Elusive Dreams

 

Story

The Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana is an historic hotel that opened in 1930.  Its flagship cocktail, the Hotel Nacional Special, was created around the same time.  It’s a sophisticated daiquiris variant made with rum, pineapple, lime, and apricot liqueur.  The Elusive Dreams modifies the classic template by replacing the apricot with banana liqueur and amping up the deep pineapple flavor by splitting the rum (half pineapple-infused rum, half unaged rum).  The result is a remarkably smooth drink that gives the fruit flavors center stage without tasting strongly like any of them.  The cinnamon hovers way in the background as it does in a lot of tiki drinks, working magic with the rum almost at the edge of awareness.  Be sure to shake this cocktail for a full 30 seconds to aerate it and give it that silky texture.  I’m glad I have to make these each by hand, because if I could just ask someone to bring me one I would do so multiple times.  

Recipe

1 oz Planteray Stiggins’ Fancy pineapple rum
1 oz blended unaged rum (Planteray 3 Stars) or white rum
1 oz pineapple juice
0.75 oz lime juice
0.75 oz cinnamon syrup
0.5 oz banana liqueur  (Giffard Banane du Bresil)
-Shake ingredients with 3-4 medium ice cubes for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe.

Iron Ranger

Story

One of the creators of tiki cocktail culture back in the 1930’s was Victor Bergeron, aka Trader Vic.  The other was Donn Beach (born Ernest Raymond Gantt), whose “Don the Beachcomber” bars were the original establishments from which Trader Vic shamelessly borrowed ideas.  Unlike Vic, who published a dozen recipe books, Beach was famously secretive about his recipes.  He only wrote them down in coded form, meaning they had to be reconstructed through meticulous research by a hero named Jeff Berry.  Berry published the first of his famous recipe books in 1998, helping to inspire the tiki renaissance in the early 21^st century.  The Iron Ranger is a combination of a traditional Beachcomber framework with a whiskey base, which was a favorite trick of Trader Vic’s.  The result is deliciously juicy and drinkable like a classic tiki cocktail, but just when you expect the rum to make an appearance, you get the smoothness of bourbon.  The tartness of the citrus and falernum keep the cocktail from being overly sweet.  I enjoy the aroma of freshly grated cinnamon as a garnish, but you’ll be fine if you omit it.  Cheers!  

Recipe

2 oz bourbon
1 oz pineapple juice
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz John D Taylor’s velvet falernum
0.5 oz simple syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters

-Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with a handful of pebble or crushed ice.  Shake until it’s mostly melted.
-Dump everything into a pint glass or tiki mug.  Fill the remainder of the glass with additional pebble or crushed ice.
-Optional garnishes: freshly grated cinnamon, mint bouquet, cinnamon stick. Serve with a straw.

Fog Cutter

 

Story

The Fog Cutter is a classic tiki cocktail recipe from Victor Bergeron, aka Trader Vic.  As one of the two entrepreneurs who pioneered the concept of the tiki bar in the late 1930’s, Vic invented some of the original cocktails that bartenders continue to imitate and refine today.  The Fog Cutter combines Trader Vic’s signature template (rum, orgeat, lemon, orange) with another one of his favorite tools – a blend of multiple base spirits.  This drink manages the same trick that you find in a well-made Long Island Iced Tea:  a bunch of ingredients that don’t seem to match up and a final flavor that doesn’t seem like any of them. This version of the Fog Cutter is from Chicago bartender Paul McGee, who felt that orange juice made the drink flabby and unfocused.  He brought in the orange flavor with dry curacao instead.  The result is a version of the drink that's flavorful and refreshing, with hints of tart citrus and echoes of rum.  Just the thing as the days grow warmer.  Cheers!  

Recipe

1 oz aged Martinique-style rhum
0.5 oz cognac
0.5 oz London dry gin (Ford’s)
1 oz lemon juice
0.75 oz orgeat
0.5 oz dry curacao
0.5 oz amontillado sherry

-Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with a cup of pebble or crushed ice.  Shake 5-10 seconds.
-Dump everything into a pint glass or tiki mug.  Fill the remainder of the glass with additional pebble or crushed ice.
-Optional garnishes: orange peel, mint bouquet. Serve with a straw.

Toasted Old Fashioned Godfather

 

Story

The Godfather is a simple mix of blended Scotch whisky and amaretto liqueur served over ice.  It became widespread in the 1970s after the movie The Godfather exploded in popularity, likely due to a marketing effort by the makers of amaretto.  Unfortunately, it contains blended Scotch, which just isn’t for me.  Fortunately, someone saved the day by inventing this alternative. Stepping back to the 1800s, the classic Whiskey Cocktail was whiskey, sugar, bitters and water – what we call an Old Fashioned today.  An “improved whiskey cocktail” added a liqueur to expand the flavor of the classic whiskey cocktail, giving us drinks like the Godfather.  At some point someone switched spirits to create the Toasted Old Fashioned Godfather, where the split rye/bourbon base takes the place of the blended Scotch.  The result is a delightfully smooth and rich sipper with a touch of almond.  There aren’t scores of competing flavors here, and that purity is part of its strength.  Not everything needs to be complicated.

Recipe

1 oz rye (Rittenhouse)
1 oz bourbon
0.5 oz amaretto liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
-Stir ingredients with ice.  Strain into old fashioned glass over ice.

-optional: garnish with toasted almonds (really only for looks, the flavor is unchanged)

Division Bell

 

Story

The Last Word is an equal-parts drink of gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and lime juice that dates back to 1915.  After many years out of memory and time, it was unearthed in the early 2000s in the Seattle bar scene.  Like many great cocktails, it inspired a lot of variants, including the Paper Plane (bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, lemon juice) and the Naked & Famous (mezcal, Aperol, yellow Chartreuse, lime juice).  The Division Bell is similar to the latter, but the ingredient substitution and rebalancing make it distinct.  The result is super interesting.  The mezcal flavor is definitely there, but the other ingredients add complexity and variation.  It’s got a balance of sweet, savory, and tart that make it memorable.  Cheers!

Recipe

1 oz mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
0.75 oz Aperol
0.25 oz maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)
0.75 oz lime juice
Grapefruit twist
-Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Express grapefruit twist and discard.

District B-13

 

Story

I’m obviously a fan of the Death & Co. family of bars and I’ve learned a lot from their trio of cocktail books.  The third book in the series, Welcome Home, has a well-deserved reputation for talking a lot about becoming a better home bartender and then listing a set of recipes with really obscure ingredients.  This cocktail is one of the few that I could make without a special trip to the store.  Luckily, it’s terrific.  The drink is the sort that creates a flavor journey: there’s a citrus and grape scent, followed by the smooth cognac.  The vermouth and the nutty sherry then get into a bit of a tug-of-war for dominance only to have Cynar waltz in at the end and trounce them both.  The Luxardo adds interesting little grace notes throughout.  The resulting cocktail is bitter and boozy, not too sweet, and definitely worth savoring.

Recipe

2 oz cognac
0.75 oz Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
0.5 oz oloroso sherry
0.25 oz Cynar
1 teaspoon Luxardo maraschino liqueur
-stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass
-strain into chilled coupe or Nick & Nora.  Express lemon twist and discard.

Rock and a Hard Place

 

Story

You can always tell which cocktail book I happen to be reading.  Currently it’s the NoMad Cocktail Book by Leo Robitschek, which won the James Beard Book Award in 2020 in the Beverage With Recipes category.  So it’s good, is what I’m saying.  This drink was created by Alisa Bobcat Rabovsky, a former bartender at NoMad who now does event planning for a participatory art group. Seems like a cool person, is what I’m also saying.  The Rock and a Hard Place is a variation on a Perfect Manhattan (“perfect” meaning that it’s got equal parts sweet and dry vermouth).  Here that’s augmented by the caramelized sugar and citrus notes of Amaro Nonino and the nutty combination of walnut liqueur and walnut bitters.  The walnut comes through clearly but doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the flavors, and the edges of the vermouth are rounded off.  It’s not highly complex, but there are some terrific subtleties to be found here.  

Recipe

1.5 oz rye whiskey (Rittenhouse)
0.5 oz Dolin dry vermouth
0.5 oz Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
0.5 oz Amaro Nonino
1 teaspoon Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur
2 dashes Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters
-stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass.  No garnish.

Shockingly Bright Restorative (SBR)

 

Story

I first encountered this cocktail at Pubkey, a little bar in Washington DC just a few blocks northwest of the Capitol building.  It’s a slight variation on a drink called the Glo-Sour, which was created by cocktail alchemist Dave Arnold as a way to showcase turmeric-infused gin. In his book Liquid Intelligence, Arnold describes a rapid pressurized infusion method he invented that uses a stainless steel cream whipper to make infusions in minutes.  I don’t have space to describe it here, but a quick search of “Dave Arnold turmeric infusion” tells the story.  This version of the drink adds complexity by including green chartreuse.  At the bar they float it on top of the drink, but directly mixing it in before shaking creates an almost identical result.  The cocktail is easy to identify as a sour (gin, citrus, simple syrup), but with a very subtle earthy undertone and a halo of spice from the chartreuse.  The turmeric gin almost glows in this drink, so others will take notice.  The saline is a Dave Arnold calling card – it punches up the flavors just a touch without being noticeably salty.  Enjoy this one very cold.  Cheers!

Recipe

2 oz turmeric-infused London Dry gin

0.75 oz lime juice

0.75 oz simple syrup

0.25 oz green chartreuse

3 drops 4:1 saline solution or a pinch of salt

2 dashes orange bitters

-Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled coupe.  No garnish.

Doyers Street

 

Story

There are a bunch of Manhattan variants named for the boroughs of New York City.  The Brooklyn is a classic one of these that combines rye whiskey and dry vermouth with an amaro and Maraschino liqueur.  The Doyers Street is a Brooklyn variation that uses a bitter orange amaro (Bigallet China China) and elderflower liqueur to create a drink that’s simultaneously familiar and beguiling.  There are notes of bitter orange and clove, caramel, grapefruit, and spice.  It was invented by Leo Robitschek, a James Beard award-winning bartender at the NoMad and other excellent New York bars.  This immediately became one of my favorite Manhattan variations.  It’s served on a rock of ice to temper its spiciness over time, but could just as easily be enjoyed up with a garnish.  Either way, I think it’s terrific.  Cheers!

Recipe

1.5 oz rye whiskey (Rittenhouse)
0.75 oz Dolin dry vermouth
0.5 oz Bigallet China China amer liqueur
0.25 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
-stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass
-strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube.  No garnish.

1903

 

Story

We’ve got some experience in the Club with split-base cocktails, so it’s no surprise to see both cognac and apple brandy here.  But a split vermouth as well?  What is happening??  The 1903 cocktail was created by Death & Co veteran Jessica Gonzalez while she was the head bartender at the famous NoMad bar in New York (the bar is sadly now closed, another victim of the pandemic).  The NoMad bar was located in the fabulous-sounding NoMad hotel, a beautiful Beaux-Arts-style building built in (surprise!) 1903.  The cocktail is of course a Manhattan variation (base spirit plus sweet vermouth, served up).  As such, it’s a boozy drink that should be served cold and consumed before it warms up.  Cocchi Americano is technically an aromatized wine rather than a vermouth because it’s flavored with bitter quinine, but it’s used interchangeably with vermouth, most notably in a version of James Bond’s Vesper Martini (replacing Kina Lilet, which is no longer available).  The 1903 has notes of apple, grapefruit, apricot, and some other flavors that make it interesting to sort out.  My notes helpfully say, “I like it a lot.”  Cheers!

Recipe

1 oz cognac
1 oz Laird’s Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy
0.75 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
0.75 oz Cocchi Americano
2 dashes grapefruit bitters
-Stir ingredients with ice.  Strain into chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass.  No garnish.

Le Bateleur

 

Story

Le Bateleur is the answer to the question, “What the heck am I going to do with this Strega?”  Liquore Strega (Italian for “witch’s liqueur”) is an Italian herbal amaro made from some 70 botanical ingredients, including the saffron that gives it a distinctive bright yellow color.  It tastes very much like a slightly lighter version of Yellow Chartreuse, and if used in moderation it adds a charming complexity to a cocktail.  Cocktail maven Alex Day created Le Bateleur during his time working at Death & Co. in New York.  Le Bateleur is the French name of The Magician tarot card, which I suppose is appropriate for a drink made with witch’s liqueur.  It’s a wonderful gin-forward drink that artfully balances many strong flavors – herbal, bitter, and sweet.  My notes say, “This is what you use Strega for.”  Cheers!

 

Recipe

2 oz Beefeater gin
0.75 oz Punt E Mes
0.5 oz Strega
0.25 oz Cynar
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir with ice, then strain into chilled coupe.  Express orange twist and garnish. 

Boulevardier

 

Story

In the 1920’s, a group of wealthy Americans living in Paris would frequent the boulevards between the social hotspots at night.  They called themselves “Boulevardiers”, which became the title of a literary magazine that several of them published in Paris from 1927 to 1932.  Harry McElhone, owner of Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, created this drink for one of the Boulevardiers.  The recipe first appeared in Harry’s 1927 book, Barflies and Cocktails.  The Boulevardier is very similar to a Negroni, but with bourbon or rye in place of the gin.  Harry’s original recipe was 1:1:1, equal parts bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth.  Later versions bumped up the bourbon ratio to 3:2:2, and today a lot of sources have increased the bourbon again to a 2:1:1 ratio, which is what I prefer.  At that higher ratio, the bourbon can balance out the other two strong flavors in the glass.  The gin-based Negroni is fantastic and crisp, but I think the Boulevardier stands right alongside it. Cheers from the roaring 20’s!

Recipe

1.5 oz bourbon
0.75 Campari
0.75 oz carpano antica sweet vermouth
Orange twist
-Stir ingredients with ice.  Strain into chilled rocks glass over ice. Express and garnish.

Bywater

 

Story

I honestly don’t know what to make of this drink’s history. The internet tells me that it was invented in 2007 by bartender Chris Hannah while working at Arnaud’s French 75, a bar in New Orleans. The internet also presents recipes for two very different drinks.  Both versions have rum, green chartreuse, and falernum, but one goes with Amer Picon and a cherry, while the one I chose uses rye and a lemon twist.  I favor this version because it crosses the classic New Orleans flavors of rye, Peychaud’s bitters, and lemon with the distinctly tiki vibe of Jamaican rum and Velvet Falernum.  This cocktail is definitely a rum drink, but it has complexity and a lot of interesting depth to the flavor.  There are clear Vieux Carre and Sazerac notes in there, which should delight the Club, but it’s definitely its own thing.  Strong but balanced, subtly sweet, with shouts out to a number of distinct influences, this drink is a delight. Cheers!

 

Recipe

1.0 oz Rittenhouse rye
0.75 oz Jamaican rum (Smith & Cross)
0.5 oz green chartreuse
0.25 oz Velvet Falernum
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
lemon twist
-Stir ingredients with ice.  Strain into chilled coupe or Nick & Nora. Express twist and garnish.