Nightmare and Nightmare Abbey (Revisited)

Nightmare: 

The Nightmare cocktail with its unusual mix of gin, Madiera and cherry brandy rises again from the recesses of lost cocktail lore. I've found no mention as to why the drink has this name. Nor is there a satisfying origin story that explains the darkness of this creation. For this iteration, I modernized it a little and tried to fit it into a Halloween theme.

The Nightmare is good; a wine and rich cherry brandy-forward kind of drink provided you use a dry gin like Roku as I did. This is a modern tasting gin with green tea and cherry blossom flavors. These play well with the aromatics of the drink. I also decided that the teaspoon of orange juice gave me license to make a bat-shaped orange twist garnish. This isn't hard with a little artistic vision and a sharp knife. I might have gotten carried away, but I encourage you to do so as well. It's not everyday we get to enjoy a nightmare.

• 2 oz. gin (Roku used)
• 1 oz. Madeira (a rainwater medium recommended)
• 1 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1 tsp. fresh squeezed orange juice
• bat-shaped orange zest

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir (yes, Stir! This drink looks better without cloudiness of shaking) and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the bat-shaped zest.

Nightmare Abbey:

It stands to reason that the unusual addition of Madiera in a drink like the Nightmare would have a derivative using Dubonnet Rouge, the bittersweet French wine aperitif with the bold red color. This drink very nearly approximates a mashup of the Abbey cocktail and the Nightmare but uses the Dubonnet in place of the Lillet Blanc.

It also turns out that this drink might be named after the 19th century Gothic comedy novel by the same name. There's something appropriate about a rich, red cherry and wine cocktail. Here, MurLarkey's ImaGination, even in its small proportion, stands out as herbaceous and bitter behind all that sweetness. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
• 1 oz. gin (ImaGination used)
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Heering 
• 1 oz. orange juice (pulp free recommended)

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

Cloister (Revisited)

I wanted to try the Cloister again with yellow Chartreuse instead of the green stuff. I have to say it makes a big difference and I really liked how sweet (not bitter) and refreshing the drink became with the change. Yellow Chartreuse has more honey and a lower proof, which is nice. I also used fresh squeezed grapefruit juice for this so it is really yummy and balanced now that I have all the right ingredients.

• 2 oz. gin (Filibuster Dual Cask used)
• 1/2 oz. yellow Chartreuse
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar

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

Friar Tuck

This drink is an obvious nod to the Robin Hood tales' drunken friar. It's even more obvious with its use of Frangelico, the monk-shaped bottle with the rope belt like a Franciscian friar would wear.

Then all semblance of a monkish cocktail vanish when crushed ice, grenadine and citrus turn this cocktail into a sort of nutty tasting tiki. And it's a good one to know. How many Frangelico cocktails are out there that are not creamy dessert drinks? Almost none.

• 2 oz. Frangelico
• 2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. grenadine
•  orange slice

Combine all liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass, garnish with orange slice. 

Presbyterian

The Presbyterian might just fit into the religious class of cocktails like the Bishop and the Cardinal. But this mix of bourbon, soda and ginger ale is really hinting at a broader appeal, the simple tastes of a sect of Christians who take their bourbon with soda and ginger ale.

In the photo is a painted depiction of an academic building at the College of Wooster, a formerly Scottish Presbyterian college and my alma mater. I have Cleveland Bourbon featured in memory of those late night trips from Wooster to Cleveland where we learned about life in a real city.

• 3 oz. bourbon 
• club soda
• ginger ale

 Build drink in a highball glass with bourbon and ice. Top with soda and ginger ale and stir gently. 

Bishop

The Bishop belongs to the clerical "Monkish" class of cocktails like the Cardinal, the Abbey, and the Cloister that usually use French spirits and fresh juices. Bishop is unusual in that it is a red wine cocktail and therefore very much weaker.

I've never seen a Bishop drink, but mixing juice and wine is very much the thing among priests, it seems. One in particular used to top a glass of lemonade with merlot. The Bishop is more sophisticated. It calls for cabernet sauvignon or full bodied red wine. Apothic Red fits the bill.

• 2 oz. lemon juice
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 4 oz. cabernet sauvignon or full bodied red wine
• 1 tsp. sugar
• lemon slice
• orange slice

Cardinal

Not the bird as much as the the bright red-robed Catholic clergy. The Cardinal is one of the class of Monkish drinks that have nothing in common except for their related names (Sanctuary, Abby, Cloister, Bishop, etc.) This one is very different in that it is the only one of these drinks with amaretto in it.

I can't say enough good things about this drink. It has that great combination of lime juice and triple sec and enough white rum to make it tropical, but amaretto makes it fit into that class of drinks like the Cloister that make use of richly flavored Central European liqueurs. Lazzaroni is very classic amaretto with an angelic marzipan cookie flavor that you really notice in this drink.

• 2 oz. white rum
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. amaretto
• 1 oz. lime juice
• lime slice

Combine all ingredients except lime slice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime slice.

Culross

Ok, so there's a village in Scotland with this drink's name and it's not a scotch drink. But more importantly there is an abbey in the village, so I'm thinking this one belongs to the "Monkish" category of Lillet and Dubonnet drinks along with the Abbey, Nightmare Abbey, Sanctuary, and Cloister (coming soon). Definitely do this one. A note on the garnish, I love how dried apricot tastes with apricot brandy cocktails, so if you have any Turkish apricots, garnish away.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. apricot brandy
• 1/2 oz. Lillet blanc
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

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