Fix Me Up (Death & Co. Recipe)

I remember when trying this rich and beautiful drink that a Fix is any way to take a spirit into a more comfortable zone with sugar and juice. This was a departure from most Fixes that are sort of crushed ice and pineapple variations on a Sour. In fact, I feel like the overarching flavor is nuttiness from almond orgeat and amontillado sherry. 

Catoctin Creek Roundstone rye is pretty nutty and dry itself. I'd make a Fix with it anytime. This was an excellent use of a high-proof rye as I've ever seen. The presentation is very simple but elegant, and that is why Death & Co. is regarded as a pioneer in reviving the classic cocktail-serving speakeasy.

• 1 oz. rye (Catoctin Creek Roundstone used)
• 1 1/2 oz. amontillado (Alexandro sherry used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 3/4 oz. orgeat (Fee Brothers used)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 3/4 oz. club soda

Combine all ingredients except club soda in a shaker with three ice cubes. Shake and strain into a snifter with one large ice cube. Pour the soda in on top. 

 

Cinnamon Girl (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Cheers to Eric Clapton! Cinnamon and Caribbean spirits are in the driver's seat for this cocktail like none I've tried before. It's rare that a recipe combines rum and tequila in this way, and rarer still that it stands alone from the Tiki universe with more colonial spice than an attempt at tropical escapism. 

Orange flavors are hinted at with the garnish and muddling, but this cocktail is mostly a lime and spirits drink. As the name suggests, cinnamon syrup is a major part of the flavor profile, and it sits well on top of aged rum and tequila with a baking spice-heavy orange bitters like Hella. 

• 2 orange wedges
• 2 oz. reposado tequila (El Jimador used)
  
• 1/4 oz. Smith and Cross rum (George Bowman used) 
• 1/2 oz. cinnamon bark syrup (half simple and half MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey used)
• 1/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1 dash orange bitters (Hella used)
• 1 orange crescent garnish
  

Muddle orange wedges in a shaker and add the remaining ingredients with ice. Shake and strain into a double rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the orange crescent and serve with a straw.

What Bitch, What? (Original Recipe)

 

This cocktail is a situational drink. The scene looks like this: It is a crowded bar and the "stick" bartenders taking the orders from the crowd are overwhelmed. It is also noisy and no one can hear each other. Amidst this there is the service bartender, madly muddling fruit for a cocktail that needs to go to a table. A woman approaches the service bartender in her attempt to circumvent the line to the bar and starts trying to shout over the din, maybe asking for what the service bartender is working on.

The service bartender adds the wrong ingredients to the drink in hand and gives it to the woman to get her to leave. Somewhere in the shouted conversation, the service bartender may have uttered the name of this drink.

• 6 blueberries
• 5 mint sprigs
• 2 oz. bourbon (Ancient Age used)
  
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• orange slice 3 blueberries as garnishes

Muddle 6 blueberries and mint sprigs in a shaker. Then add ice and liquid ingredients and ice Pour into an Old Fashioned glass and garnish with remaining berries and orange slice.

Brandana Frappe

This is an odd cocktail in that it is a frappe (blender cocktail) of an already blended drink by the same name. I suspect that because this was the easier cocktail to make having no fresh banana, it was invented later as an easier substitute. It is also strange that even thought the name suggests brandy (Brand-ana), it is apple brandy that shows up. The selection, however, was thoughtful because the overall experience is fruity: apples, bananas and oranges. It's a liquor lunchbox!

• 1 1/2 oz. applejack (Applejack 86 used)
• 1/2 oz. creme de banana (MurLarkey banana whiskey and 1/2 oz. simple syrup used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• orange slice garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a blender with cracked ice. Blend and pour into a wine glass and garnish with orange slice. 

Florida

I can think of a dozen combinations to represent the sunshine state, but all of them include orange juice. Kirschwasser is a little bit of a outlier, but a good idea for making a drink taste more tropical. If you have an orange for the garnish, juice the rest for the drink. Trust me.

So this is nearly a variation on a Screwdriver--just with gin and kirsch and a bit of other flavors. In that sense, it is a much better drink. Maybe it's not one you will make yourself at home on a bender weekend as you stumble your way around the crap in your horder home (Yes, I'm judging people who only drink screwdrivers incessantly). But I can see this drink as one that a bar might put out there as a refreshing spring drink.

• 2 oz. gin (Bombay Sapphire used)
• 1/2 oz. kirschwasser
• 1/2 oz. Cointreau
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• orange juice 
• orange slice (optional)

Combine all ingredients except orange juice and slice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with orange juice and garnish with orange slice.

Chapala

Chapala is a city in Jalisco, Mexico. It is also a nice cocktail to pair with Mexican food. (Check out the taco platter in the backgroung.) Orange juice changes it up from a standard Margarita. Using grenadine for sweetness instead of sugar syrup  also makes it more tropical. Ole!

• 2 oz. gold tequila
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a highball glass.