Circe (Original Recipe)

 

It stands to reason that a Calypso cocktail needs a companion cocktail named Circe. These are the exotic demi-gods of Homer's Odyssey and the only women that delay Odysseus on his journey home from Troy. 

The Calypso cocktail is very Tiki and is loaded with pineapple juice, rum and spiced with falernum and nutmeg. I went in a different direction for Circe--not as sweet and a little challenging. Lime and grapefruit juice keep it tart while MurLarkey three tea whiskey and my homemade allspice dram shift the bitter and spice notes to other tropical islands.

The combination is seductive but a little bit tart, just like Circe. The half-submerged grapefruit twist garnish hints at things lurking beneath the dark sea.

• 1 oz. white rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1 oz. MurLarkey three tea whiskey
• .5 oz. allspice dram
• .5 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Cherry and grapefruit twist garnishes

 Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a grapefruit twist and cherry speared on a cocktail pick.

 

Island Iced Tea

You've heard of the Long Island Iced Tea, the drink that puts you on your ass mainly because its recipe has grown to include almost everything on the bottom rail of the bar and sour mix (not iced tea, anyway) and a splash of coke. This is the same idea but with fewer ingredients--a nice trick if you are a bartender and trying to save yourself a few touches on bottles. That's not to say there aren't a few touches on rums--its an island drink after all. But there are a few differences that taste more craft than triple sec and rail tequila.

My new secret is MurLarkey three tea whiskey: all the flavor of tea but with an alcoholic punch for your punch. It is made from English breakfast, Darjeeling and Earl Gray teas, and I have to say I love the balance between the three in their latest batch. Not too much tannin, but plenty of malty notes that carry your iced tea cocktail to the next level. 

• 1 oz. light rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1/2 oz. dark rum (George Bowman used)
• 2 oz. MurLarkey three tea whiskey
• 1 tsp. falernum 
• 1 dash lemon juice
• 1 dash 151-proof rum
• 2 oz. water
  
• lemon slice and mint sprig

Combine liquid ingredients except dashes of rum and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass full of fresh ice. Top with water and stir, then add dashes of rum and lemon juice and garnish.

The Gift Shop (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Cucumber seems to be a common ingredient in summer drinks at Death & Co. And that makes a lot of sense. Cucumber has a way of brightening and lending body to juicy drinks that may otherwise require more sweetener and fall flat or heavy on the palate. 

What surprises me is cucumber used in a Cardamaro and Tiki-style cocktail with Angostura bitters and light rum. Needless to say that all of this is possible due to the exacting proportions of the recipe. Death & Co.'s recommendation with all muddling is also helpful. Never overmuddle; you can easily bruise the ingredients and cause them to go bitter or jammy in the mouth. I've learned so much from their cocktail book--I bet I've covered half of the cocktails in the book at this point. 

• 3 cucumber wheels
• 2 oz. white rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1/2 oz. Cardamaro
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 3 cucumber wheels garnish

Muddle 3 cucumber wheels in the shaker tin before adding the remaining ingredients and ice. Shake and double strain into an Old Fashioned glass with a large-format ice cube. Fan the cucumber slices as garnishes.

Maggie Smith (Death & Co. Recipe)

This cocktail is named after the famed British actor, though I wonder how much Maggie Smith enjoyed pisco or even Daiquiris for that matter. It does seem a bit like a custom classic cocktail that a Dame might appreciate, though I've not heard any apocryphal story about a bartender coming up with the recipe for her like there is with Greta Garbo. 

Anyway, this is my first time trying Capel pisco from Chile. The thing about Chilean pisco is that every label tastes different and the flavor swings from fruit brandy to whisky to vodka. Capel is very close to vodka, which is fine, but it doesn't do much for changing the flavor of this drink. 

I've got a few of my own ingredients here as well. I have homemade Mandarine Napoleon and orgeat, though they are in bottles that appear to have the proper brands on them. 

Finally, I want to mention Mt. Defiance rum as an exceptional Virginia rum that makes a damn good Daiquiri. It's pretty amazing just how light yet complex their white rum's flavor actually is. 

• 1 oz. pisco (Capel used)
• 1 oz. white rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1/2 oz. orange liqueur (homemade Mandarine Napoleon used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/4 oz. orgeat (homemade used)
• 1 tsp honey syrup
• lime wheel garnish

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

Get Lucky (Death & Co. Recipe)

There's a lot to like about Get Lucky. It is bountiful and pretty, to start with: crushed ice and muddled blackberries. Then there's sweetening ginger and honey syrup and orgeat. Balance all of that with citrus bitters and lemon juice. The flavor is familiar and comforting, the recipe is a little outside the ordinary, and I love it. 

Some fun changes I had to make include flavoring my simple syrup with ginger brandy that I made over the winter and using Mt. Defiance rum. This rum is as good as you can ask for in a small batch, colonial style white rum. It is rich on flavor but mixes well with a flavor of cooked brown sugar and a hint of ginger in the finish. 

• 3 blackberries
• 2 oz light rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/4 ginger syrup (simple with ginger brandy added)
• 1/4 oz. orgeat
• 1/4 acacia honey syrup
• peychaud's bitters garnish

Muddle blackberries in a pilsner glass. Fill with crushed ice. In a shaker combine the remaining ingredients except for bitters and shake until incorporated. Strain into the pilsner glass and dash Peychaud's bitters on top of the ice. 

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Greta Garbo (Difford's Guide Recipe)

There's a few cocktails out there dedicated to actress Greta Garbo. This one is the first I've seen that doesn't use Swedish punsch. It is based on the Daiquiri, with hints of almond and anise, so it has a very classical profile. The lack of Swedish punsch makes me think that this Greta Garbo is something the actress might have enjoyed, rather than just being a gimic to sell Swedish punsch.

Difford's Guide does not supply any origin story or apocryphal anecdote about the creation of this cocktail other than to link it with Garbo and mention that it is one of many. 

I like what anise and the suggestive anise star garnish does to a classic Daiquiri's flavor. There is something Parisian or continental about this cocktail that has the feel of 1920s films. The presentation is beautiful and the flavors perfectly balanced. You will want to have more than one of these.

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/6 oz. Pernod (Ricard used)
• anise star garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the anise star. 

 

Forbidden Daiquiri (Original Recipe)

 

Drinkers of Hemingway Daiquiris love how grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur really change the direction of the classic Caribbean cocktail. But what if you don't have grapefruit? The answer lies in Forbidden Fruit, a liqueur that was invented to preserve grapefruit flavor in cognac.

Back in the days before air transportation, Europeans couldn't always get fresh grapefruit juice. Forbidden Fruit was a popular French liqueur right up until modern canning facilities were able to pump out canned juices. By the time grapefruit were being farmed in the U.S. and flown around the world, Forbidden Fruit had already disappeared from bars. 

This Daiquiri hearkens back to the time when fresh fruit and such luxuries as tropical drinks were in short supply but good spirits were not. It was almost like the Daiquiri was "forbidden," not by any kind of decree but by scarcity of ingredients. 

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. Forbidden Fruit liqueur (homemade used) 
• 1/2 tsp. maraschino liqueur
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
  

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

Moonraker

 

This cocktail can't be named after anything but the Roger More as Bond film of the 70s, and that makes me wonder. There is nothing about this cocktail that strays from classic ingredients, so the association with a movie that is notable for being far-fetched and space-age doesn't pan. Perhaps it was only a product of its time, like all cocktails, and the fact that it may be trying to riff on the Moonlight--the first drink I made with Laird's Applejack 86. 

But this drink is a much more advanced design compared to the apple brandy Sour that the Moonlight was once upon a time. It is blended to a thick slush with rum and falernum thrown in for heat and spice and served in a globe-shaped glass with an apple slice. 

For this recipe, I'm proud to show off my homemade falernum in a new bottle with a vintage label. I'm also excited to have used Mt. Defiance light rum for the first time. This rum is richly flavored and yet blends well with other spirits. It's the perfect Daiquiri rum when you want more than a lime juice Sour drink--you want it to taste like the Caribbean. Falernum, a spiced rum and juice spirit normally associated with the Caribbean as well, is a shorthand here for apple pie spice. Altogether, this cocktail tastes familiar--and very good--despite its disparate parts. It looks even better. 

• 1 1/2 oz. applejack (Laird's 86 used)
• 3/4 oz. light rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. orgeat or falernum (homemade falernum used)
• apple slice garnish

Combine liquid ingredients with cracked ice in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a chilled squall glass (large stemless wine glass pictured). Garnish with the apple slice.