Waterproof Watch

 

Story:

The Waterproof Watch is another Sother Teague recipe from New York bar Amor y Amargo.  (Here is a video of him teaching someone to make one.)  It’s a variation of our old friend the Negroni, which is equal parts gin/Campari/sweet vermouth.  Here the Aperol takes the place of bitter Campari while Amaro Montenegro provides some dark sweetness instead of the vermouth.  I’m still a novice at figuring out how bitters will affect a particular combination of flavors.  In this drink they seem to bring out the grapefruit flavor of the Aperol and the orange component of the Montenegro.  At this point I usually explain the origin of the cocktail’s name, but I have no idea.  I’ll just say that it’s cool. 
NOTE: In Teague's outstanding book, he defines a dash as two shakes of the inverted bottle.  On the printed recipe I put "4 dashes" because I didn't have room to explain this quirk.

Recipe:

1.5 oz London Dry gin

0.75 oz Aperol

0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro

2 dashes DeGroff's Pimento Bitters (4 shakes of the bottle)

          garnish: orange twist

-add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice; stir until chilled
-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice

-express orange twist over the drink, then garnish the drink with it.

Cocktail Rating Scale

 

I was falling into the unhelpful trap of rating every cocktail fairly high on a ten-point scale.  There was probably some sort of bias going on there -- I took the time and effort to make the damn thing, so maybe I'm predisposed to give it a higher rating.  I also don't tend to make something if the recipe doesn't look good.  As a result, most drinks were between a 7 and a 10.  But I decided I wanted something a little more objective, so I found this online.  It's helpful to assign a descriptor to a rating, and it's easier to call out the drinks I really don't like (looking at you, Dark 'n Stormy).

1    Awful
2    Bad
3    Flawed
4    Meh
5    OK/Average
6    Pretty Good
7    Good
8    Great
9    Terrific
10  Near Perfect

Vieux Carré

 

Story:

The Vieux Carré was created in the 1930’s by bartender Walter Bergeron at the Carousel Bar in New Orleans.  The name means “old square” in French and is a tribute to the city’s French Quarter.  It has become a New Orleans classic cocktail like the Sazerac and the Ramos Gin Fizz.  In fact, the cocktail's subtitle is "The Flavors That Made New Orleans".  This is a strong but balanced Sweet Manhattan with a split spirit, Benedictine for honey-like richness, and extra bitters.  I enjoyed my first Vieux Carré, but it grew on me with repeat tastings and has climbed into my top tier.  

Recipe:

1 oz cognac

1 oz rye

1 oz sweet vermouth

0.25 oz Benedictine

2 dashes Angostura bitters

         2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
          garnish: lemon twist

-add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice; stir until chilled
-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice

-express lemon twist over the drink, then garnish the drink with it.

Exit Strategy

 

Story:

The Exit Strategy was concocted by Natasha David, head bartender at the New York bar Nitecap, as something to serve her fellow bartenders post-shift.  She wanted to create a “rich and luscious, almost caramel-like old-fashioned using some of the bartenders’ favorite ingredients.”  I think that’s a great description.  It’s not too boozy, so it makes a fine weeknight sipper.  Nitecap closed in late 2020, a victim of the COVID shutdown, which is too bad because it looked amazing.  Fortunately, Natasha landed on her feet with a cocktail recipe book and a cocktail consultancy company.  Not bad at all.

Recipe:

1.5 oz Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
0.75 oz brandy
0.25 oz Amaro Meletti
pinch of kosher salt (or sea salt)

orange twist

-add ingredients mixing glass with ice; stir until chilled
-strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube
-garnish with orange twist

Snow Leopard's Tail

 

Story:

I'm posting this one a little early by request.  This drink was created by Anna Wallace and Joe Sundberg while they worked at The Walrus and The Carpenter in Seattle.  They originally named it the "Mustache Ride", but I'm not calling it that because: a) I'm not currently a resident of a bad college frat house; and b) there are at least three other drinks already called that.  The drink is a twist on the classic Lion's Tail, but I find this one reminds me a little more of winter.  Thus, it's the Snow Leopard's Tail.  The drink is sweetened with a spiced maple simple syrup. The allspice dram already adds complexity so you could probably get away with just a basic maple simple syrup, but I went for it.  This one is incredibly easy to drink, sweet with just a bit of a bitter Cynar tail.  A snow leopard's tail.

Recipe:

1.5 oz bourbon
0.5 oz Cynar
0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz Joey Sunshine's Maple Simple Syrup (below)

0.5 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

-add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice; shake until chilled
-strain into chilled double old fashioned glass over fresh ice

-garnish with lemon twist and a cocktail cherry

Joey Sunshine's Maple Simple Syrup:

2 cups grade A dark maple syrup (used to be called grade B maple syrup)

1 cup water
0.5 Tbsp black peppercorns
0.5 Tbsp fennel seeds

0.5 Tbsp cloves

0.5 Tbsp allspice berries
0.5 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 star anise pod

1 bay leaf

-combine all ingredients in a medium pan over medium heat.
-bring to simmer, stirring occasionally.  When liquid boils, remove from heat.

-Cool completely.  Strain out solids.  Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a month.