Sidearm

 

In the early 2000’s, San Francisco bartender Jon Santer created a drink called the Revolver.  It was a Manhattan variant that swapped out the sweet vermouth for coffee liqueur.  I got ahold of a bottle of J.Rieger Caffe Amaro (thanks, Brad!), which crosses coffee liqueur with some of the herbal and botanical flavors that make up an amaro.  The Revolver recipe didn’t showcase the amaro to full effect, so I dialed down the bourbon, upped the amaro, and added a little amaretto to bring out the coffee and almond flavors.  Some chocolate bitters rounded things out.  Now we have a Revolver variant with a much different balance and focus – the Sidearm.   
 
Sidearm
1.5 oz bourbon
1 oz  J. Rieger Caffé Amaro
0.5 oz Amaretto
2 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
-stir in a mixing glass with ice until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass.
-no garnish
 

Silvio's Algorithm

 

Story:

I love trying vintage cocktails, modern classics, and new signature drinks dreamed up by amazing bartenders.  This week’s cocktail is none of those things.  This is recipe I found on the Kindred Cocktails website, with no background or explanation.  It caught my eye because it shares some DNA with the Sharpie Mustache – the split base of gin and whiskey, sweetened/flavored by Amaro Meletti, with some additives to bring a little bitterness.  In this case that’s the Aperol and the Fernet.  I guess you could call it a distant relative of the Old Fashioned (whiskey, sugar, bitters, water), but you’d never mistake one for the other.  And why the name?  I’m guessing it’s named for Silvio Micali, an MIT professor and cryptographer whose work is the foundation of blockchain.  Who knows? 

Recipe:

1 oz gin (I used Old Tom gin)
1 oz bourbon
1 oz Amaro Meletti
0.5 oz Aperol
0.25 oz Fernet Branca
Garnish: lemon twist
-stir in a mixing glass with ice until chilled.

-strain into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass.
-express lemon twist over the drink.

Lucien Gaudin

 

Story:

This vintage cocktail was created in Paris back in the 1920’s and named for a French fencer who won gold in both the 1924 and 1928 Olympics.  It’s a Negroni variant that’s both dry and bitter but somehow very refreshing. Because it’s almost 100 years old, people have thoughts about the way they like it best.  The original used 1 ½ oz of gin (3:1:1:1 ratio), but many sources back that down to 2:1:1:1.  I found the latter a little more balanced and less gin-forward, although both are good.  I’ve also seen people put it on the rocks, which I think might thin it out too much unless you drink it quickly.

Recipe:

1 oz London dry gin
0.5 oz Campari
0.5 oz Cointreau
0.5 oz dry vermouth
Garnish: orange twist
-stir in a mixing glass with ice until chilled
-Strain into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass.
-express orange twist over the drink.

Just The Paperwork

 

Just The Paperwork

That’s right, it’s another scaffa (a mixed drink served at room temperature).  This is the last one on my “must try” list, so if it’s not your bag, just hang in there.  Just The Paperwork contains three very diverse flavors but they’re all made from grapes.  The drink has a smooth caramel note from the cognac, plus a bittersweet herbal undercurrent from the amaro, accented with citrus.  Just The Paperwork was the go-to drink for the originator while he was closing the bar and doing the paperwork (Sother Teague again – the guy knows his way around an amaro).  I sometimes go into more detail here than on the printed recipe, but in this case I found a guy who has already done the work for me here.

Just The Paperwork
0.5 oz water
1 oz Cocchi Americano
1 oz cognac
1.5 oz Amaro Nonino
2 dashes (4 shakes) orange bitters
Garnish: orange twist
-build in a rocks glass and serve neat
-express orange twist over the drink.  Drop in.

Youthful Expression

 

Story:

Ramazzotti is a kola nut Amaro with dried fruit flavors that bring to mind Dr. Pepper.  When combined with the gin and bourbon, accented by the bitters, and topped with seltzer, you end up with a riff on a Cuba Libre (run, cola, lime).  The Youthful Expression is sort of a sophisticated rum and Coke for adults.  It’s not nearly as sweet, which is nice.  And the delightful flavors make it easy to forget that the drink packs a punch.

Pouring the seltzer down the spiral of a bar spoon isn’t required, but it does appear to force the carbonation to the bottom of the glass so you’re not left trying to vertically mix the seltzer with the rest of the drink.  Sother Teague shows the technique here at 1:40.

Recipe:

1 oz London Dry gin
1 oz Ramazzotti
1 oz bourbon
2 dashes (4 shakes) Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters
Seltzer
-combine first four ingredients in a Collins or highball glass
-add ice and gently stir to chill
-top off with seltzer, pouring it down a bar spoon spiral if you have one.

Oh My Word!

 Story:

This is a variation of the Last Word cocktail.  The published recipe features green Chartreuse, an herbal liqueur which for a variety of reasons is currently tough to get in the U.S.  Instead, I made this version with DolinGènèpy le Chamois, one of the common substitutes that’s much easier to find (and more affordable).  It’s in the same ballpark as green Chartreuse, albeit with a slightly lower ABV and a little less assertive flavor.  The Oh My Word!  also omits the lime juice used in the Last Word in favor of the juice-like notes in Amaro Montenegro, bolstered by citrus bitters.  Messages are mixed as to whether lime bitters or orange bitters are best here.  I went with orange because I don’t have lime bitters.  All the components of this are shelf-stable, which is very nice for our purposes. Since it has no juice and features an amaro, you will not be stunned to learn that this is another Sother Teague cocktail.

Recipe:

0.75 oz Maraschino liqueur
0.75 oz green Chartreuse or Dolin Gènèpy le Chamois
0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro
0.75 oz Old Tom gin
2 dashes orange or lime bitters
-add all ingredients to mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled
-strain into a chilled glass

Downhill Daring

 Story:

The Downhill Daring features Punt e Mes, which is a cross between sweet vermouth and bitter herbal liqueur, aka amaro.  It’s made from a dry white wine base, dozens of herbs & spices, and quinine.  No malaria for this crowd!  This drink is a variant of the Reverse Manhattan (2 parts sweet vermouth, 1 part rye, bitters) which splits the vermouth duties between Punt e Mes and Cocchi Americano, adds a touch of Benedictine to balance all that bitterness, and uses bourbon instead of rye to avoid hogging the spotlight.  The Downhill Daring was invented by Brian Nixon of the Truxton Inn (which closed during COVID) and McClellan’s Retreat in D.C. with inspiration from other drinks dating from early in the 20^th century.  I find this one full-bodied, simultaneously sweet and bitter, with underlying hints of chocolate and root beer candy.  It’s best when cold, so don’t linger.

Recipe:

1.5 oz Punt e Mes

1.0 oz bourbon

0.5 oz Cocchi Americano apertivo 

0.25 oz Benedictine

          2 dashes Angostura bitters, 2 dashes orange bitters
           orange twist

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

-express orange twist over the drink, then use as a garnish.

Black Rock Chiller

 

Story:

This is another cocktail in the scaffa family, which are designed to be served at room temperature.  The recipe was created for the Burning Man festival because it was shelf stable and required no ice or refrigeration.  It was also intended to be cooling and refreshing despite all that.  The effect is accomplished by the Fernet Branca Menta.  For those whose Italian isn’t as good as mine, menta means “mint”.  Brenca Menta was made in the 1960’s in order to broaden the appeal of the legendarily aggressive Fernet Branca.  It’s more mild and refreshing than the original, but also too sweet on its own.  Here the Suze and tequila mellow things out and add depth to the drink.  I think of this as the polar opposite of the Tenochtitlan.  That one was cold but hot, whereas the Black Rock Chiller is room temperature but cool.

Recipe:

1 part Fernet Branca Menta

1 part Suze

1 part reposado tequila

-build the cocktail in a rocks glass and stir to mix

Bone Machine

 

Story:

This drink is kind of a trickster.  It comes at you like one of our usual bourbon cocktails – perfumed with orange and a sweet bourbon scent mixed with amaro.  The first taste keeps the charade going for a moment, then the flavor parts and you encounter the nutty, oaky, earthy flavor of the sherry.  (There is apparently a lot to know about sherry.) That foundation stays with you while the bourbon cocktail flavor makes another appearance, and long afterward.  The first taste surprised me before I knew what to expect.  I’d like another one right now. 

This drink was invented by Jeff Lyon at the Third Rail in San Francisco, which is a cocktail bar that also serves jerky.  (Here is a low-quality video of Jeff making a Bone Machine.)  I was mildly disappointed to learn that it’s just named after a Tom Waits album. 

Recipe:

1.5 oz dry sherry (the original was oloroso sherry; I used the similar amontillado sherry)

1.0 oz bourbon

0.25 oz Benedictine

0.5 oz Amaro Nonino

2 dashes orange bitters,  1 dash angostura bitters

-add all ingredients to mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled

-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice

-express orange twist over the drink and drop it in

Tenochtitlan

 

Story:

This surprisingly delightful drink features reposado tequila, which differs from blanco (silver) tequila in that it’s aged in oak barrels for up to a year to give it a subtle complexity.  The cocktail starts with a lovely burst of orange scent.  The sip is cool and you get the toasty, mellow flavor of the reposado tequila, smoothed by the vermouth.  Only then does the heat from the Ancho Reyes liqueur announce itself quietly, ramping up after you swallow and take a breath.  I waited after each sip for that pleasant burn to subside then  went back for more.  This cocktail was invented by Pilar Vree, a bartender in the Bay Area.  It's named after Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire that stood in the center of what is now Mexico City.  Here's how to pronounce it.

Recipe:

2 oz reposado tequila

0.5 oz sweet vermouth

0.5 oz Ancho Reyes chile liqueur

1 dash orange bitters

          1 dash chocolate bitters
           orange twist

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

-express orange twist over the drink, then use as a garnish.

Montgomery Smith

Story:

This cocktail is something of a journey flavor-wise.  The aroma is lemony at first, quickly followed by a note of menthol and mint.  A sip takes you through into caramel, then Benedictine-style honey and herbs, a bit of chocolate, and finally back out through the menthol.  It was invented by Nate Dumas, a bartender at PDT speakeasy bar in New York, in 2007.  I can’t find why the drink is named as it is other than a vague story that Dumas was challenged by a fellow bartender to make a drink with that name.    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Recipe:

2.0 oz Cognac (VSOP or VS)

0.5 oz Benedictine

0.25 oz Fernet Branca

          garnish: lemon twist

-add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice; stir until chilled
-strain into a chilled coupe or other cocktail glass

-express lemon twist over the drink, then use to garnish.

Precision Timepiece

 

Story:

Well this was indeed a surprise.  I didn’t have any experience with Jägermeister before buying a bottle a few weeks ago after learning that it’s an amaro.  I was also reminded that it’s made in Germany by the Mast family (no close relation that I’m aware of), so I had to try it out.  Once again it was my guy Sother Teague to the rescue.  You’ll recognize this as a version of the Waterproof Watch with Jägermeister instead of gin.  It’s got a ton of vanilla, orange, and root beer vibes.  You’ll also notice the pimento bitters in there.  When I hear “pimento” I think of those red things they stuff into olives, but in fact this use of the word pimento is another term for allspice.  

Recipe:

1.5 oz Jägermeister

0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro

0.75 oz Aperol

2 dashes Dale Degroff’s Pimento Bitters (4 shakes of the bottle)

          garnish: orangetwist

-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 drop in or discard.

How Do I Compare?

 Story:

This drink is a Scaffa, which is a class of cocktails served at room temperature.  They've been around for some time, making an early appearance in Jerry Thomas's classic Bartender's Guide from the 1860's.  Apparently there is some debate about where the name came from -- some think it's based on the Italian word for "cupboard".  Scaffa cocktails were popular when ice was harder to come by, and lately made a bit of a comeback when bartenders were preparing shelf-stable cocktails for carryout during the COVID.
This drink surprised me initially, but I suppose it’s not much different than drinking a spirit neat.  The How Do I Compare has notes of both apples (from the brandy and bitters) and oranges (from the Cointreau and twist).  Our old friend Benedictine also makes an appearance, binding everything together with an herbal honey undercurrent.  It’s fun tasting the different layers of this cocktail. It comes as no surprise that it’s a strong drink, so take your time unpacking each sip.
This is another Sother Teague recipe, by the way.

Recipe:

0.75 oz bourbon

0.75 oz apple brandy

0.5 oz Benedictine

0.25 oz Cointreau

2 dashes apple bitters (4 shakes of the bottle)

          garnish: orange twist

-add all ingredients to a rocks glass without ice.  Stir briefly.

-express orange twist over the drink, then discard