london calling

1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Bloomsbury Gin
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a flute glass. Top with 2-3 oz sparkling wine and twist a grapefruit peel over the top.

Two Tuesdays ago, I attended Tanqueray's launch party at the Sinclair for their limited edition Bloomsbury Gin. I already had a sneak peak at the gin during mid-June's Tanqueray Green Room events. There, I had the opportunity to select a recipe from Angus Winchester's cocktail book collection and one of the gins in the Tanqueray arsenal, so I chose the new Bloomsbury and Jamie Boudreau's Petruchio. The Bloomsbury recipe was created by Charles Waugh Tanqueray, the second generation of distillers back in the 1880s. It kept true to the London Dry style and bolstered Tanqueray's four botanicals, namely juniper, angelica root, coriander seed, and licorice powder, with two additional ones -- cassia and winter savory. Bloomsbury itself refers to the first Tanqueray distillery in the 1830s.
The drink that I tried this day was created by and prepared for me by Sinclair's Dale Murphy called the London Calling. In the flute, it shared grapefruit, orange, and pine aromas. A carbonated sip offered crisp grapefruit and wine notes, and the swallow presented gin, rhubarb, and floral flavors.

mon sherry amour

1 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1 oz Lustau Manzanilla Sherry
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Crème de Cacao
2 dash Scrappy's Chocolate Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a single old fashioned glass.

For my second drink at Estragon, I delved deeper into the Sahil Mehta cocktail playbook and pulled out one that Andrea had tried as the drink of the day a year or two ago but I never wrote about called Mon Sherry Amour. Elements of the drink reminded me of Sahil's ShakeStir submission to their Negroni variation competition a few months ago called the Pantomimist, so I was curious as to how this one fit into the cocktail creation progression.
The Mon Sherry Amour greeted the senses with smoky aromas with briny-savory notes. Next, the sip was rich with body and showed off light grape notes, and the swallow showcased the smoky agave with a bitter orange and chocolate finish.

roger that

1 1/2 oz The Knot Irish Whiskey
1 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette
1/4 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a single old fashioned glass. Garnish with 2 dash Barkeep's Lavender Bitters.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I made our way down to the South End to visit Estragon and bartender Sahil Mehta. For a starter, I selected the Roger That from Sahil's cocktail notebook. Sahil described how he made it for one of his regulars named Roger who lives above the restaurant. I was drawn to it for it reminded me somewhat of an Aviation, and the airplane lingo name seemed to support that concept.
The Roger That presented a floral aroma from the lavender bitters. Grape from the sherry and Punt e Mes dominated the sip, and the swallow was all about the whiskey and a nutty-bitter combination from the Punt e Mes leading into the sharper grape-violet flower finish. When Andrea tasted the drink, she commented that it was "old school like out of [the] Café Royal [Cocktail Book] -- dark, rich, raisiny, and saturated [with flavor]."

golden beautiful

2 oz Reposado Tequila (Espolon)
1/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Vanilla Syrup (BG Reynolds)
1/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup

Short shake all ingredients with 3 ice cubes and strain into a snifter glass with a large ice cube. Top with 1 oz soda water and garnish with grated lime zest.
Sunday night after my Yacht Rock Sunday shift, I turned to the Death & Co. Cocktail Book for a nightcap. There, I landed on Thomas Waugh's Golden Beautiful that he created in 2009. Once in the glass, it offered fresh lime oil aromas over that of the tequila notes. On the palate, a carbonated lime and passion fruit sip led into a more complex swallow with tequila, vanilla, Campari, and passion fruit notes. Again, Campari and passion fruit turned out to be a magical pairing as they have in drinks like the Novara, but what surprised me was how the flavor combination in this drink brought out a rather vegetal quality in the tequila.

key largo

1 oz Turkey Shore Tavern Style Rum
1 oz Lustau Brandy
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash St. George Absinthe

Shake with crushed ice for 5 seconds and dump into a tulip (or tall) glass. Top with crushed ice, garnish with a mint sprig and a grapefruit twist, and add a straw.
Another drink idea I had for Loyal Nine's Yacht Rock Sundays two weeks ago was inspired by the Jet Pilot that I had at Tales of the Cocktail a few weeks before. First, I wanted to make it more punch-like so I split the rum base with brandy. To compliment the brandy better, I switched the lime to lemon juice. And finally, I took a more fruity instead of spice direction by subbing passion fruit syrup for the classic's falernum. For a name, I found the song title "Key Largo" on the playlist and figured that the area was rife with Tiki-inspired bars despite the song being very much non-Polynesian in feel.

take on me

1 oz Zucca Rabarbaro Amaro
1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Creole Shrubb Orange Liqueur
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass with 2 oz soda water. Top with ice, garnish with an orange twist, and add a straw.
For Loyal Nine's Yacht Rock Sunday cocktail list two weeks ago, I was inspired by a guest's call for a Zucca Spritz akin to the more common call for an Aperol one. In thinking about amari and carbonation, I decided to go in the direction of Michael McIlroy's Rome with a View that I learned about via Tyler Wang's riff, Triumph of Pompei. In the end, my formulation took the shape of a Zucca and dry vermouth Daisy replete with citrus, orange liqueur, and soda water. With nothing all that Italian sounding in yacht rock playlist song titles, I opted for an A-ha moment with Take on Me.

kelbo's scorpion

1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Coruba)
3/4 oz Brandy (Pedro Domecq Fundador Solera Reserva)
1/2 oz Gin (Tanqueray)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Orgeat (BG Reynolds)

Blend with 8 oz crushed ice and pour into a small Tiki bowl filled with ice.

I continued on with the post-shift Tiki drinks on Saturday night with inspiration coming from Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari. The recipe that caught my attention was Kelbo's Scorpion, the 1950s variation of Trader Vic's classic Scorpion Bowl, that was created at Kelbo's on Fairfax. With the spirits split three ways into brandy, rum, and gin, it reminded me of a Fog Cutter. The major differences are that Kelbo's Scorpion used lime instead of the Fog Cutter's lemon; moreover, Kelbo's Scorpion had passion fruit syrup and the Fog Cutter had Angostura Bitters and a sherry float.
Kelbo's Scorpion let forth a floral, minty, and lime aroma. Tropical notes filled the sip as the lime, orange, and passion fruit flavors mingled. Finally, the swallow shared funky rum and the gin's juniper, and it ended with a nutty citrus finish.

lovely lovely

1 1/2 oz Bacardi 151 Proof Rum (Don Q 151)
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar (Fair Trade's Organic Dark Brown Sugar)
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Orange Curaçao (Van der Hum)
1 1/4 oz Crushed Ice

Dissolve the sugar in the juice, blend the rest of the ingredients, and pour into a snifter glass or Tiki mug (shake with crushed ice and pour).
After my work shift on Friday night, I pampered myself at the home bar with a Tiki drink. For a recipe, I found the Lovely Lovely from Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari. Berry attributed the recipe to "Danny" of the Papeete Bar in the Waikikian Hotel's Tahitian Lanai restaurant on Waikiki Beach in 1964. Once built, it gave forth mint and floral aromas. Next, the sip had molasses notes from the brown sugar that balanced crisp orange, lemon, and lime flavors. Finally, the swallow was mostly about the rum with a rich citrussy finish. Overall, the brown sugar gave the thin overproof rum some body and smoothness and seemed to tie the components of the drink together.

test pilot

1 1/2 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Coruba)
3/4 oz Light Puerto Rican Rum (Caliche)
1/2 oz Falernum (BG Reynolds)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters
6 drop Pernod

Blend with 1 cup crushed ice for 5 seconds and pour into a Double Old Fashioned glass (shake with ice and strain into a Tiki mug filled with crushed ice). Garnish with a cherry speared to a wooden oyster fork (mint and flowers).

Two Thursdays ago after my shift, I reached for my copy of Beachbum Berry's Remixed. There, I spotted the Test Pilot which appeared like a gussied up Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The Test Pilot was created by Don the Beachcomber circa 1941; while Don could have known about the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, it was published that same year in Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide & Ladies' Companion (perhaps well known in the Caribbean before that point though). Don's drink split the rum element and added spice from Angostura Bitters and pastis. The Test Pilot was later used as a template to create the Luau Room's Jet Pilot a decade later in the late 1950s.
Once prepared, the Test Pilot gave forth a mint aroma with hints of floral elements. Caramel and lime on the sip preceded funky rum, orange peel, clove, and brightness from the absinthe on the swallow with hints of spice on the finish.