The Crow's Bar

Not much to say about this one. My experience with sherry is quite limited, I would like more, this seemed appealing.

1 1/2 oz amontillado (Doña Luisa, I was at Trader Joe's)

1/2 oz Jamaican rum (Appleton 12)

1/4 oz apricot brandy (Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot)

3/4 oz lemon juice (fresh)

1/2 oz simple syrup (Portland Syrups)

Shake on ice, strain, serve up.

This is quite tasty! The amontillado and apricot brandy are what comes through most clearly. I cannot taste the rum and lemon very well, but there's a distinct sense that I'd notice them missing. The result is a complicated but sherry forward drink, that remains quite bright despite that. It's a fun time.

Recipe from:

One of my recent favorites has been the classic Corpse Reviver No. 2. It's a playful, biting drink that is the epitome of balance, and one of those flavors that is indescribable except to taste it yourself.

And today I saw some maniac suggest switching the gin and the absinthe. I was intrigued.

3/4 oz absinthe (Lucid)

3/4 oz St. Germain

3/4 oz Lillet Blanc

3/4 oz lemon juice (fresh)

Dash gin (Drumshanbo)

Rinse glass with gin and discard. Shake all other ingredients with ice, strain, serve up. Garnish with lemon twist.

Holy shit. That was my first thought. I love the Corpse Reviver No. 2 and this blows it clear out the water. Using absinthe as the leading note may seem more bold than it was wise, but it pays off beautifully. All the other ingredients work expertly to accentuate the beauty of the absinthe, and they neither let it overwhelm the drink or overwhelm it in turn. And there's just a lovely tail of pure absinthe that tingles the tongue. Lucid's a decent absinthe, my workhorse, but I think this one would really be hurt by an inferior, cheap absinthe, so use a good bottle. That aside, this is one of my new favorites.

Recipe (very lightly modified) from:

I don't drink as much as my ownership of this blog probably implies. I've got a long list of drinks to make, and it grows far more quickly than it shrinks, because I do not move through it very fast. When something gets added, it might be a month or two before I get around to it, and that's if it's particularly exciting.

And occasionally I see a drink so interesting it skips right to the front of the line. Enter the Black Lily.

1.5 oz of Cointreau

1 oz Fernet Branca

3/4 oz lime juice (fresh)

Shake on ice, strain, serve up.

Cointreau as the leading ingredient. Wild, huh? Apparently this comes from an employee at Rémy Cointreau, which explains a lot.

Results in one hoot of a drink. It's not great (not bad, to be clear!) but it's fascinating, which is the next best thing. The Cointreau serves as a good base, and the Fernet actually somehow serves as a moderating influence. Crazy, crazy, crazy. But worth making.

Recipe from:

Confession time! I've had about three Gin & Tonics in my entire life until tonight. I like gin plenty, even a cursory read of my other stuff will prove that. Hell, before I really discovered my love of rum, gin was my go-to.

There just always seemed to be something more interesting to do with it! It was just what I got when I didn't trust the bar at a wedding reception. But I bought some Drumshambo tonight, mostly on a lark, and decided now was the time to figure out the big deal.

2 oz gin (Drumshambo)

6 oz tonic (Fever Tree Premium)

Mix in glass with ice. Garnish with lime wedge.

Well, I get the big deal now! Took me one sip that almost involuntarily became a swig. I don't think I have ever had a more refreshing drink. The Drumshambo is lovely, was worth the price of admission, and it holds up perfectly with the tonic.

Another yellow drink! No Cointreau this time, though. This one's been floating around my 'to make' list for some months, and it seemed the most appealing option on it tonight.

1 1/2 oz gin (No. 3 London Dry)

1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse

1 dash orange bitters (Feegan's)

Stir with ice, strain, serve up. Garnish with lemon twist.

Imagine gin and yellow chartreuse. Imagine how they would taste together. That's the Alaska. It is not a bad drink, but it is so exactly the sum of its parts. There are worse things to be, especially if you bring a decent gin to the table, but it's pretty boring. Suppose it might make a fun martini variation if for some reason you have yellow chartreuse to waste.

Recipe from:

Two very yellow drinks with cointreau in them tonight. A coincidence, I promise.

Galliano's one of the bottles I find myself reaching for the least. If it weren't for the actual (brilliant and distinctive) bottle itself, I think it would be on far fewer counters and bar carts. Not like people still order Harvey Wallbangers. And even if they do, I'm not sure it's actually ethical to serve a Harvey Wallbanger, even to a willing subject.

But I'm a sucker for a weird drink.

1 oz white rum (Probitas)

1/2 oz Galliano

1/2 oz triple sec (Cointreau)

1/2 oz lime juice (fresh)

Shake on ice, strain, serve up.

It's an appealing color, but that's about it. It's one of those very special drinks that manages to fail even in being a disappointment. The Galliano's not helping by any means, but I was hoping it would at least be amusingly ghastly. But no, the drink just tastes like Probitas put on a strange perfume that doesn't entirely suit it.

Back to the far rear of the bar cart the Galliano goes. Better luck next time, whenever that is.

Recipe from:

I'm really starting to turn around on calvados, and as such have been keeping an eye out for interesting recipes. And, as such, I came across a really old reddit post with this cocktail, sporting a cognac/calvados split base.

3/4 oz cognac (Pierre Ferrand 1840)

3/4 oz calvados (Berneroy VSOP)

3/4 oz triple sec (Cointreau)

3/4 oz lemon juice (fresh)

Shake with ice, strain, serve up.

Very expectedly, it's brandy forward, with it being half cognac/calvados by volume. The cointreau and lemon add very evident fruit notes, resulting in a lovely mix of dry and bright. It's very much what you'd expect from looking at the recipe, but that's no problem when a recipe looks as good as this one.

Recipe from:

Man, I seem to be doing a lot of Last Word variants (and the actual Last Word) lately. It's not on purpose! There's just a thousand of them, it's a really easy drink to riff on. And so: here's the Witch Word, a Strega Last Word riff.

3/4 oz Strega

3/4 oz gin (No. 3 London Dry)

3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino

3/4 oz lime juice (fresh)

Shake on ice, strain, serve up.

I was worried about this one, but it proved me wrong. Strega and Maraschino seems like a match made in hell, but it's impressive how they cooperate here. Is it as good as a regular Last Word? No, and that's not a fault, almost nothing is. It's a spectacularly fun variation, though, the Strega leading to a gentler, more outwardly agreeable taste. Hell of a lot cheaper, too.

Recipe from:

As I mentioned in the last one, I got some Strega recently, and frankly it's been an absolute stand-out. My relationship with Yellow Chartreuse has always been a bit contentious, but I have found Strega nothing short of delightful. Underloved in general, but I think it has the chance to become a bottle I use quite frequently. For the first proper cocktail, I choose a fascinating looking one from Frederic Yarm. Also decided to put a bit more effort into the pictures; we'll see if I stick with it.

2 oz calvados (Berneroy VSOP)

3/4 oz Strega

3/4 oz lemon juice (fresh)

1/2 oz Creole Shrubb

2 dashes Peychaud's

Shake on ice, strain, serve up. Garnish with three cherries.

This one is delightful. Calvados and I have had our disagreements before, but this has made a believer of me. The flavor is fascinating. It is about as fruity as possible- you absolutely taste the apple, the orange, the lemon, each distinctly and fully. But unlike many fruity drinks, it is bone-dry, barely any sweetness to be found. The Strega provides a valuable, subtle substrate. Really complex, interesting drink.

The recipe link is not cooperating with anything, so I'll do my best:

Picked up some Genepy and Strega tonight on a whim. When I revealed this to my friends, one of them had a special request for me, and so we arrive here. A Genepy/Mezcal Last Word variant.

3/4 oz Genepy

3/4 oz mezcal (Del Maguey Vida Clásico)

3/4 oz falernum (JDT)

3/4 oz lime juice (fresh)

Shake on ice, strain, serve up.

I think the most interesting part of this drink is how surprisingly well mezcal and falernum play together. I get a strange sense of deja vu that this isn't new information to me, but I can't recall trying that combo elsewhere. The Genepy's a mild disappointment here, barely present in the flavor. As people usually say whenever Genepy's involved: it would have been better with Green Chartreuse. It's still a good time, though, and a good use of mezcal, a spirit I'm not generally inclined to use in much.

So, a day or so back I was talking with buddies about drinks, specifically the ones that people get judged for (your jägerbombs, silly fruit 'martinis', wine coolers, etc.). My position, and I'm not going to pretend it's particularly novel or heroic, is drink what you like and fuck everyone else. But that got me thinking about drinks that were slightly inaccessible, with a pronounced 'cool' or 'in-the-know' factor, however silly and useless those things are (very!).

And in that line I realized it'd been quite some time since my last Industry Sour. I'm not in the industry and will make no pretensions towards being so, so consider this stolen valor if need be.

3/4 oz Green Chartreuse

3/4 oz Fernet Branca (subbed Fernet Vittone)

3/4 oz lime juice (fresh)

1/2 oz simple syrup (Portland Syrups Cane)

3 dashes Fee Foam

Dry shake ingredients. Add ice and shake. Strain, serve up.

This is one I love. The fernet and chartreuse fight, but in a way that makes them both far more interesting, leading to a staggeringly complex flavor profile. The lime and simple don't seem to be doing a ton, but I'm sure I'd notice if they were absent. But honestly, while it's usually not something I regret doing, I think subbing Vittone for Branca here was the wrong call. Ultimate drink is missing a certain je nais se quois from what I remember of the first time. I also saw someone suggest orgeat instead of simple, which I will absolutely be trying whenever I get back around to this.

Recipe from:

Somehow, almost unthinkably, I have never actually done the Last Word here. Do I even need to? What is there to say that has not already been said? It's both (perhaps) the single most iconic drink of the cocktail renaissance that I am riding the coattails of, and the definitive green chartreuse drink. A thousand variations, none of which come close to its magisterial quality.

Oh! One thing to say, I guess. I bought some Elixir Végétal de la Grande Chartreuse to treat myself today and someone said it goes great to make a Last Word even chartreuse-ier. So I tried.

3/4 oz gin (No. 3 London Dry)

3/4 oz Green Chartreuse

3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino

3/4 oz lime juice (fresh)

2 dashes Chartreuse Vegetal

Shake on ice, strain, serve up. Garnish with maraschino cherry.

It's a Last Word. It'll be facing the Old Fashioned in the fight for the title of best cocktail, and for my money, it's gonna win. You've read people talking about the Last Word, I have nothing to add beyond saying they're right.

My only real notes are twofold: the dashes of Végétal here are completely inessential. Throws the balance off. I think a light single dash might serve better. And it is this drink alone that saves Maraschino Liqueur from being my single least favorite ingredient on my shelf. The Last Word more than justifies all the evil it does elsewhere.

So, I got a great deal done today, and decided to treat myself by picking up some Lemon Hart 151. Up until now, I've usually been using Planteray OFTD when I see a call for demerara overpoof, and while the joke that OFTD actually stands for 'oh fuck, that's delicious' holds very true, it's still... usually not what's being called for there. So, Lemon Hart 151. And a Demerara Dry Float from Smuggler's Cove to put it through its paces.

2 oz lime juice (fresh)

1/6 oz lemon juice (fresh)

1 1/2 oz passion fruit syrup (Portland Syrups)

1/4 oz demerara syrup (Liber & Co.)

1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino

1 1/2 oz demerara rum (El Dorado 15)

3/4 oz demerara overproof (Lemon Hart 151)

Shake all ingredients other than overproof with ice, strain and serve over crushed ice. Float overproof (hence the name).

This one and I just didn't get along, and somehow it wasn't the maraschino's fault this time around. Anything that calls for this much lime juice and a lemon is going to put me in a pissy mood, and the resulting drink was an unbalanced mess, drowned in passion fruit.

I saw someone talking about this drink commenting that perhaps we prize balance too highly and that there's plenty of fun drinks that aren't traditionally balanced. And that's a very good point, and more people should say it. This one still sucks though.

Recipe from Smuggler's Cove originally but I got it from:

I've made some very fancy Mai Tai's in my day. The Trader Vic Mai Tai is my go-to drink, and I'm increasingly convinced that the more precious you try to get with the recipe, the worse off you are. With the exception of added falernum, if you're feeling a bit clove-y. All of this was originally part of a joke about the adjective 'Premiere' in the title, but apparently it's just from the bar Maison Premiere, so the joke's not even funny (probably wasn't to begin with, tbh).

1 oz Rhum JM Terroir Volcanique

1/2 oz aged Caribbean blended rum (R.L. Seale 10yr)

1/2 oz orange curacao (Pierre Ferrand)

1/4 oz black rum (Hamilton Pot Still Black)

1/4 oz unaged Jamaican overproof (Wray & Nephew)

3/4 oz orgeat (Liber & Co.)

Shake with ice, strain, serve over crushed ice.

Now, let me be clear. Tasty drink. Does it taste as good as the original Mai Tai? No. Does anything? No. This is a flex drink, more than anything. "Ohoho you plebians, look at all MY bottles". Rum mixes well with other rum. Most of my favorite drinks have multiple rums mixed together. But eventually you reach a point of diminishing returns, and this is well past it. The rum flavor is more muddled than anything. Still good, but I'd have been happier just using Denizen's Merchant's Reserve, and putting everything away would have been that much less of a pain in the ass.

Recipe taken from:

Rum. Pineapple juice. Sweetener. What can go wrong?

2 oz white rum (Probitas)

1 1/2 oz pineapple juice (Trader Joe's Cold Pressed)

1/6 oz Luxardo Maraschino

1/6 oz grenadine (Liber & Co.)- might want to go up to 1/4 to get the characteristic pink

Shake on ice, strain, serve up.

What can go wrong? One thing, one singular point of failure. The maraschino, even in such small quantities, drops a chemical bomb all over every other flavor. It tastes far more like licking industrial runoff than you'd expect from the ingredient list. I know next to nothing about Ms. Mary Pickford, but surely she deserves better.

Recipe taken from:

Stumbled across this one today that checked two boxes for me. The first is that, despite it being a home bar staple for so many, I rarely find myself reaching for my Appleton 12 (not that I dislike it by any means, I'm just not as enamored as many). The second? I'm always down to try a new application of Benedictine, because it's such a hit or miss ingredient for me. It fascinates me how it finds itself almost exclusively in drinks I love or drinks I hate, never anything in the middle.

2 oz Appleton 12

1/2 oz Benedictine

1/2 oz Falernum (JDT)

1/2 oz lime juice (fresh)

Shake with ice, strain and serve over crushed ice.

This is a fun one. Very rum-forward, but with the edges rounded off enough that it should be palatable to non-rum drinkers. The Benedictine is subtle but there, adding some pleasing notes without stealing the show (the best use case for Benedictine, honestly). My favorite part, however, is going to be a bit of a hot take, bordering on heresy. This hides the barrel notes of the Appleton 12, which I have always found kind of obnoxious, and reveals the complexity of the wonderful rum at its base.

Recipe taken from:

I'm not as passionate about scotch as I am about some other types of liquor, but I'll enjoy it every now and again. I've mostly poked at single malts, and have very little experience with blended scotch. I picked up some Monkey Shoulder, and decided a Penicillin was called for.

2 oz blended scotch (Monkey Shoulder)

3/4 oz lemon juice (fresh)

3/8 oz honey syrup (GloryBee)

3/8 oz ginger syrup (Liber & Co. Fiery Ginger)

1/4 oz peated scotch (Laphroaig 10)

Shake all ingredients besides peated scotch with ice, strain and pour over ice. Float peated scotch.

The Penicillin is a modern classic for a reason. The Scotch and the ginger work in tandem to create a unique flavor and a tingling mouthfeel (probably just the ginger on that last one) that sticks with you something fierce. It's the type of drink that'll put a spring in your step.

Recipe is the Sam Ross original, by way of: