Came up with the name first, then decided it was a great opportunity to deploy my favourite shot, 50:50 Fernet:Mr Black (or what I call a Mr Branca™). Skewing the float towards Fernet works better in terms of aromatics and cutting through the drink towards the end.

William J. Tarling’s Café Royal Cocktail Book (1937)

While writing up Matty Gees' Sands from Milk & Honey on the blog which was a Casino Cocktail with the addition of grapefruit and no orange bitters or perhaps the Savoy Cocktail Book simplified Aviation with grapefruit, I became inspired. What if I took the Sands and crossed it with the classic 1916 Aviation? Sand in the air made me think of a sandstorm which in turn made me think of Darudes's 2000 hit song as the name. Overall, the grapefruit juice works here with the Maraschino to push the combination a half or even a full step away from the Aviation.

While reading Nicola Nice's The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home book in the section mentioning the Sherry Cobbler, I was inspired to riff on Ada Coleman's Hanky Panky and transform it into a Vermouth Cobbler. Sweet vermouth and Fernet were a duo that worked in my Diddlin' Dora back, and I decided to make this riff an inverse Hanky Panky of sorts and include classic muddled orange wheels in the mix to smooth out the balance. I dubbed the result the Coley Cobbler after Ada's nickname at the Savoy bar.

Created for the Reddit Original Cocktail Challenge, July 2024: Tequila & cinnamon.
Name comes from the two inspirations: the Alexander cocktail and horchata.

After writing up Eastern Standard's Spanish Lady on the blog, I was inspired to riff on it. I felt that the Montenegro aspect was too bright and that perhaps switching from a light bodied rum to smoky mezcal could help balance that. Part of my thinking was that mezcal and Montenegro go amazingly well together in the 50:50 shooter, the M&M. I also swapped the original's lemon juice and Angostura Bitters to lime juice and molé bitters.