with a half ounce of Batavia Arrack made Russell House Tavern the largest account for that spirit in the United States. After Aaron's passing, I made this recipe for guests at Drink, and the combination still held up; even without explanation of why I suggested it, they were recommending it to others in their party or to others at the bar around them. Later that week, bartender and musician Randy Wong posted a recipe, the Koki'o Punch, that Aaron had crafted for an Opus Affair event in 2011 where Randy's band, the Waitiki 7, performed. The recipe struck me as a parallel creation stylistically to the Battle of Trafalgar with the Pimm's base and St. Germain accent being substituted for the red and floral combination of rum, hibiscus, and Burlesque Bitters and with the honey swapped for falernum. That might be a stretch, but both had the three quarters ounce lime and the trademark half ounce of Batavia Arrack.

It took a bit of effort to find hibiscus tea for most stores sell it as part of an herbal blend. Andrea was able to find it in the ethnic aisle for it is big in Caribbean cultures. Once prepared, the Koki'o Punch donated a lime, berry, floral, and rum funk aroma to the nose. Next, lime and tart berry on the sip flowed into rum, Batavia Arrack funk, and clove flavors on the swallow.

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.