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Close Enough For Jazz

2 oz Gin
3⁄4 oz Fino sherry (Or Manzanilla)
1⁄4 oz Honey syrup (1:1)
1 rinse Absinthe
1 twst Lemon peel (As garnish)
Instructions

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe rinsed with absinthe, and garnish with a lemon twist.

History

After having a drink called Close But No Cigar (see link in "source reference"), I was inspired by the combination of Manzanilla sherry and honey in that Manhattan riff. I wondered how it would do in a Martini riff; I had used a 3:1 dry vermouth to syrup ratio in the As Perfect as a Limerick at Nahita, and I knew that it would come across like blanc vermouth. To round off the combination, I added an absinthe rinse instead of the inspiration's Peychaud's Bitters in the mix and the Scotch rinse, and in keeping close to the original in name, I dubbed this one Close Enough for Jazz.

Yields Drink
Year
2022
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Frederic Yarm, Boston, MA
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
Not yet rated
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Aid and Abet

1 1⁄2 oz Bigallet China-China
3⁄4 oz Lemon juice
1⁄4 oz Simple syrup
Instructions

Dry shake, shake with ice, double strain.

Notes

On the sweet side for my palate but egg white mellows it. Great way to enjoy China-China. Worked well with Hendrick's gin

Yields Drink
Year
2015
Authenticity
Unknown
Creator
Eryn Reece
Source reference

Death & Co Welcome Home

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4 stars
(2 ratings)
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Rum Old-Fashioned (Kirk Estopinal)

1 1⁄2 oz Demerara Rum, Hamilton Demerara 86
1⁄2 oz Jamaican rum, Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold
1 twst Orange peel (coin, as garnish)
1 pn Nutmeg (as garnish)
Instructions

Stir; strain; big rock; garnish

History

Punch magazine jurors found the nutmeg superfluous, but gave this bronze in their blind taste test.

Yields Drink
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Kirk Estopinal, Cane & Table, New Orleans, Louisiana (USA)
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
Not yet rated
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Austin Corsican

2 oz Applejack, Lairds (Bonded if available)
1 oz Amaretto, Lazzaroni
1⁄2 oz Lemon juice
Instructions

Shake gently and dirty pour into old fashioned glass. Alternately, shake and pour over fresh ice into old fashioned glass.

Notes

Served here in Austin at a favorite neighborhood bar, recipe shared after request. Love how simple and well balanced this is - good ingredients are key!

Yields Drink
Authenticity
Unknown
Source reference

Cafe Malta, Austin Texas

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3.5 stars
(3 ratings)
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Brother Hal

3⁄4 oz Light rum
3⁄4 oz Mezcal
1⁄2 oz Herbal liqueur, Green Chartreuse
3⁄4 oz Orange juice
1⁄2 oz Falernum
1 wdg Lime (As garnish)
Instructions

Shake, strain, tiki glass of crushed ice, garnish.

Yields Drink
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3 stars
(1 rating)
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  • Leiya Unchained — Bison grass vodka, Mezcal, Campari, Lemon juice, Yuzu syrup, Egg white
  • The Last Mariachi — Mezcal, Reposado Tequila, Licor 43, White grapefruit juice, Lime juice, Coconut syrup
  • Tragedy Plus Lime — Mezcal, Pamplemousse Rose, Sherry, Herbal liqueur, Lime, Salt

Centro Chorrizo

1 1⁄2 oz Whiskey (Piperdean)
3⁄4 oz Limoncello, Pallini
3⁄4 oz Crème de mure
1⁄2 oz Half-and-half
Instructions

Shake with ice and strain into a frozen coupe glass.

History

Chorrizo sometimes brought his musical friends Bobby C & Corazon to Centro Basco.

Yields Drink
Year
2022
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Carl N.
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
Not yet rated
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  • Last Sunset — Rye, Pamplemousse Rose, Cherry Bitters, Pomegranate juice, Salt
  • SWOboy's Green Flash — Whiskey, Blue Curaçao, Suze, Falernum
  • Common Cold — Jamaican rum, Elderflower liqueur, Bitters, Lemon juice, Honey

Il Professore

1 oz Gin
1 oz Campari
1⁄3 oz Coffee liqueur
1 sli Orange (as garnish)
Instructions

Combine the gin, campari, vermouth, and coffee liqueur in an old fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir, garnish with an orange slice, and optionally with coffee beans.

History

Grand Hotel Vesuvio, Naples

Yields Drink
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Antonio
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4 stars
(5 ratings)
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Carreras Cup

1 1⁄2 oz Rum, Paranubes
1⁄2 oz Jamaican rum, Coruba
3⁄4 oz Lime juice
1⁄4 oz Pineapple Gum Syrup
4 dr Salt Solution (5:1)
Instructions

Combine all ingredients in shaking tin
Whip shake with 2 or 3 small cubes
Strain over mai tai glass with crushed ice
Garnish with mint, candied banana, whatever

Yields Drink
Year
2022
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
The Cabinet Bar
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3.5 stars
(2 ratings)
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  • Tongue Thai'd — Mekhong, Ginger liqueur, Lime juice, Guava juice, Simple syrup, Orgeat, Basil
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Lorikeet

Instructions

Shake, strain into glass filled with crushed ice.

Yields Drink
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Shannon Mustipher
Source reference

Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3 stars
(3 ratings)
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  • Low tide — Bourbon, Falernum, Bitters, Allspice Dram, Lemon juice
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  • Flowering Fields — Rye, Absinthe, Orange bitters, Herbal liqueur, Pineapple syrup, Lime juice, Lime

ChristianGeek commented on 1/08/2023:

This has potential; the mix tastes great before the rye is added but then the rye (I used Sazerac). just completely takes over and pushes everything else way into the background. Even bumping the cinnamon syrup and banana liqueur (Giffard) didn’t help. I’m thinking the rye needs to be dialed back, or it needs to be switched to bourbon, or maybe it needs to be switched to an agricole blanc rhum.


Cynario commented on 2/28/2025:

Unfortunately only have Drillaud banana liqueur, which is admittedly awful. But I agree that Sazerac doesn't do this drink any favors.


Shawn C commented on 3/01/2025:

I don't have the book, but for any of you who do, are these Japanese dasher bottle dashes? Standard dashes would be a lot here. When I start seeing anything more than 3 dashes in a recipe I try to do a check to see what sort of dash they are using. Sometimes it is from these dasher bottles. My understanding is that the dash count should be cut in half for standard dashes. And I see in the Educated Barfly video preparing the drink he is using dasher bottles.



Shawn C commented on 3/01/2025:

But what does the Tiki: Modern Cocktails book say about how they measure dashes? Different cocktail books use different approaches to this and bitters volume dispensed per dash varies tremendously, so the source matters. For example, I noticed the bitters were a bit much in some NoMad Cocktail Book recipes which led me to recheck how they were actually making them. Page 22 "The Japanese dasher tops are significantly smaller than most bitters brands'; one dash from a normal bottle will be equivalent to three dashes in these bottles if you use a quick short dashing style, two if you use a longer dashing style. In this book, we'll consider '1 dash' to come from a Japanese Bitters dasher."

This is without going into trying to measure bitter dashes in drops, or figuring out what was meant by a "dash" in many Prohibition era and earlier cocktail books--where the volumes were almost always much larger than a modern dash from what I can tell.


yarm commented on 3/02/2025:

It doesn't say anything in the techniques section or the tools section. It does mention them in the ingredients section and just lists what's good (and it's a mix of dash cap and dropper brands like Angostura and Bittermens, respectively).

She has recipes that have drops like the California Condor (8 drops of two different Bittermens flavors) that come in eye dropper bottles and dashes for those that come in dasher bottles like Angostura and Peychaud's. The most I found (not exhaustive) was 2 dashes of cardamom bitters, so it's intentional that there's a lot of bitters in here.


Shawn C commented on 3/03/2025:

Thank you for the details. This is of course the problem with dashes, the dash volume can vary by 3 or 4 fold depending on the specific bitter, bottle, and/or source for the recipe. And a full bottle dispenses little, while a mid full bottle with an orifice dispenses much more. Context is everything. A dash is the cocktail "Tower of Babel" because it is often unclear what language is being spoken. [Not unlike recipes for food or drink that call for "the juice of 1 lemon"--obviously doesn't apply to the five lemons I pulled off my tree last week to make lemonade--the five of them weighed 6 pounds total.]

While it is convenient to use a personal standardized system or that of an establishment for a dash, that doesn't work to recreate the recipe if the source of a recipe uses a different system, or if the bitters are in a different style bottle/dispenser. I have seen dash volumes listed as 6 to 12 drops (from something like an Angostura or Peychaud's bottle), or 15-18 drops stated by makers using a dropper style bottle. But when I actually measure drops from a various dropper style bottles they typically dispense around 20+ drops if used as recommended. That is about twice what I have used (10 drops minimum per dash) when trying precise measures of things that don't dash well.

Drops per mL (or ounce) is not well defined either, even in a modern sense, with some suggesting as little as 300 drops per ounce (which is totally bogus), another 480, and others ~600, and my own experience with calibrated scales and volumetric measurement of drops being well over 600 using water (and some tests with bitters.) The 0.05 mL/drop that pharmacists use is probably the closest to being accurate in a general sense. That works out to ~600 drops per fluid ounce, or 100 drops per teaspoon. This is probably something we need to address in the KC measurements page, since it lists 0.1 mL/drop.


Boo Loo

1 sli Pineapple (in 4 chunks)
2 1⁄2 oz Pineapple juice
1 1⁄2 oz Lime juice
1 1⁄4 oz Honey syrup (1:1)
1 1⁄2 oz Gold rum (Puerto Rican)
1 1⁄2 oz Demerara Rum (80 Proof)
3⁄4 oz Jamaican rum (Dark)
3⁄4 oz Demerara Rum (151 Proof)
1 1⁄2 oz Club soda
Instructions

Blend pineapple juice, lime juice, honey syrup and pineapple chunks without ice in a blender until pineapple chunks are liquified. Pour this mixture, unstrained, into a hollowed-out pineapple (or some other less-interesting 36 ounce vessel) filled with crushed ice. Add rums and club soda. Stir vigorously until chilled. Garnish with a cocktail umbrella (of course) and your choice of tiki-inspired straw (or straws [plural] for the lightweights out there to share).

Notes

Getcherself an OXO pineapple corer for the ultimate in pineapple flesh extraction and tiki drink vessel-making. I'm not easily impressed, and yet this device knocked my socks and sandals off!

Yields Drink
Year
1965
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Source reference

Beachbum Berry Remixed, A Gallery of Tiki Drinks

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
5 stars
(2 ratings)
From other users
  • This is a no-brainer. You can tinker with the rums, forget about the fresh pineapple, etc. You can't screw this one up. Total crowd pleaser.
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