Stazione

 

Okay, if you love Fernet Branca like I do and you are looking for a quick way to enjoy it with other Italian spirits, this is totally it. 

Fernet is extremely bitter and mentholated spirit that was intended as a vitamin and mineral supplement. Now it is pretty much the shot of choice for bartenders when they get off work. But it isn't for everyone. This quick (and not dirty) cocktail is a sure fix for those newly initiated to Italian spirits.

• 1 oz. Fernet Branca
• 1 oz. Cocchi di Torino vermouth
• 1 oz. Strega
• orange twist garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain in to a chilled Nick & Nora glass and garnish with the twist. 

European Union (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This cocktail really tries to tie together a number of European spirits in a way that is inviting and familiar. The recipe is similar to a Martinez, or other rich gin cocktail with brandy-based spirits. Old Tom gin represents a quasi-British/ Dutch dominance of the gin-drinking culture, and Strega, while Italian, speaks for the entire Alpine region of central Europe. France is represented by calvados, but is here replaced by Laird's applejack-86. It isn't as dry and fusty tasting as some types of calvados but Busnel and Laird's are actually pretty similar.

• 1 1/2 oz. Old Tom gin (Vitae used)
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz. calvados (Laird's applejack-86 used)
• 1 tsp. Strega
• 1 dash hella aromatic bitters

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

Four In Hand--In Coup (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

As cocktail trends come and go throughout the years, there are some recipes that will always find favor. Here's another simple recipe by Death & Co. that is more classic than trendy. This cocktail calls for Old Granddad-114 bourbon, another well priced product, but the overall experience comes across as a spiced rum drink with apple notes I gave it from Laird's applejack-86. The use of George Bowman's Caribbean rum makes for a very colonial-style cocktail, and one that has some staying power. 

A few quick tweaks I made with regards to the syrup: I did not pre-make syrup, I flavored my simples using spirits. For the cinnamon syrup I used MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey. It is an easy way to add a dash of intense cinnamon into your syrup. And while I could have soaked my cinnamon sticks I use for garnishes in hot syrup, with MurLarkey cinnamon, I didn't have to because they made this dry spirit for just this kind of occasion. It is so dry, in fact that you can use it for a cinnamon bitters. 

The vanilla syrup was also an easy correction, adding my vanilla infused vodka to the same simple syrup produced a rich vanilla note with little change to the balance of the drink.

Finally, I used Genepy instead of Green Chartreuse for that herbal lift that the cocktail relies on. Yes, a quarter ounce of Green Chartreuse will be a little more bitter, but it is not enough to affect the color or flavor in such a small proportion, and I'm willing to argue that any Alpine liqueur will do just fine.

• 3/4 oz. bourbon (Ancient Age used)
• 3/4 oz. Laird's apple brandy (Laird's applejack-86 used) 
• 1/4 oz. Smith & Cross rum (George Bowman used)
• 1/4 oz. Green Chartreuse (Genepy used)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon syrup
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla syrup
• orange twist garnish 

Combine all ingredients except garnishes in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled rocks glass and twist the orange zest over it and use it for a garnish. 

Beekeeper's Sour (Original Recipe)

 It's fun to mix with bourbon and honey. It's even more fun to mix with a whiskey that is made from infused honey comb. That's what MurLarkey honey whiskey is, the distillery's craft white whiskey aged with homegrown honey comb. 

Master distiller George Zwetkow raises his own bees out in rural Virginia. His honey whiskey has the essence of real honey without the sticky sweetness. This is a far cry from honeyed whiskies that have sugar and artificial flavor added. In fact, if you want a sweet cocktail with Murlarkey honey, you'll need to make it sweet.

So I did. I made a typical Sour but with honey and some bourbon. I changed up the format and did it with crushed ice in a rocks glass. It looks great and tastes even better!

• 1 oz. bourbon (Ancient Age used)
  
• 1 oz. MurLarkey Honey whiskey
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. honey
• orange slice garnish

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of crushed ice. Garnish with fruit.

Cure For Pain (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

There's a lot about this cocktail that is classic, simple, and straightforward. It's not a Pain Killer in coup glass format. There are no trendy ingredients or funky syrups that you typically find in Death & Co. recipes--just good old booze. 

I'm pleased that Rittenhouse, along with Old Overholt, seem to to be the ryes of choice for the New York speakeasy. You can't beat them for flavor and price. Overholt makes a great base for infusions of rich flavors. Rittenhouse is spicy and strong--also good for infusions but why bother when it already tastes so good.

Here is a port and rye cocktail I could enjoy in all seasons. My feeling has always been that port cocktails taste a little heavy on sugar and light on alcohol. They are the kind of thing you can handle on winter occasions, but not for everyday consumption. Consider that port usually sweetens a cocktail, and ever so slightly waters it down with grape juice. The craft of this cocktail is the balance, and you get it from depth of port, bourbon and cacao held up by spicy rye and bitter Campari (or bitters in general)

One funny thing I had to do to complete this recipe was to fudge the minuscule amount of Campari with other bitters I had on hand. I can't believe I don't have any Campari, especially since Death & Co. enjoy using it so much. It truly introduced bitterness into the cocktail revolution. For a small portion of Campari, a healthy 10 dashes of Peychaud's bitters in a quarter ounce of amaro (I used Amer Picon which has Rammazzotti in it). 

• 1 1/2 oz. Rittenhouse 100 rye
• 1/2 oz. bourbon (Ancient Age used)
• 1/2 oz. tawny port (Morgado ruby used)
• 1 teaspoon Campari (bitters substitution used)
• 1 teaspoon white creme de cacao
• orange twist garnish

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a coupe glass and twist orange zest over the drink and drop it in.

Way Of The Sumo (Original Recipe)

 

I've been playing around with mandarin oranges after having leftovers from making my Mandarine Napoleon knockoff liqueur. I picked up one sumo mandarin orange just in case I didn't have enough of the regular small ones. Just for reference, I want to show the difference in size between a sumo mandarin and a regular one. The sumo version is truly a plus-sized fruit, much like the husky Japanese wrestlers.

So sumo mandarin juice tastes the same as ordinary mandarin juice. I used this with some lemon to increase the acid and paired it with Manzanilla fino sherry because it also has musty fruit notes. Old Tom gin also keeps things spicy when paired with ginger brandy, and again, Mandarine Napoleon backs up and sweetens all of these flavors. 

Finally, the peel of the sumo mandarin comes off neatly and can be used to emphasize the largeness of the fruit when placed in an oversized wine glass. 

• juice of 1/2 sumo mandarin orange
• 1 1/2 oz. Old Tom gin (Vitae used)
• 1 oz. Mandarine Napoleon (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. ginger brandy (homemade used
• 1 oz. Manzanilla sherry
• 1/4 oz. lemon juice
• club soda
• 1/3 peel of a mandarin orange 

Place the orange peel in an oversized red wine glass (stemless used) and fill it with ice. Combine all liquid ingredients except soda in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the glass and top with soda.

Bros Of Summer (Original Recipe)

 

I still had some Blue Monkey watermelon juice left over from making the Over And Out. When you are working with a lot of fresh ingredients like mint and cucumber, vodka is all you need to add alcohol. Anything else will confuse things, and sometimes you want to experience the natural flavors for themselves. 

This is a knock off drink that was super popular ten years ago, the Cucumber Mint Martini. This misnomer cocktail was quickly picked up as soon as restaurants began stocking their bars with fresh ingredients. It is still good, but vodka seems to be an "old hat" ingredient. In this case, the drink has aged well.

• 2 oz. 100-proof vodka
• 3 cucumber wheels
• 5 mint leaves
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. watermelon juice (Blue Monkey used)
  
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• mint sprig garnish

Muddle mint and cucumber in a shaker and fill it with the remaining liquid ingredients and ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with mint sprig.