Mexi-Gin Martini (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

With all the parts of this cocktail that are not Martini ingredients, this Mexican-themed Martini is very much what it says. Yes, it is basically a Martini with ingredients added, but it is so much more than that. 

Mezcal, celery bitters and alpine spirit really lift the standard Gin Martini to new and more festive heights. The flavor of the Mexi-Gin Martini is very Mexican, similar to tequila Martinis I've had at nicer Mexican restaurants in D.C. It's super herbal with a little burn of jalapeno-infused blanco tequila. Mezcal itself adds to herbal and fruity flavors, and it helps to have a heavily botanical gin like ImaGination from MurLarkey to carry off the gin portion of the cocktail.  

Finally celery bitters is the lifting effect that bridges the connection between dry Martini and fruity tasting spirits. Celery adds earthiness as well as additional herbal boost to hold together juniper from the gin and smokey mezcal by Del Maguey. 

• 2 oz. dry gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used)
• 1/2 oz. Dolin dry vermouth
• 1/4 oz. Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal
• 1/4 oz. jalapeno-infused blanco tequila
• 1/4 oz. Green Chartreuse (Dolin Genepy used)
• 1 dash celery bitters

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

Le Subtil (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Subtle is a good way to describe this drink. It isn't the kind of cocktail that beats you over the head with bitterness or spicy gin. Spirits like genever and Cardamaro are soft. Any spicy notes they carry are smoothed out by aging. The genius of Le Subtil comes from finding that sweet balance of these ingredients that don't especially assert themselves too strongly, then boosting them with lifting bitters like hopped grapefruit.

I got this Fee Brothers' grapefruit bitters to make this cocktail, since I couldn't find Bittermen's hopped grapefruit bitters. I know from past experience that a dash of my own celery bitters gives a drink hoppy notes of bitter flowers very similar to hops. The experience, once you twist grapefruit peal on top, is a drink with a no grapefruit juice that smells and tastes like a grapefruit juice drink but rich with all the other spirits. The Bols barrel-aged genever has the oak, malt and juniper that fits right in with cardamom of Cardamaro, which also has other bitter herbs. The Antica Formula vermouth (which the recipe calls for but I am using a Cocchi product with a similar profile) is rich with quinine and oak as well. And it all floats upward with citrus notes at first sip and at the finish. 

• 2 oz. Bols Genever (barrel aged used)
• 1/2 oz. Cardamaro
• 1/2 oz. Carpano Antica Formula vermouth (Cocchi Dopo Teatro used)
• 2 dashes Bittermen's hopped grapefruit bitters (Fee Brothers' grapefruit bitters and homemade celery bitters used)
• grapefruit twist

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with the grapefruit twist.

Straw Dog (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

The Straw Dog is Death & Co.'s update on the Bloodhound, a blended gin Strawberry Daiquiri with vermouth. Granted, the Bloodhound is kind of an anomaly of the Disco Era of cocktails where fresh fruit was used, but other ingredients were strange and often poorly matched with them. The Straw Dog un-does a lot of the harms of its predecessor.

Death & Co. used Compass Box Asyla Scotch as their base for its round scotchyness. I'd do the same, except I found a nice single malt from Speyburn--10 years old, even! And this was a good move because Speyburn's softness translates like mild whiskey. You really notice the Dolin Blanc more than the scotch.

The other change I made was out of necessity. I don't have, nor can I make, hopped grapefruit bitters. My substitute was two dashes rhubarb-lemon bitters (because these will do the lifting job of the grapefruit), and one of celery bitters (because of their binding earthiness). 

• 1 strawberry
• 1 1/2 oz. Compass Box Asyla Scotch (Speyburn 10-year old used)
• 1 oz. Dolin blanc
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 1 dash Bittermans hopped grapefruit bitters. (2 dashes rhubarb-lemon and 1 dash celery bitters used)
• 1/2 strawberry garnish
  

Gently muddle 1 strawberry in a shaker tin. Then add ice and the remaining ingredients except the half strawberry and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with the strawberry half.

Slap 'N' Pickle (Death & Co. Recipe)

Okay, this is the innovative akvavit cocktail from Death & Co. that I've been looking for. It's the first time that I've seen akvavit used with cucumber garnishes and muddled cucumber. Despite the name, there is nothing pickled in this cocktail: these are fresh cucumbers. It is the pickling seeds like fennel, coriander, and anise in the akvavit, and the celery bitters that give this drink its pickled character.

I had already prepared a few of the staple ingredients for this recipe. The first is my homemade akvavit with MurLarkey Justice white whiskey. And I have to say, once you learn to make your own akvavit, it is cheaper and better than the main brands, whatever may be available to you. And mostly you won't find much selection. I also found that making your own celery bitters is very easy and doesn't require gentian root. Just get a tsp. of celery seeds and some bits of chopped celery leaves and stalk and steep them in 100-proof vodka. The longer you steep them, the more bitter they get!

It feels like ten years ago that muddling cucumbers into a shaker was going out of style, but this drink's gimic, if you can call it that, is to put a cucumber spear in the glass to make it look like a pickle. I know why this is done; however, and it isn't for flavor. People at the bar will be wondering and asking about it, so the drink advertises itself.

• 3 cucumber wheels
• 2 oz. akvavit (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1 tsp. grenadine
• 2 dashes celery bitters (homemade used)
• 1 cucumber spear garnish

Muddle 3 cucumber wheels in the shaker tin and add the remaining ingredients except for the garnish cucumber. Shake and double strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with the cucumber spear. 

 

Over and Out (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Death & Co. are renowned for their innovative cocktails back when there were none to be had. Their recipe book includes four akvavit recipes that are all winners; however, this one seems less innovative then the others. 

It's a well known fact that akvavit tastes great with tequila and citrus flavors like orange and grapefruit juice. The unusual part of this recipe is swapping out the typical juice with watermelon. Luckily, it being winter, Blue Monkey makes an excellent fresh watermelon juice in a can just for this occasion. 

Then I couldn't find celery bitters at the liquor store, so I quickly made them the night before: 3 tsp. celery seeds, 1 tsp. chopped celery leaves and an oz. of vodka. Allow to infuse for at least 3 hours.

This drink tastes so much of summer, it is hard to express. And I really wanted to have a summer drink in the middle of a snow storm. Sometimes our preferences are oppositional to our surroundings, which is what cocktails are all about. 

• 1 oz. blanco tequila (Sauza used)
  
• 1 oz. akvavit (homemade with MurLarkey Justice white whiskey used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 3/4 oz. watermelon juice (Blue Monkey used)
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
• 1 dash celery bitters
• 1 dash orange bitters 

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.