bahia sling

1 1/2 oz Avua Cachaça
3/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao
1 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass. Fill with crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig, edible orchid, and grated coffee bean.
Last Monday, Andrea and I ventured over to Woburn to dine at Sichuan Garden II in the Baldwin Bar. There, bartenders Vannaluck Hongthong and Raul Zelaya were manning the stick, and for a first drink, Andrea asked Van for the Bahia Sling. Van described how this was bartender Ran Duan's tropical creation that he named after one of the states in Brazil. Once built, the Sling shared either a mint, coffee, or floral aroma depending on where the drinker's nose was focused. Next, lime on the sip led into funky, grassy, and passion fruit flavors on the swallow with growing chocolate notes on the finish.

voodoo grog

2 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q Cristal)
1 oz Gold Rhum Agricole (Depaz)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz White Grapefruit Juice (Ruby)
3/4 oz Allspice Dram (St. Elizabeth)
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/4 oz Honey
1 Egg White

Dissolve honey in juice, add rest of ingredients and 1 cup of ice, blend 20 seconds, and pour into a voodoo tumbler or large snifter (shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into a snifter, and fill with crushed ice). Garnish with a mint sprig, pineapple spear (omit), and nutmeg.

Two Saturdays ago, I reached for Beachbum Berry's Potions of the Caribbean for my post-shift libation. The Voodoo Grog was one that I had noted before and it was time to give it a whirl. Berry took Trader Vic's recipe from the 1972 Bartender's Guide and interpreted the "2 oz Navy Grog Mix" as equal parts of lime, grapefruit, and allspice dram. The drink itself appeared in Trader Vic's restaurants somewhere during the 1950s and featured an ornate painted glass voodoo tumbler as its vessel.
The Voodoo Grog began with a woodsy spice and minty aroma from the garnishes. A creamy honey and citrus sip gave way to a grassy rum, passion fruit, and allspice swallow.

kon-tiki mai tai

1 1/2 oz Appleton Extra Rum (Appleton V/X)
1 1/4 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q Cristal)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Orange Juice (Cara Cara)
3/4 oz Honey Syrup
1/4 tsp Ginger Syrup (2 thin slices fresh ginger)
6 drop Absinthe (Herbsaint)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Blend with 4 oz crushed ice for 5 seconds (shake with ice and strain over crushed ice). Garnish with mint sprigs and a pineapple spear.

A few Fridays ago, Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari called out to me as the night cap-worthy cocktail book. The drink that won out was the Mai Tai created at the Kon-Tiki Restaurant in Cleaveland, Ohio, around 1961. Unlike the classic Mai Tai created by Trader Vic, this one is more of a riff on Don the Beachcomber's Mai Tai that later morphed into the Zombie; Ted Kilpatrick at No. 9 Park played around with that recipe to concoct the Mai Tai Swizzle which also follows this other-Mai Tai formula.
The Kon-Tiki Mai Tai began with a mint aroma that preceded a lime and orange sip. The swallow offered darker rum notes along with complementary spice flavors including ginger, allspice, clove, and anise.

green flash

1 1/2 oz Rhum JM 100 Proof Agricole Blanc (Depaz)
1/4 oz Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe (Butterfly)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz 2:1 Honey Syrup (3/4 oz 1:1)

Shake with ice and strain into a flute glass. Top with champagne (Gruet Blanc de Blanc) and garnish with a brandied cherry (Luxardo cherry).
Two Wednesdays ago after making my drink for this week's Mixology Monday event, I turned to the Death & Co. Cocktail Book for inspiration. There, the Green Flash by bartender Brian Miller caught my attention for it reminded me of the classic Air Mail with a grassier rum, different citrus, and a bit of spice from the addition of absinthe. Once prepared, the Green Flash proffered a grassy and anise aroma. Next, carbonated honey and lemon on the sip led into grassy, herbal, floral, and anise flavors on the swallow. The absinthe was at the proper level for me in this drink and seemed like a better starting point for absinthe/pastis sparklers than the Death in the Afternoon early in my drink journey was.

missionary's downfall

1 1/2 oz White Rum (1 oz Don Q Cristal, 1/2 oz Seleta Gold)
1/2 oz Brandy (Pedro Domecq Fundador Solera Reserva)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
3 dash Peach Bitters (Fee Brothers)
10-15 leaf Mint

Muddle mint in a hightball glass and add rest of the ingredients, top with ice, and stir (shake mint with ingredients and double strain into a Tiki mug; fill with crushed ice). Garnish with a mint sprig (mint and a lime wheel).

While reading Duggan McDonnell's great cocktail tribute Drinking the Devil's Acre, I came across his adaptation of Donn Beach's Missionary's Downfall. This past summer, I enjoyed the one that Beachbum Berry's staff made for me at Latitude 29; that one was true to the one Berry published albeit with less mint and a slightly different Caribbean rum. Duggan's version did away with the blender and swapped honey syrup and peach-flavored liqueur for simple syrup and peach-flavored bitters in a stirred libation (true, I shook mine). It also upped the alcohol content slightly which is amusing since when I ordered it at Latitude 29, I asked the bartender for the least alcohol-laden drink because I had a big night and many hours to go.
The Missionary's Downfall offered lime and mint aromas that led into a lime sip with hints of pineapple. Next, the swallow gave forth grassy rum, pineapple, and mint flavors with a peach and mint finish. Overall, toning down the most likely artificial peach notes (i.e.: more peach than peach is) from the liqueur gave this drink a bit more dignity.

the grand bargain

1 1/2 oz Laird's 12 Year Apple Brandy (Boulard VSOP Calvados)
3/4 oz Del Maguey Santo Domingo Mezcal (Montelobos)
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
2 dash Angostura Bitters
2 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Build in an old fashioned glass, add a large ice cub, and stir to mix and chill. Garnish with both orange and lemon twists.
Two Saturdays ago after my work shift, I was in the mood for a nightcap, so I turned to Robert Simonson's The Old Fashioned for something stirred. The one that reached out to me that night was Tom Macy's drink that he created at the Clover Club in Brooklyn circa 2013. The Grand Bargain was in part a commentary on the cost of the top shelf ingredients. While I could not match the apple and agave distillates exactly, I did not exactly skimp either. Indeed, I was drawn to the recipe as it reminded me of the Fancy Free cocktail with a split spirits base; moreover, apple and agave go rather well together such as in the Downtown at Dawn. In the glass, the Grand Bargain shared a smoky aroma that was brightened by the citrus oil. Next, a sweet sip with hints of fruit led into a smoky mezcal and nutty cherry swallow with an apple finish.

holy terroir swizzle

1 1/2 oz Banks 7 Rum (Denizen's Merchant Reserve)
3/4 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
3/4 oz Lime Juice

Build in a tall glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with 4-5 dashes Pimento or Angostura Bitters (Angostura) and serve with an umbrella and a straw (mint, spent half lime shell with 151 proof rum and ignited).
Two Fridays when I got home from work, I was rather excited to make a drink that I had spotted on Imbibe Magazine's website for it was from my Cocktails in the Country roommate Christopher James. Christopher runs the show at the Jockey Hollow Bar and Kitchen in Morristown, New Jersey, and his Swizzle seemed like the perfect way to wrap up the evening. Lacking a paper cocktail parasol at home, I decided to improvise with some mint and some flame. Once built, the Holy Terroir Swizzle shared mint and clove aromas. A lime-driven sip led into funk rum and clove notes on the swallow.

chinese itch

1 oz Light Puerto Rican Rum (1/2 oz Don Q 151, 1/2 oz Caliche)
Juice 1 Lime (3/4 oz)
3/4 oz Passion Fruit Nectar (1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup)
1 dash Orgeat (1/2 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Thursdays ago, my post work drinking had me flipping through the pages of Trader Vic's Rum Cookery & Drinkery from 1974 and stumbling upon the Chinese Itch. While this Itch had a slight similarity to the Tropical Itch, it reminded me more of a Mai Tai with passion fruit for the orange liqueur. Therefore, I shaped the recipe closer to how I mixed a Mai Tai although I kept the cocktail glass vessel drinking specification.
The Chinese Itch brough mint and passion fruit notes to the nose. Next, lime and tropical notes on the sip sidestepped the rum, passion fruit, and almond nuttiness on the swallow. Overall, it reminded me of the Manuia albeit with less funky rums and without the added spice from Angostura and absinthe.

kon tiki ti-punch

50 mL (1 2/3 oz) Bacardi 8 Year Rum (Tommy Bahama Gold)
20 mL (2/3 oz) Lime Juice
15 mL (1/2 oz) Grenadine
5 mL (1 tsp) Demerara Syrup
5 mL (1 tsp) Guava Jelly
1 chunk Fresh Pineapple (2/3 oz Juice)

Muddle pineapple and guava jelly in lime juice (microwave jelly with grenadine and demerara syrup to melt and dissolve the jelly). Add the rest of the ingredients and ice, shake, and strain into a punch goblet (double old fashioned glass). Garnish with a lime wedge, pineapple chunk, and mint (spent half lime shell, mint sprigs, flowers).

After getting home from my night on the town that Wednesday, I reached for Beachbum Berry's Remixed. There, I was surprised by a drink created by Sean Muldoon well before he came to the United States to open the Dead Rabbit in Manhattan. The drink was the Kon Tiki Ti-Punch that he concocted at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and I was definitely lured in by the use of guava jelly that Jerry Thomas featured as an ingredient in his 1862 book via the Barbadoes Punch.
The Kon Tiki Ti-Punch began with a floral and mint aroma. A rich guava, pineapple, and pomegranate sip gave way to rum and more guava notes on the swallow. Interestingly, the lime here was less of a noticeable flavor and more of a balancing component to my palate and drink build.