Bananarac

 

Story

New York bartending legend Phil Ward espouses what he calls the Mr. Potato Head approach to cocktail creation.  “My theory is that every template of a good drink is a blueprint for other good drinks, so you just take it apart and put it back together.”  Natasha David, whom we have met in this space before, adopted that approach while working with Ward.  Her Bananarac cocktail is of course a modification of the New Orleans classic Sazerac.  The Peychaud’s bitters is gone, replaced by the always amazing Giffard Banane du Bresil, which brings natural banana notes to the drink.  Other Sazerac characteristics like the absinthe rinse and the absence of ice remain, but this variant is very much its own thing.  I made a slight modification by swapping out Cognac for Armagnac.  Both are brandies made from French grapes, but Armagnac incorporates multiple type of grapes and is only distilled once.  As a result, it has a more rich and complex flavor than the smooth, refined cognac.  I think it works really well in this fabulous drink. 

Recipe

1 oz Armagnac or Cognac
1 oz rye (Rittenhouse)
0.5 oz banana liqueur (Giffard Banane du Bresil)
0.5 tsp Demerara Gum syrup  (simple syrup works in a pinch)
1 dash aromatic bitters (Angostura or Bitter Truth Aromatic bitters)
Absinthe rinse

-Rinse chilled old fashioned glass with absinthe and dump.
-Stir other ingredients over ice, strain into glass.  Express lemon twist and discard.

A Coy Decoy

 

Story

As we know, many tiki drinks feature blends of multiple rums to achieve certain flavor profiles.  Don the Beachcomber famously said, “What one rum can’t do, three rums can.”  Modern gins also incorporate a variety of interesting flavors and can benefit from this blending approach.  Bartender Chris Coy of the Indianapolis bar The Inferno Room employs this strategy in A Coy Decoy.  Uncle Val’s Botanical Gin is an American gin that features cucumber flavors along with herbs and traditional juniper. By combining that with a traditional London Dry gin, Coy adds a subtle twist to this tiki-inspired cocktail.  Pineapple and citrus bring in a bright tiki vibe – I’m particularly fond of the Giffard grapefruit liqueur, which seems to make everything better.  Aromatic bitters would take things in an unexpected direction, so instead the cocktail uses a citrus-based bitters to support the theme.  You can top this with mint if you like, but I drink it without a garnish.  Repeatedly.  Cheers!

Recipe

1 oz London dry gin (Fords or Beefeater)
0.5 oz cucumber-forward gin (Uncle Val’s or Hendricks)
0.75 oz grapefruit liqueur (Giffard crème de Pamplemousse)
0.75 oz pineapple juice
0.75 oz lime juice
4 drops citrus bitters (Bittercube Grapefruit Hibiscus or Bittermens Boston Bittahs)

-shake with pebble or cracked ice.  Dump into a tall glass.  Top with additional ice.

Bitter Mai Tai

 

Story

Well, shoot.  As I’ve said before, I tend toward dogmatic when it comes to cocktail names.  The classic example is the Wisconsin Old Fashioned, which is a completely different drink than an Old Fashioned.  If you make a different thing, my thinking goes, give it a different name.  The Mai Tai is classic tiki drink that’s rum, lime juice, orgeat, and orange liqueur.  Trader Vic didn’t publish the recipe for this fantastically popular cocktail for 30 years, leaving others to try and recreate it using guesswork.  That, along with the simplicity and flexibility of the recipe, have made it one of the most riffed-upon cocktails in all of tiki.  A little tweak here and there, and sure, maybe you still have a Mai Tai.  But when a third of the drink is Campari???  Nope.

Unfortunately for my inner curmudgeon, I really like this concoction.  It’s bitter and citrusy, with almost a grapefruit character.  Its bright pink color belies the long astringent tail.  And the cocktail, invented by Brooklyn bartender Jeremy Ortel, is well-established, so I can’t just change the name.  Well, Bitter Mai Tai it is then.  I’ll have another.  Cheers!

Recipe

 1.5 oz Campari
0.75 oz Jamaican rum (I used Smith & Cross)
0.75 oz orgeat
0.5 oz orange liqueur (I used Pierre Ferrand dry curacao)
1 oz lime juice
-Shake ingredients with a cup of crushed or pebbly ice.  Dump into old fashioned glass, then fill with additional ice.  Optional: garnish with a sprig of mint.