Pressure Drop (Death & Co. Recipe)

 Of course Death & Co. has a tribute to The Clash on their menu--I love that song. Maybe the name is also related to the clash of flavors in this cocktail. But I will say that as jarring and often bittersweet as these ingredients are on their own, they tame each other and make for a very mellow sipping cocktail that is something akin to a bitter Manhattan. The thing is, there is no whiskey in this cocktail. 

The recipe calls for Ransom Old Tom gin, which is pretty dank (and I mean that in several interpretations of the word "dank"). It has a steeped barley and botanicals note that is bitter and earthy. There's Ransom's prohibition style spirit funk that tastes like a small batch moonshine made with barley but selecting the "hearts" of the run. Then there is the malty sweetness at its core if you can stick with the jumble of flavors long enough to enjoy it. 

My own Schiedam gin is also a steeped gin using barley and grain spirits (some of which are smoked with pinewood.) My ingredients are mainly herbal botanicals like juniper, rosemary, angelica, basil, birch, crushed coriander and cardamon pods. It is a very winter spice gin and one, like ransom, you will learn to enjoy with experience. Here is how to make this gin!

For the rest of the cocktail I also had to be creative. I love Amaro Meletti, but had to recreate it as well with equal parts Strega, Don Ciccio & Figili's Ambrosia and Ramazzotti. I also substituted Dolin Dry vermouth for 

• 1 1/2 oz. Ransom Old Tom (Homemade Schiedam gin used)
• 1 oz. Amaro Meletti (equal parts Strega, Ramazzotti and Ambrosia used)
• 1/2 oz. Dolin Dry vermouth
• 1 tsp. Clear Creak pear brandy (Catoctin Creek pear brandy used)
• 1 dash angostura bitters

 Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

 

Sweet And Vicious (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Muddled fuji apples makes a great start to a whiskey drink. This is the first time I've done a muddled apple cocktail in a mixing glass. It works, but you have to use a fine strainer. 

I especially liked the way that apples and rye play together with a mild amaro and Dolin dry vermouth, which has a little bit of a green apple flavor itself. 

One note when stirring this cocktail is that you have to make sure you stir a lot. Apple pieces tend to slow down the swirl and that prevents a lot of chilling from happening. The ice doesn't melt as quickly, so stay with it and stir longer and a little harder than usual.

• 2 fuji apple slices
• 2 oz. rye (Catoctin Creek used)
• 1/2 oz. Dolin dry
• 1/2 oz. Amaro Nonino (1/4 oz. each Amer Picon and Ambrosia Apertivo used)
• 1 tsp. maple syrup
• 1 apple fan garnish

Muddle apple slices in a mixing glass before adding the remaining liquid ingredients and ice. Stir and double strain into a coupe and garnish with the apple fan. 

Pressure Drop (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This cocktail took me several attempts before I landed on a formula that seemed to work the way the original bartender intended it. That is because I often make my own ingredients, which are very close to those in the recipe but require some tweaking to get them right. 

In this case, it was necessary to emulate Meletti Amaro, that saffron and fruit rich amaro that is so pleasant by itself. Several renditions approached Meletti, but the one that worked best was equal parts (1/3 oz. each) of Strega, Amer Picon, and Aperol. 

With that problem solved, I had to pick a gin that was close to Ransom Old Tom. Fortunately I had an aged barley malt gin I made a year ago that really mimics Ransom. This is an infused vodka gin recipe that also includes barley moonshine and smokey barley whiskey. Not exactly Ransom, but the idea is still good. 

Finally, I played around with vermouth and bitters choices and settled on the original ingredients. There is only one Dolin dry and Angostura bitters. Hopefully my trick with replicating Meletti will prove helpful to others. Overall, I hope that anyone following this recipe uses as many of the specified ingredients as possible or else risk making a few "off" examples to drink. Really, though, is that so bad.

• 1 1/2 oz. Ransom Old Tom gin (homemade Schiedam gin used)
• 1 oz. Amaro Meletti (1/3 oz. each of Strega, Amer Picon and Aprol used)
• 1/2 oz. Dolin dry vermouth
• 1 tsp. Clear Creek Pear Brandy (Catoctin Creek Pear Brandy used)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass. 

Manhattan Transfer (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

I'm still in a Manhattan mood and trying new variations of that classic, this time with rye, Ramazzotti and dry vermouth. It turns out that Ramazzotti is one of the ingredients in my homemade Amer Picon, which is mostly an infusion of oranges in MurLarkey Justice white whiskey. So I used Amer Picon to carry off the Ramazzotti flavor needed for the drink and inadvertently made a variation of the Brooklyn cocktail. 

I'm sure the Brooklyn was the inspiration for the Manhattan Transfer, but having no Amer Picon, they used Ramazzotti and the rest is history. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Catoctin Creek Distiller's Edition rye
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin used)
• 1 oz. Ramazzotti (homemade Amer Picon used)
• 1 dash orange bitters (Hella used)

 Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Soul Clench (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This grape and grapefruit spirit cocktail has everything but juice. There's pisco and vermouth for the main notes, but accents of elderflower and spice from St-Germain and falernum. 

There is also an unusual ingredient known as Combier Pamplemousse Rose Liqueur. This is made from the juice and peel of grapefruit steeped in cognac--and it's lovely. I knocked it off with the peel of one grapefruit and one ounce of its juice infused into 2 oz. of vodka and one oz. of cognac for about twelve hours. A lovely taste and very brilliant, but I only made enough for two drinks. 

• 2 oz. pisco (Capel used)
• 3/4 oz. Dolin dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Combier Pamplemousse Rose Liqueur (homemade used: see above)
• 1/2 oz. oz. St-Germain
• 1/4 oz. falernum (homemade used)
• 1 grapefruit twist garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass full of ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the grapefruit peel over the glass and drop it in. 

Schuman's Alley (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

The name is a nod to Tin Pan Alley. This cocktail amounts to an embellished Upside Down Martini. All the usual characters appear, from blanco and Americano vermouth to yellow Chartreuse. Of course there's the gin--MurLarkey ImaGination--and a dash of allspice and grapefruit bitters. It's a hit squad of flavors in a rich and fruity wincocktail that takes longer to drink than you'd expect. 

This drink, like any Martini, benefits from lifting bitters with citrus and spice. These minute ingredients help other flavors rise to the surface. Some changes to the recipe in my home bar are to be expected for bitters. My allspice dram isn't especially bitter, but I figured it would be fine. The Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters aren't hopped like the Death & Co. recipe specifies, but a dash of my homemade celery bitters has a similar effect to the hops and I often use celery and grapefruit in tandem to mimic hops and citrus. 

• 3/4 oz. contratta vermouth bianco (Dolin blanc used)
• 3/4 oz. Dolin dry vermouth
• 3/4 oz. Cocchi Americano
• 1 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used)
• 1 dash Bittermens hopped grapefruit bitters (1 dash Fee Brothers grapefruit and 1 dash celery bitters used)
• 1 dash Dale Degroff's pimento bitters (homemade allspice dram used)
• 1 lemon twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass (coupe shown). Twist the lemon peel over the drink, roll it up and skewer it on a cocktail pick and drop it in.