st. botolph club

1 1/2 oz Berkshire Greylock Gin
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass with 3 oz sodas water, add a straw, and garnish with a lime wheel.
As my drink of the day at Loyal Nine two Thursdays ago, I wanted a tall and refreshing drink, and thought about riffing on the Jasmine's Cooler. Since the Jasmine Cocktail tries to recreate the flavors of the Pegu Club, I opted for apricot liqueur to see if I could conjure the notes in the Pendennis Club. Lime did not work here, so I switched back to lemon, and the Campari was not the proper bitter to bring forth all the flavors of the classic, so I added in the Pendennis Club's Peychaud's Bitters. Indeed, Campari and apricot liqueur are a combination that has worked well in the Absent Stars and the Intercept, so it is no surprised that it did alright here.

hole in the cup

1 1/2 oz Blanco Tequila (Cimarron)
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Absinthe (Kübler)
2 slice Cucumber

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe (single old fashioned glass).

Two Wednesdays ago, I returned to Sasha Petraske: Regarding Cocktails after researching the East Side to make another cucumber drink, namely the Hole in the Cup. The recipe was crafted by Lauren McLaughlin as her absinthe-tequila-pineapple riff on Sasha's gin-based Gordon's Cup. The name stemmed from how fast guests could drain the liquid in their glass even with the presence of absinthe in the mix.
The Hole in the Cup shared a cucumber and anise aroma with hints of lime to the nose. Next, a creamy lime and pineapple sip led into tequila and cucumber on the swallow with the absinthe's anise rearing up on the finish.

east side

2 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
2 slice Cucumber
6 leaf Mint

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a cucumber slice and a mint sprig. I added a nasturtium flower garnish as well.

Two Tuesdays ago, I was inspired by the South Side to investigate the cucumber-laden riff called the East Side. Sam Ross in Sasha Petraske: Regarding Cocktails attributed the drink to Lynette Marrero in the mid-00s at the East Side Company which was one of Sasha's Milk & Honey offshoots. Originally, Lynette wanted to call this number the Ol'Biddy; however, Sasha did not care for it and insisted that it get renamed, and it soon became the London Maid. The A Seat at the Bar book defined the East Side as a South Side with a slice of cucumber in the mix served up, and the Old Maid being the same drink served on the rocks. And finally, Paul Clarke in The Cocktail Chronicles described how the recipe "circulated among New York's craft cocktail bars in the mid-2000s before finding a special welcome on the mixology circuit in Los Angeles."
The East Side gave forth a vegetal aroma from the cucumber and mint that was colored by the lime and the nasturtium's peppery note on the nose. Next, the sip offered lime and vegetal flavors that were followed by gin smoothed out by the cucumber on the swallow with a mint finish.

[estocada]

3/4 oz Mezcal
3/4 oz Cherry Heering
3/4 oz Zucca Amaro
3/4 oz Lime

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a lime twist.
Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I ventured down to the South End to have dinner at Estragon. For a first drink, I selected a mezcal equal parter from Sahil Mehta's drink note book. The combination reminded me of a mezcal Blood & Sand with hints of the Last Word as well. For a name, I dubbed this the Estocada after the final strike from the matador that kills the bull. Once served, the Estocada shared smoky aromas from the combination of mezcal and Zucca's Chinese rhubarb root. Next, lime and dark fruit on the sip was followed by smoke and bitter herbal flavors on the swallow. Overall, the combination of Cherry Heering and Zucca worked rather well as Zucca has done with fruit notes such as strawberry in King Vittorio's Cobbler and black currant in the Dissenter.

intrepid

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Old Overholt)
1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida (Montelobos)
3/4 oz Cynar
3/4 oz Carpano Bianco Vermouth (Dolin Blanc)
1 dash Celery Bitters (Housemade)

Stir with ice and strain into a Nick & Nora glass (cocktail coupe).

Two Sundays ago, I reached for Emma Janzen's Mezcal book for drink inspiration. The recipe that called out to me was Eryn Reece's Intrepid that she crafted at Sons & Daughters in New York City. Eryn named her Manhattan riff after the WWII-era aircraft carrier that is berthed nearby on the Hudson River as the centerpiece of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
In the glass, the Intrepid offered a dark herbal aroma from the Cynar along with smoky agave notes. Next, sweet caramel and malt on the sip transitioned into rye and an agave-Cynar herbal combination on the swallow with a dry smoky and celery finish.

perpetual cocktail

1/2 Sweet Vermouth (1 1/4 oz Cocchi)
1/2 Dry Vermouth (1 1/4 oz Noilly Prat)
2 dash Crème de Cacao (1/4 oz Tempus Fugit)
4 dash Crème Yvette (1/4 oz)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Saturdays ago, I decided to hunt down a recipe that I had spotted in Brian Rea's BASTARDS Vol.1 book called the Perpetual Cocktail. Rea pointed me to Hugo Ensslin's 1916/17 Recipes for Mixed Drinks, and the combination reminded me of a Crème Yvette-spiked hot chocolate that Scott Holliday served at the liqueur's launch event at the Boston Shaker years ago.
Once mixed, the Perpetual Cocktail gave forth chocolate and berries aromas that melded into violet floral notes on the nose. Next, berry and grape on the sip led into an elegant chocolate-raspberry pairing on the swallow.

oaxacan smash

1 1/2 oz Suerte Blanco Tequila
1/2 oz Amaras Espadin Mezcal
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
3 wedge Lime (1/2 of a lime)
2 large leaf Sage

Muddle lime wedges and sage leaves in simple syrup, add the rest of the ingredients and ice, and shake. Double strain into a rocks glass, fill with crushed ice, add straws, and garnish with a sage tip.
Two Fridays ago, I was inspired by the sage plants in my garden to harvest some sprigs for a drink of the day at Loyal Nine. For a direction, I thought of Jacques Bezuidenhout's Sagerac as to how well sage pairs with agave spirits. Instead of deciding on tequila or mezcal, I opted for both in similar proportions as Phil Ward's Oaxacan Old Fashioned. For a format, I opted for a Smash akin to Eastern Standard's Whiskey Smash (the link is for a rum variation; the Whiskey recipe appears in my Drink & Tell book), and I kept the Oaxacan part of Phil's Old Fashioned to modify the Smash name. Overall, the drink was rather well received, and it came across akin to a Tommy's Margarita with sage notes adding complementary herbal accents to the agave distillates.

kangaroo notebook

1 1/2 oz Lustau Brandy
1/2 oz Green Tea Syrup
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass with 3 oz soda water, top with ice, add a straw, and garnish with a lemon twist.
Two Thursdays ago for drink of the day at Loyal Nine, I was tinkering with the green tea-Punt e Mes combination that I have found success with in drinks like Dakkar Grotto and decided to take it in a more classic punch-like feel using brandy and lightening things with soda water. For a name, I was lured in by the absurdist work of Japanese author Kobo Abe called the Kangaroo Notebook. Perhaps a daikon radish garnish would have been more appropriate to match the book, but I opted with a lemon twist instead.

three scots & a dash

1 1/2 oz Blended Scotch (Pig's Nose)
1/2 oz Drambuie
1/4 oz Laphroaig Scotch
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1 large bsp Allspice Dram (St. Elizabeth)

Shake with ice, strain into a Tiki mug, and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with 3 cherries pinned to a pineapple spear (3 ornamental pea blossoms and 1 nasturtium flower plus lemon slices and freshly grated nutmeg).

Two Wednesdays ago, I was in a Tiki mood and remembered that I had saved a recipe from PunchDrinks called Three Scots and a Dash. The recipe was crafted by Zac Overman of Fort Defiance in Brooklyn for their weekly Sunken Harbor Club night. While I have had the classic rum Three Dots and a Dash and crafted a gin version called a A Dash and Three Dots, I was keen I seeing what a Scotch version would be like.
The Three Scots in the equation were a blended whisky, a smoky single malt, and the honeyed Scotch liqueur Drambuie, and the recipe included the passion fruit, honey, and lemon elements found in the Starboard Light. Once prepared, the Three Scots and a Dash proffered nutmeg, floral, and lemon notes to the nose. Next, a honey and lemon sip with tropical flavors from the the passion fruit led into smoky Scotch, passion fruit, and allspice on the swallow.