rags to riches

2 oz Fighting Cock Bourbon (Wild Turkey 101°)
3/4 oz Cardamaro
1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup
2 dash Root Beer Bitters (The Bitter Queens Sarsparilla)

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube.Two Sunday mornings ago, I was scanning a collection of flashcards from the now closed Pouring Ribbons in Manhattan, and I spotted the Rags to Riches from their Spring 2015 menu. The recipe called for vanilla syrup which I have been out of for a while, so I decided to make a batch that would be ready for my nightcap after my bar shift that evening. Once prepared, this Manhattan variation of sorts conjured up Bourbon, plum, and vanilla aromas. Next, grape and plum notes on the sip transformed into Bourbon, herbal, root beer, and vanilla flavors on the swallow.

critical mass

2 oz Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey
1/2 oz Aperol
1/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/8 oz Green Chartreuse

Stir with ice and strain into a Nick & Nora glass.Two Saturdays ago, I was perusing a set of online flashcards when I spotted a drink called Critical Mass. I was able to identify the source as the Burritt Room in San Francisco via a 2010 Thrillist article. Overall, I was lured in since it reminded me of Eastern Standard's Prospect Park with a hint of Chartreuse instead of Maraschino. Once prepared, the Critical Mass met the nose with rye and herbaceous aromas. Next, grape and orange notes on the sip led into rye, herbal, and herbaceous flavors on the swallow.

julia's hand

1 1/2 oz Ardbeg 10 Year Scotch
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/2 oz Orange Curaçao (Pierre Ferrand)
1/4 oz Cherry Liqueur (Cherry Heering)

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass.Two Fridays ago, I spotted a recipe called Julia's Hand in an online flashcard set, and I was able to confirm the recipe in a 2017 article in Celebrity Tastemaker. The drink was crafted by Tonia Guffey at Featherweight in Brooklyn that appeared like it might come across like a smoky and orange version of the Remember the Maine. In the glass, Julia's Hand gave forth peat smoke and orange aromas. Next, grape and cherry notes swirled on the sip, and the swallow wrapped things up with smoky Scotch, cherry, and orange flavors on the swallow.

wiffin

1 1/2 oz Gin (Beefeater)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Cognac (Du Peyrat Selection)
1 dash Absinthe (20 drop St. George)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Thursdays ago, I returned to the Raising the Bar book by Jacob Grier and Brett Adams and became intrigued by the Wiffin. The recipe was adapted by David Wondrich who based it off a description of a drink in a P.G. Wodehouse short story "The Passing of Ambrose." Overall, the concept reminded me of a more gin than Cognac version of the classic Ampersand with the addition of absinthe as well. In the glass, the Wiffin wafted lemon, grape, pine, and anise aromas to the nose. Next, a grape-driven sip led into gin, Cognac, herbal, licorice, and anise flavors on the swallow. Overall, the Cognac donated body to an almost Martinez-like libation.

:: rum choice for cocktails talk ticket link and interview ::

Tickets now available for my rum talk, "Rum Choice for Cocktails: How to classify rums, understand their flavors, and use what you’ve got" at Gustazo in Waltham next Thursday the 21st at 7pm -- $15 to cover the cost of 2 half cocktails:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cocktail-class-with-fred-yarm-gustazo-tickets-717519749887

More information about Boston Rum Week: https://bostonrumweek.com

I'll also be a judge for the Daiquiri competition at Shore Leave on Monday the 18th. And here are my answers to the interview questions to help promote my talk:Rum is often used in place of whiskey to make "riffs" on classic cocktails; for instance, the Rum Old Fashioned. Do you have any personal guidelines, observations, or tendencies about developing new cocktail specs based on whiskey-to-rum substitution? And how do you contend with the wide range of flavor profiles that rum has to offer?

Substitutions depend on what whiskey was used in the original. For something smoother like a Bourbon, an aged rum with a good pot still component such as a Barbados rum works well. For a spicier whiskey like rye, a more aggressive aged Jamaican rum like Smith & Cross will deliver. Scotch can be tricky, but sometimes the earthy and smoky Batavia Arrack can fill in. Rum also functions well in a split-base situation, such as including funky Jamaican rum with rye or Scotch, aged Demerara or other less aggressive rums with Bourbon, etc. A lot has to do with what the other components are, such as using an easier rum when combined with an amaro like Braulio or opting for a more aggressive rum when mixed with something smoother like Benedictine or a fruit liqueur.

What are your thoughts on the resurgent New England rum scene? Do you think there is such a thing as "New England-Style Rum"?

At Tales of the Cocktail in 2010, my wife went seeking an answer to this question especially since our house is between the locations of the old rum distillery in Somerville and the famous rum distilleries in Medford, Mass. She spoke to Wayne Curtis, who introduced her to Jeff Berry, who brought her over to Steve Remsberg. Steve asked her if she had ever tasted old New England rum, and then bestowed the honor of inviting us to a rum tasting at his house after Tales was over. The first rum the whole group tasted before we moved on to old Jamaican specimens and pre-Fidel Cuban rums was a 17-year-old Austin, Nichols & Co. Old New England Rum distilled and aged in Everett, Mass., with a hope that the style would be revived. It was something between a rum and a Bourbon, with light stone fruit notes and a twang at the end over the aged molasses flavors. Mind you, this was a year before Privateer started, although there were a few like Thomas Tew and Ryan & Wood starting the concept moving in 2009 and 2006, respectively. New England-style rum seems to carry on the tradition of using molasses and pot stills (although some of the pot stills are almost like a column when run in hybrid mode), ex-Bourbon barrels, and eschewing sweeteners and additives. The more moderate climate than the Caribbean also centers the flavors a bit. While there is not a definitive note like the hogu of rhum agricole, much of New England-style rum clusters well on a flavor spectrum.

What is the level of acceptance you've seen of cocktails based on highly funky rums among the Boston-area cocktail-drinking community?

Jim Romdall at a Tales of the Cocktail talk declared that funk is the seasoning to rum cocktails, and that all rum cocktails taste better with a bit of funk. While not everyone is ready for a full two ounces of Smith & Cross in a drink, there is a large contingent here in Boston that gets excited about those drinks and seeks them out. For the less cocktail-savvy contingent, perhaps leaving out the funk or making it more accessible, like a barspoon or two of agricole as a supplement, might be a better choice. But for the more experienced, full-on or split spirits drinks utilizing Batavia Arrack, high-ester Jamaican, and rhum agricole have gotten folks excited, especially when I could hold a conversation such as when I bartended at Drink or could put it on a menu with the right descriptors.

How have your personal preferences towards cocktails shifted over the years?

When I started in 2006, there was so much excitement about the classics and modern recipes of the day coming from New York City and elsewhere that were based on them. For example, the 1940s-era Stork Club Cocktail was something that I found cool when it was on the menu at Green Street, but these days few would opt for an orange juice-Pegu Club over a Naked & Famous. As the bar scene locally and on the internet got more savvy, complex recipes were more accessible even if they served a small percentage of the cocktail drinkers. Learning how to balance aggressive things like Fernet Branca or bring out flavor synergies with Swedish punsch became a badge of pride. Lately, since the majority of my drinking occurs after I get home late at night from a bar shift, I tend to drink more stirred and spirits forward drinks with amaro being a frequent ingredient. I will not say no to a forgotten classic, but since I try to drink something new every night, most of those have been covered. If it is not the new drink of the night, an Old Fashioned or a Daiquiri sure hits the spot.

Are there any trends you would like to see take root in the cocktail world?

There are lots of fortified wines that got overlooked as sherry took the pole position. Madeira has a historical basis in mixed drinks and has four noble varieties ranging in sweetness that work especially well with rum and whiskey. Rancio sec, though not fortified, falls somewhere between Madeira and sherry and has generally been overlooked throughout the ages. Aromatized wines like quinquinas, such as Byrrh and Dubonnet, are still overlooked despite having a historical role in the cocktail lexicon, and frequently I see the classics modified to sweet vermouth that lacks the bitter complexity (but are found in all bars). There are so many answers to this question, but it makes me seem less curmudgeonly than answering the question of what trends that I would like to see go away.

Do you have a "kryptonite" cocktail ingredient, that you are intrigued by in principle, but find frustratingly difficult to incorporate into cocktails?

Finding a use for crème de violette other than in an Aviation that I would want to repeat would be awesome.

sayonara

3/4 oz Tequila (Altos)
3/4 oz Apple Brandy (Morin Calvados Selection)
3/4 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Simple Syrup (1/4 oz)
1 dash Scrappy's Firewater Bitters (homemade Hellfire Bitters)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.Two Wednesdays ago, I was perusing the online flashcard set for the Zig Zag Café in Seattle, and I spotted the Sayonara as a spicy split base tequila-apple brandy drink. I was able to find a mention in a 2010 GQ article that declared, "Behold the Sayonara, whose slow, intense pepper-infused-tequila burn can only be soothed by the sourness from a sip of the same drink: fire and extinguisher in a single glass." Once prepared, the Sayonara welcomed the senses with a vegetal, apricot, lime, and red pepper aroma. Next, a lime-driven sip waved at tequila, apple, apricot, and hot pepper spice flavors on the swallow.

telling phoebe

1 1/2 oz Scotch (Cutty Sark Prohibition)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Benedictine

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a cherry.

Two Tuesdays ago, I decided to make a drink out of a book that I purchased at my final visit to The Boston Shaker store before it closed for good, namely Raising the Bar book by Jacob Grier and Brett Adams. I soon flipped to the Fernet section and became entranced with the Telling Phoebe by Chantal Tseng due to the Fernet-Benedictine duo that I learned about in early Boston drinks like the Cadet and the Down & Brown and that I utilized in the Campo Viejo. Chantal created this as a homage to R.O. Kwon's The Incentiary during one of her recurrent literary cocktail theme nights. With sweet vermouth in the mix, it also reminded me of the Doberman.Once prepared, the Telling Phoebe proffered peat smoke, herbal, and menthol aromas to the nose. Next, grape, caramel, and malt notes on the sip gave way to smoky Scotch, gentian bitter, and minty-menthol flavors on the swallow.

beauty sleep

1 1/2 oz Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
3/4 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Amaro Nonino
1/2 tsp Amaro Nardini

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a big ice cube.Two Mondays ago, I began searching the Kindred Cocktails database for a recipe. There, I spied the Beauty Sleep crafted by New York City bartender Rafa Garcia Febles in 2014 that reminded me of The Brigantine with its American whiskey, Cocchi Americano, and Amaro Nonino structure. However, the Beauty Sleep called for Bourbon instead of rye, and a splash of Amaro Nardini instead of Peychaud's. In the glass, the Beauty Sleep ventured forward with caramel, orange, and a hint of mint to the nose. Next, caramel and orchard fruit on the sip tossed and turned into Bourbon, caramel, root beer, and a hint of almost licorice flavor on the swallow.

loaded pistol

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Strega
1 dash Grapefruit Bitters (Scrappy's Black Lemon)

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with ice and rimmed (*) with grasshopper salt (regular salt).
(*) I later found on the Bartender at Large page on Facebook has the bar sprinkled grasshopper salt over the ice cube.Two Sundays ago, I was scanning through the online flashcards for the Raised By Wolves bar, and I spotted the Loaded Pistol by Erick Castro at Polite Provisions in 2019. The structure with Strega in the mix reminded me of Chris Hannah recipes like the Night Tripper and Rebennack, so I was intrigued. I was able to confirm the recipe on Difford's Guide which specified that the garnish of grasshopper salt was a rim (unclear application on the flashcards); I later found on Erick's Bartender at Large page on Facebook, that it was a sprinkle on top of the ice. Without the grasshopper aspect in play, the Loaded Pistol shot forth with a smoke and red fruit aroma to the nose. Next, cherry and red grape notes on the sip recoiled into smoky agave and Strega's herbal-spice flavors on the swallow.