murder county

1 oz Palo Cortado Sherry (1/2 oz each Lustau Oloroso & Amontillado)
1 oz Blanc Vermouth (Dolin)
3/4 oz Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
1 tsp Orgeat
2 dash Grapefruit Bitters (Bittercube Jamaica #2)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with grapefruit oil from a twist.Two Mondays ago was the beginning of Sherry Week 2021, and I set out to celebrate all seven days with an interesting fortified wine cocktail each night. I started with a 2015 Pouring Ribbons recipe by Lana Gailani called Murder County which seemed alluring with the oxidized sherry and orgeat combination experienced in the Lust for Life and Palomino Sling. I spotted the drink on Kindred Cocktails via a Village Voice article that was no longer accessible since the newspaper folded a few years ago, and I paired it with the #SherryKu (sherry Haiku) of "Palo Cortado/Almond syrup and sherry/Nutty synergy." The Murder County began with grapefruit, nutty, and grape aromas and flowed into a sip dominated by the sherry's grape notes. Next, tequila, nutty, and floral flavors rounded out the swallow.

dr. rieux

1 oz Calvados (Morin Selection)
1 oz Light Rum (Bacardi 4 Year)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
1/2 oz Curaçao (Pierre Ferrand Dry)
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe rimmed with demerara sugar, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Saturdays ago, I had spotted an interesting drink on a friend's Instagram account called the Dr. Rieux, and I tracked down the recipe on Difford's Guide. There, it was an adapted recipe from Vaucluse in Manhattan that was named after the doctor in Albert Camus' The Plague. Overall, the combination reminded me of Between the Sheets plus Swedish punsch with apple instead of grape brandy (or a Deauville plus Swedish punsch with rum instead of the Cognac).The Dr. Rieux conjured up lemon, orange, and apple aromas. Next, lemon and caramel notes on the sip flowed into apple, rum, orange, tea, and spice flavors on the swallow.

two o'clock at the metropole

1 1/2 oz Cognac (Du Peyrat Organic Selection)
1 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/4 oz Pineapple Syrup
1/4 oz Maraschino (Luxardo)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Fridays ago, I had been thinking about the Saratoga Cocktail variation found in the 1933 reprint of Jack's Manual, and I became inspired. I decided to mashup Harry Johnson's Saratoga with the Metropole – a Cognac Dry Manhattan with Peychaud's Bitters (David Wondrich included gum syrup to make it more agreeable to the modern palate) – first published in George Kappeler's 1895 Modern American Drinks. For a name, I dubbed this one Two O'Clock at the Metropole after a James Thurber piece about the 1912 murder of gambling den owner Herman Rosenthal at Manhattan's Hotel Metropole.The drink began with a lemon oil, cherry, Cognac, and anise aroma. Next, white grape and pineapple notes mingled on the sip, and the swallow uncovered Cognac, pineapple, cherry, and anise flavors on the swallow.

the gryffindor common room

1 oz Rooibos Tea-Infused Bourbon-Mezcal (*)
1/2 oz Los Vecinos Mezcal
1/2 oz Elijah Craig Bourbon
1/2 oz Amaro Nonino
1/2 oz Aveze Gentian Liqueur
1/2 oz Benedictine

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.
(*) Working off the Earl Grey MarTEAni, 4 tablespoons of rooibos should be infused in a 750 mL bottle of Bourbon-mezcal for 2 hours before straining. 1 tsp per ~2 oz would be the scaled down version. Again, this is only an estimate.Two Thursdays ago, I headed over to Backbar after my day time bar shift to experience their Harry Potter Week menu. The drink I selected was the Gryffindor Common Room; according to the Harry Potter Wikipedia, it was named after the cozy common room at the Gryffindor House at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where students could rest after a long day of studying. In the glass, the cocktail that bartender Rachel Kopelman mixed up for me greeted the nose with orange, vegetal, and smoke aromas. Next, caramel notes on the sip launched into Bourbon, orange, bitter, and smoke flavors on the swallow with a gentian and cinnamon finish.

bitter pill

1 1/2 oz Zaya Rum
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup (1:1)
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into an ice-filled old fashioned glass, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Wednesdays prior, I spotted a 2011 recipe from Imbibe Magazine on Kindred Cocktails called the Bitter Pill. This drink by Richard Swan at Cliffs Edge in Los Angeles reminded me at first of the Dirt'n'Diesel with egg white (ignoring the small amount of Cynar) and later of the Daisy Buchanan minus the crème de cacao. Once prepared, this embittered egg white Daiquiri of sorts conjured up an orange oil, caramel, molasses, and menthol aroma. Next, a creamy lime and caramel sip flowed into rum, molasses, and minty-menthol flavors on the swallow.

soul clench

2 oz Waqar Pisco (Macchu)
3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/2 oz Grapefruit Liqueur (St. Elder)
1/2 oz St. Germain (St. Elder)
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large cube, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.Two Tuesdays ago, I was flipping through the Death & Co. Cocktail Book and found the Soul Clench that I had previously skipped over since pamplemousse liqueur was a recent addition to my shelves. The recipe was created in 2013 by Jillian Vose as a stirred fruity, floral, and lightly spiced pisco drink. Once prepared, the Soul Clench squeezed out a grapefruit and earthy grape aroma. Next, grapefruit and white grape notes on the sip released into earthy, floral, and grapefruit flavors on the swallow.

la savane

3/4 oz Rhum Agricole (Rhum Clement Premiere Canne)
3/4 oz Mezcal (Mezcal Union)
1 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Mondays ago, I recalled the Metexa from the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book and decided to riff on it. Instead of the classic's tequila base, I kept the agave theme with some mezcal and split it with rhum agricole for that spirit paired well with Swedish punsch in the Sleeping with Strangers. I also adjusted the ratios to make it more of a cocktail instead of an aperitif. For a name, I dubbed this one the La Savane after a garden and park on Martinique. In the glass, La Savane conjured an orange, vegetal, caramel, and smoke bouquet to the nose. Next, apricot and grapefruit notes on the sip blossomed into grassy, smoky, tea, and vegetal flavors on the swallow.

grand & central

1 1/4 oz Rye Whiskey (Sazerac)
3/4 oz Applejack (Laird's Bonded)
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Dubonnet Rouge
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with an orange twist.

Two Sundays ago, I was perusing Kindred Cocktails and started a search for Dubonnet recipes. There, I spied the Grand & Central crafted by Greg Best at Holeman & Finch Public House in Atlanta that was sourced from a 2012 Wall Street Journal article on Manhattan riffs. The combination of rye and applejack has been a popular one in modern drinks like the Fallback and American Trilogy and older ones like the Bronco Buster and Diamond Back, and I uncovered an early Dubonnet and Lillet/Cocchi Americano recipe in the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book with the Pool.The Grand & Central proffered orange, apple, and plum aromas to the nose. Next, grape and pear notes on the sip transferred to rye, apple, plum, and herbal flavors on the swallow.

fugu (for two)

3 oz Blended Aged Rum (Denizen Merchant's Reserve)
1 oz Column Still Rum (Bacardi 4 Year)
1 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1 oz Orgeat
1 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Blend with 2 cups crushed ice for 15-20 seconds (whip shake), pour into a Fugu mug or other large vessel (and top with crushed ice).Two Saturdays ago, I was perusing the 5 Minutes of Rum site for a tropical drink, and I landed on their slight riff on the Fugu (for Two). The original was created at Forbidden Island in Alameda, California, and the combination made me think of a Beachbum (lacks the passion fruit syrup) mashed up with a Rum Keg (lacks the orgeat), so I was intrigued. Once prepared, the Fugu swam to the nose with apricot, pineapple, and passion fruit aromas. Next, lemon, pineapple, and stone fruit notes on the sip shimmied into rum, apricot, nutty, and passion fruit flavors on the swallow.