I stumbled upon this drink in the same way as Fred Yarm - flipping through the PDT Cocktail Book hoping to find something that looked good. This is a reimagining of Jamie Boudreau's Cooper Cocktail from Vessel in Seattle in the late-2000s during the first phase of the cocktail renaissance. It has all the features of the time - rediscovered ingredients like bonded rye whiskey and Fernet Branca alongside new ones like St. Germain. The spin takes it in a more Manhattan-y direction with aromatized wine. Duboudreau Cocktail 2 oz rye whiskey 0.75 oz quinquina 0.25 oz St. Germain 0.25 oz Fernet C ..read more

Hey there, long time no see. As the lack of posting might suggest, I haven't been drinking a ton this year, but inspiration struck recently. The hot PNW weather made me hanker for a daiquiri, but I wanted something a bit more interesting than the standard formula. So why not punch it up a bit with some Chartreuse? Chartreuse Daiquiri #1 1.5 oz rum 0.25 oz green Chartreuse 0.75 oz lime juice 0.5 oz rich simple syrup Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, then double strain into a chilled couple. The aromas are balanced between herbal notes from the Chartreuse and a rounded rummy-ness wit ..read more

I knew I wanted something stirred, but couldn't quite decide on what. Thankfully my bookshelf overflows. This comes from the book The How & When  published in 1937 by Gale and Marco by way of The PDT Cocktail Book. Caprice 1.5 oz gin 1.5 oz dry vermouth 0.5 oz Bénédictine 1 dash orange bitters Combine all ingredients, stir with ice, then strain into a chilled coupe. The aromas are dominated from the gin's florals (in this case Hendrick's Midsummer) and herbal Bénédictine notes. The sip opens with floral honey, then fades into gentle bitterness at the back. The finish is dominated ..read more

Another in the annals of lesser known siblings of more famous cocktails, the Old Pal is a clear riff on the Boulevardier that didn't quite make it into the big leagues. First printed in Harry McElhone’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, it dries out the more well-known version while retaining the same basic proportions. Old Pal 1.25 oz rye whiskey 1 oz dry vermouth 1 oz Campari Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist. The aromas lead with sweet fruit from the Campari, vegetal spices from the rye, and lemon ..read more

This is one of the classics, even if it hasn't achieved the fame of its across the river cousin. It's original form may have been closer since there appears to have been a misprint at some point, swapping what used to be sweet vermouth for dry. But given the way this is constructed, that may be for the best. The Brooklyn Cocktail 2 oz rye whiskey 0.75 oz dry vermouth 2 tsp Amer Picon (sub Bigallet China-China Amer) 2 tsp maraschino liqueur Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry. The aromas are very ex ..read more

I started out once again paging through The Art of the Shim for something on the lighter side. My first stop was the Chrysanthemum, originally from the Savoy Cocktail Book. The version in Shim is quite a bit drier at 8:1 vermouth:Bénédictine and while rather good, I felt like it was lacking something. My initial thought was "This needs some gin" and I proceeded to make another with a full ounce of gin and a bit more Bénédictine. While that was closer to the mark, the gin was a little too assertive and was throwing the drink out of balance. The third time was the charm and scaling the gin back ..read more

 I was poking through my old cocktail recipe bookmarks when I stumbled upon this gem from roughly a decade ago, courtesy of the long defunct Antifogmatic League, who got it from the also defunct Heaven's Dog bar in SF. Thankfully one of the bartenders had chimed in in the comments to note that the proportions were almost exactly correct, so off we go. Rhum Agricole Punch 2 oz rhum agricole 1 oz lime juice 0.5 oz cane syrup 0.25 oz allspice dram 1 dash Angostura bitters Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, then strain into a glass with fresh ice and grate nutmeg on top. The aromas ..read more

Finally we reach the end of this series that was rudely interrupted by last summer's raging forest fires. My introduction to madeira was a malmsey, though the bar may have been set a little too high since it was a very nice 90s colheita. I've always enjoyed the style because it has the sweetness of a port while the higher acidity keeps it from becoming unidimensional. This wine is fermented to just over 100 g of residual sugar per liter, fortified, and aged in oak in a traditional canteiro system. The blend is put together from 85% malvasia grapes aged for 15-20 years with 15% tinta negra mo ..read more

I've had this one bouncing around in my head for a few years ever since I picked up a bottle of Luxardo's apricot liqueur. Compared to something like Rothman & Winter, it leans more towards apricot pits than it does the fresh fruit. It immediately made me think of amaretto, which can be made from stone fruit pits. That in turn made me think of Jeffery Morgenthaler's much-lauded Amaretto Sour recipe. I've taken a crack at the form once before with success, so I wondered if I could make it work again. Apricot Sour 1.5 oz apricot liqueur 0.75 oz Laird's bonded applejack 1 oz lemon juice 1 ..read more

Looking over Don the Beachcomber's ouvre, one of his most common touches was the combination of a dash of Angostura bitters with half a dozen drops of absinthe or pastis. While rarely assertive, they always make for a pleasant accent. Last summer I wondered if it had ever been applied to the basic daiquiri formula. While I've searched long and hard for another name for this drink, I've never been able to find anything with the same specs. The closest is the Rum Club Daiquiri, though that takes it in a different direction. Don's Daiquiri 1.5 oz white rum (I used Hamilton White Stache) 0.5 oz ..read more