When I saw a reference to Paul McGee's Rum River Mystic, I remembered how much I enjoyed it and wondered if I could make a riff on it. Since I had been inspired by the mezcal-Fino sherry duo, I swapped them in for the original's rye and rum (or two rums depending on the recipe). Trying to keep the alliteration and location themes going, I dubbed this one the Mayan Mountain Mystic.

Created at Bulletin Place Sydney

Created at Bulletin Place Sydney

The drink started by noting how well agricole and Cynar pair, and then adding in honey to complement the Cynar. The lime juice is meant to cut the sweetness but keep things silky smooth in this stirred drink. For a name, I aimed to tie the drink back to the island of Martinique's history. When the island was settled by Europeans, the last remaining tribe there was the Caribs. One of the landmarks on the northern side of the island is a cliff called the Tomb of the Caribs. There, the last Caribs jumped instead of surrendering to the Europeans; it symbolically matched classic ‘Ti Punch service where ingredients are provided such that "each can prepare their own death."

In the wake of the Thirst Boston conference, I was thinking about the Ward 8 and the conversations I had that weekend about it. One of my major problems with the earliest recipe of the 1898 drink appearing in Robert Vermeire's 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them is that the orange juice clashed with the oaky American whiskey. I pondered what spirits might work well here, and my eyes drifted over to the Cognac section of my home bar. With a French theme, perhaps substituting Amer Picon for the orange juice might work especially given how well grenadine and Amer Picon pair in some of Trader Vic's recipes, plus the swap reminded me of Paul McGee's trading curaçao for orange juice. For a name, I dubbed this one the 8th Arrondissement which is the part of Paris that contains the Champs-Élysées.