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Beverly Hills

It is a cognac day for me and here I've used Martell single distillery cognac in another California-themed drink. Everybody knows Beverly Hills. But the drink is little known. It is a strange combination of triple sec base, brandy and a taste of coffee liqueur. I chose Cointreau over plain triple sec because it is stronger and less sweet. There's plenty of sweetness in my home made coffee liqueur. Martell single distillery VS is a solid cognac, much drier than its competitors. It is a new product designed to feature the craft of a single distillery, and therefore doesn't have the roundness, that chewy flagship brand taste, of a Hennessey or Remy Martin. You do get a nice traction on the tongue that is similar to apricot juice and lemon zest. I wouldn't call it smooth, though. And maybe that is the point. Anyways, I liked this drink as a slow and luxurious sipper that combines bold fruit flavor with a little coffee, vanilla and chocolate bitterness--a real luxury.

Tropical Cocktail

It may seem antithetical to suggest a tropical cocktail that has no juices and is composed solely of liqueurs. But this drink succeeds in being tropical--a sort of liqueur Tutti Fruity with no actual fruit. It is also sweet, with creme de cacao and maraschino liqueur. That doesn't make it a bad idea. Just don't make it your first drink of the night. It is suited to a dessert, much like the liqueurs that compose it.