lani kai sling

1 oz White Rhum Agricole (Vale d' Paul Aguardente Nova de Santo Antão)
1 oz El Dorado 3 Year White Rum
1/4 oz Cherry Heering
1/4 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Grenadine
1/4 oz Cointreau
1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Garnish with an umbrella, cherry, and pineapple wedge (omitted) and add a straw.

Two Fridays ago, we began the evening with the a drink from Food & Wine: Cocktails 2012. It was the Lani Kai Sling from Julie Reiner's variations of the Singapore Sling. Since I enjoyed the drinks I had at Lani Kai before it closed, including the Pacific Swizzle and La Rosa, I was game to give this one a try. I lamented that my garnish game would not be anywhere as good as if I had ordered this Sling at Lani Kai, and I left this one unadorned in defeat.
The Sling began with a pineapple aroma that shared a vague cherry-fruitiness. A lime, pineapple, and cherry sip led into a swallow offering the complex funky rums, light herbal spice notes, and a lingering pineapple finish. Instead of a rhum agricole, I opted for a Cape Verdean sugar cane rum that is produced in a similar way, and I found that it paired exceptionally well with the pineapple in the drink.

basilica cocktail.

1 oz Cocchi Americano
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Suze (Salers Gentiane Liqueur)
1/2 oz Campari
1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Build in an Old Fashioned Glass, add a large ice cube, and stir. Garnish with an orange twist.

For Valentine's Day two weeks ago, I decided to make a drink I spotted in Josh Childs' column in Boston.com. He pitted Heather Mojer of Hungry Mother against her boyfriend Evan Harrison now of Highland Kitchen to see who could come up with a better drink for the holiday. Since we lacked the strawberry-infused Tequila Por Mi Amante to make Heather's, I decided to give Evan's Basilica Cocktail a go. Evan based his drink off of the Old Hickory, a cocktail he prefers on date nights since the low alcohol of an aperitif-style libation keeps him in his game, but the drink still looks like a stiff drink. The other connection to Valentine's Day was the reddish hue of the drink.
The twist's orange oils worked well with the Campari's aroma. The Basilica offered a surprisingly thick mouthfeel to the grape sip, and this was followed by a citrusy gentian and Campari swallow. Overall, the drink was pleasantly light but still plenty complex.

white lion (variation)

2 oz Añejo Rum
1/2 oz Housemade Falernum
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mint and 2-3 dash of house aromatic bitters (sub Angostura), and add a straw.

Two Wednesdays ago, we traveled over to Allston to Deep Ellum for dinner. For a drink, I asked bartender Jen Salucci about the White Lion since the ingredient list was not the same as the one in Jerry Thomas from 1862:

White Lion
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Juice of 1/2 Lime (include rind in mixing glass)
• 1 wineglass Santa Cruz Rum (2 oz)
• 1 tsp Curaçao
• 1 tsp Raspberry Syrup
Mix well, chill with shaved ice, and garnish with berries in season.

Jen explained that it started out with bar own Max Toste trying to craft a Tiki-like drink for the winter to utilize the housemade falernum they had just created. As Max tinkered, he realized that his recipe was close to one that already existed -- the White Lion from Stan Jones' 1977 Complete Barguide:

White Lion
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• 1 1/2 oz Rum
• 1/4 oz Grenadine or Falernum
• 2 dash Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Variation: serve in a Highball glass with crushed ice and soda water. Orange curaçao may be added.

Max decided to use the name to continue the lineage of variations, even if this one was unintentionally created as such. Since I had this drink at Deep Ellum, I revisited the Jerry Thomas recipe and will write about it in the next week or two.
The aromatic bitters' allspice and clove notes joined that of the mint on the nose. A lime and pomegranate sip led into a clovey rum swallow. Definitely different in flavor than the original raspberry syrup version and closer to the Stan Jones one; however, the presentation was more akin to the Thomas instructions.

hiding nemo

1 oz Plantation Barbados Rum
1 oz Aperol
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1/4 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1/2 oz Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a submerged Swedish Fish (omitted here).

After the Agave Snake at Backbar, I asked bartender Sam Treadway about some previous Drink of the Day offerings. One that sounded alluring was served on the 7th in anticipation of the blizzard which started on the 8th. Since the storm was named Nemo, they played with the Hiding Nemo movie title and dubbed this drink Hiding Nemo; I also surmise that they schemed the drink's color to match the fish from the movie.
The Hiding Nemo was fruity from the Aperol and other ingredients, a little nutty from the Maraschino, and funky caramel from the aged rum on the nose. The creamy sip offered a vague fruitiness from the pomegranate and Aperol, and finally, the swallow presented the rum, a dry nutty Maraschino note, and a bitter finish.

agave snake

1 oz El Buho Mezcal
1 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Agave Syrup (1:1)
1 dash Soy Sauce
1 dash Brooklyn Hemispherical's Sriracha Bitters
1 slice Cucumber

Muddle cucumber in agave syrup. Shake with ice and double strain into a cocktail glass.

A few Sundays ago, we paid a visit to Backbar. For a drink, bar manager Sam Treadway suggested that I try the upcoming Drink of the Week in honor of the Chinese New Year. The drink was unnamed then, but Sam knew that he wanted pay tribute to the Year of the Water Snake, and later he dubbed it the Agave Snake after the mezcal in the recipe. The drink was served then with a cucumber-infused agave syrup, but Sam was able to quickly replicate the flavor with a muddling step.
The Agave Snake's nose was rather savory with hints of agave and later cucumber. The lime and grape sip was followed by the swallow that began with the mezcal, followed by the cucumber and nutty sherry, and ended with a little heat from the Sriracha Bitters.

the detroiter

3/4 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Cynar
3/4 oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Stone IPA Beer (Southern Tier 2x IPA)

Dry shake to de-gas the beer. Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass containing another 1 oz of IPA. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

A few Saturdays ago, I decided to make a recipe from 320 Main that I had spotted on the web (most likely from something Rumdood posted on Facebook or Twitter) called the Detroiter. The recipe is Jason Schiffer's follow up to the Michigander that I enjoyed a little over a year ago. To that set of ingredients, he added pine notes and carbonation via an IPA beer. I later found the recipe again on 320 Main's blog which provided additional information about the recipe's genesis; Jason tinkered with the Michigander recipe to further his thoughts about his home state, autumn leaves, and warm fireplaces.
The grapefruit twist joined the sweet floral notes of the honey. A carbonated apple, lemon, and honey sip gave way to the Cynar-grapefruity hops combination on the swallow and a honey finish. Indeed, even though I used a different IPA, the grapefruit twist and the beer's hops made for fine bookends on the drink.

mock wit

1 oz Rhum Barbancourt 3 Star (Ryan & Wood Folly Cove)
1 oz Cynar
1 oz Grapefruit Juice
15 drop Angostura Bitters (1 dash)

Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled Highball glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

After the Mansfield Cocktail, I turned to the North Star Cocktails book for the next libation. There, I spotted the Mock Wit created by Birk Stefan Grudem of Hola Arepa in Minneapolis. The recipe's pairing of Cynar and grapefruit juice is one that worked rather well in Evan Harrison's Peralta and Highland Kitchen's Bitter End.
The grapefruit oil joined the barrel-aged rum on the nose, and the grapefruit continued on into the sip where it mingled with the Cynar's caramel. The swallow began with the rum, transitioned to the Cynar herbal flavors, and finished with grapefruit notes.

mansfield cocktail

1 1/2 oz Lagavulin 16 Scotch (Caol Ila 12)
1 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Monin Orgeat (B.G. Reynolds)

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.

A few Fridays ago for the cocktail hour, I opened up World's Best Cocktails and found the Mansfield in the whiskey section. The recipe is attributed to Rob Libecans who works at the Black Pearl in Melbourne, Australia. The drink's combination of Fernet Branca and orgeat intrigued me, and I had only tasted the pairing in the Tar Pit. The Scotch and orgeat is actually a solid pairing which I have had in the Act of Union and other drinks.
The lemon twist's aroma joined that of the Scotch's smoke. Next, the malt and caramel sip had a sweet almond note to it. And on the swallow, the Scotch was joined by the Fernet Branca that was pleasantly modulated by the orgeat's almond, and the finish offered a lingering menthol note.

second wife

1 1/2 oz Power's Irish Whiskey
1 oz Carpano Sweet Vermouth
3/4 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

After my second drink at Stoddard's, I departed to meet up with Andrea at Local 149 for dinner. The cocktail on the menu that caught my eye was the Second Wife, but asking bartender John Mayer for one seemed a bit more dangerous than requesting a Prison Nickname. With Irish Whiskey, sweet vermouth, and Suze, it reminded me of the rye-based Harry Palmer that I had a few months ago at home.
The Irish whiskey aroma joined that of the Suze's gentian on the nose. A malt and grape sip led into a swallow that began with the whiskey and ended with the Suze that was smoothed out by the vermouth. Overall, it had a bit more sweetness than I have come to expect from Suze drinks.