Midnight Son

1 1⁄2 oz Gin, Bombay Sapphire (used Recif from Bonaventure, Quebec)
3⁄4 oz Aperol
1⁄2 oz Amaro Nonino
1⁄2 oz Blueberry syrup (Blueberry Basil Syrup--see instructions.)
5 dr Salt Solution (20% saline)
Instructions

Mix all elements into a shaker with one big 2 inch ice cube, shake for 8-10 seconds then double strain into a coupe glass. No garnish, but a nice small basil leaf on the foam could be interesting !

For the blueberry basil syrup

1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup blueberries muddled into the pan, simmer for 3-5 minutes while stirring constantly, you do not want a boil. Turn off heat, add 1/3 cup of fresh basil leaves. Let cool then filter.

Notes

Slightly tart, blueberry start and a nice balanced ending with a basil pop.

The aperol was replaced in this image by aperitivo orange, which is a local bitter orange liquor.

History

I was looking through "Cocktail codex" and found the Twist of Menton, decided to give it a spin with an idea for a blueberry basil syrup.

Picture of Midnight Son
Yields Drink
Year
2025
Authenticity
Altered recipe
Creator
Dave Ferguson, Canada
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4 stars
(1 rating)
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Heavy Weather

2 ds Cardamom bitters (see notes)
1 oz Cachaça (Avua Amburana)
1⁄2 oz Drambuie
1⁄2 oz Amaro (Townshend’s Kashmiri Amaro)
1 bsp Rich demerara syrup 2:1
1 twst Orange peel (as garnish)
Instructions

Stir with ice and strain over one cube in OF glass. Garnish with orange twist on top.

Notes

Cynar has been suggested as a substitute.

Original published recipe used Townshend's Kashmiri amaro which is no longer made. It was a "Bitter Tea Liqueur" described as "Assamese black tea and piercing Indian spices like cardamom and black pepper, alongside savory Italian herbs and roots."

Note that while the recipe in the book lists 4 dashes of bitters, the dasher bottle used in the video would likely only dispense about 1/2 of a "normal" dash, so the recipe here reflects that as 2 dashes.

History

Published in Jordan Hughes’ book “Twist” on pg. 59

Yields Drink
Year
2022 or earlier
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Jordan Hughes
Source reference

https://youtube.com/shorts/Q80BsAJMrWo?si=Rcj9J5rSCVyBLvcT
https://www.instagram.com/highproofpreacher/reel/DFHRqWhJqga/

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From other users
  • Excellent old fashioned variant
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Shawn C commented on 3/12/2025:

Curated to list as authentic with notes about the original amaro used. Townshend’s Kashmiri Amaro was launched around 2018 or so and the recipe was published in 2022. I don't have the book, but in the Instagram video link he lists 4 dashes of bitters. However, in the video these are from a dasher bottle that I believe would yield about 1/2 of a normal dash, so I listed this as 2 dashes total.

Pink Haitian Daiquiri

1 1⁄2 oz Rhum Agricole (white agricole-style)
3⁄4 oz Pineapple Gum Syrup
3⁄4 oz Lime juice
2 ds Peychaud's Bitters
1 twst Lime peel (as garnish)
Instructions

Shake with ice, strain into chilled coupe, garnish with lime twist.

Yields Drink
Year
2008
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Thad Vogler, Jardinière, San Francisco, CA
Source reference

https://smallhandfoods.com/recipe/pink-haitian-daiquiri/

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
5 stars
(1 rating)
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Shawn C commented on 3/11/2025:

Curated to a source that included creator/location,/year, listed as authentic recipe. Noted that white agricole rhum is used. Reworked/simplified instructions that had been taken verbatim from the previous source site.

Exploding Plastic Inevitable

1 1⁄2 oz Mezcal
1⁄2 oz Braulio
1⁄2 oz Apricot liqueur
1⁄2 oz Lime juice
2 ds Peychaud's Bitters
Instructions

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

History

After seeing folks make my As I Lay Dying on Instagram, I thought about the Braulio-apricot combination and merged it with the Pendennis Club. In retrospect, I could have left out the Pendennis Club's Peychaud's akin to the Campari acting like the Pegu Club's Angostura in the Jasmine, but Peychaud's has a good track record of improving drinks. I named this weird one after the multimedia events in the 1960s thrown by Andy Warhol and friends called the Exploding Plastic Inevitable that I read about in Ada Calhoun's St. Marks is Dead book.

Yields Drink
Year
2025
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Frederic Yarm, Somerville, MA
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2025/03/exploding-plastic-inevitabl…

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3.5 stars
(3 ratings)
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Rouge et Noir

2 oz Rye, Rittenhouse
3⁄4 oz Averna
1⁄2 oz Cherry Liqueur, Cherry Heering
1 ds Bitters, Angostura
1 ds Peychaud's Bitters
1 Cherry (as garnish)
Instructions

Stir; strain; up; garnish.

History

Essentially a Black Manhattan crossed with a Remember the Maine.

Picture of Rouge et Noir
Craig Eliason
Yields Drink
Year
2025
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Craig Eliason, Saint Paul, Minnesota (USA)
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
Not yet rated
From other users
  • Dark reddish brown. Rich, gently boozy nose, maybe some cloves. Quite like a Manhattan, but with the spicy intricacy of a Black Manhattan or Remember the Maine. Heering brings fruitiness but none of the dreaded cough-syrup flavor.
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  • Bitter Maestro — Rye, Applejack, Aromatized wine, Amaro Nonino, Grenadine
  • Mulberry Street — Rye, Ramazzotti, Cherry shrub, Orange peel

Scandinavian-Inspired Negroni

1 oz Aquavit, Brennivin
3⁄4 oz Aperol
3⁄4 oz Sweet vermouth, Carpano Antica Formula
Instructions

Stir in a mixing glass, serve up, express orange twist over top and discard

Yields Drink
Year
2015 or earlier
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Tyler Hauptmann, Fenrir, Portland, Oregon
Source reference

https://lifeandthyme.com/spirits/fenrir-scandinavian-negronis/

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4 stars
(1 rating)
From other users
  • Love this variation--the caraway adds a nice accent.
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Shawn C commented on 3/06/2025:

Curated to fix discrepancies with link: Changed name to match link. Listing as authentic, with 2015 or earlier as year. Changed aquavit to Brennivin which is a signature Icelandic style, flavored only with caraway. Served up, twist not shown in two drink pictures, so assume it is discarded after expression.

Shawn C commented on 3/21/2025:

If you are making it with Gran Classico, then you really should try the Scandagroni (which I recently posted here). It uses Krogstad Aquavit rather than Brennivin, and adds Amontillado sherry. This was on the Krogstad site until the site went down recently.

Calabrian shipwreck

1 1⁄2 oz Amaro, Jefferson Amaro Importante
1 1⁄2 oz Bourbon
3⁄4 oz Walnut Liqueur, Nocello
2 ds Bitters, Fee Brothers Black Walnut
Instructions

Combine all with ice. Shake. Strain. Coupe.

History

Backstory of Jefferson amaro involves a shipwreck in Calabria.
Delicious amaro. Nice combination with bourbon and walnut.

Yields Drink
Year
2024
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Tom Marrion
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
Not yet rated
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Northern Lights (tropical)

2 oz Herbal liqueur, Jeppson's Malort (See notes for modulating the bitterness)
3⁄4 oz Lemon juice
1⁄2 oz Passion fruit syrup
1⁄2 oz Honey syrup (1:1)
1 Egg white
1 spg Mint (1-3 sprigs as garnish)
Instructions

Shake one round without ice and one round with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with crushed ice, and garnish with mint sprigs.

Notes

Perhaps 1 oz each of Malört and Bourbon would work well here too for a slightly less bitter-herbal balance or adjust to your preferred bitterness level.

History

After seeing the recipes for the Port Light and Starboard Light in Trader Vic, I became inspired. For some reason, I decided that instead of whisk(e)y, what if I were to replace the spirit with Malört? I might have made the connection when I misremembered making a riff of Nick Jarrett's Prizefighter that included Malört and passion fruit; in the end, those were two different drinks: the Cutman and the Cornerman, respectively. For a name, I was considering the Nordic Light akin to the Nordic Toddy, but the Northern Lights seemed rather nautical especially for boats a bit further north.

Yields Drink
Year
2019
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Frederic Yarm, Boston, MA
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2019/07/northern-lights.html

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Oona O'Neill

1 1⁄2 oz Whiskey (see notes)
3⁄4 oz Amaro, Foro
1⁄2 oz Oloroso sherry (Dios Baco Oloroso)
2 ds Orange bitters
1 sli Lemon (dehydrated, as garnish)
Instructions

Stir over ice, strain into chilled cocktail (e.g. Nick & Nora) glass. Garnish with a dehydrated lemon wheel.

Notes

Mythology Distillery lists this cocktail as using "house whiskey" which is not specified. It might be their American Whiskey blend of rye (95% rye), a high rye bourbon, and a wheated bourbon. I used Bulleit bourbon.

Foro amaro is often used in Black Manhattan riffs in place of Averna, but the oloroso sherry in this particular cocktail elevates and deepens the rich flavor.

History

Earliest archived link is from the distillery's website in 2023. Creator not given.

The cocktail is named after Oona O'Neill, who was Eugene O'Neill's daughter and Charlie Chaplin's wife.

Yields Drink
Year
2023 (?)
Authenticity
Unknown
Creator
Steamboat Springs, Colorado (?)
Source reference

https://mythologydistillery.com/recipe/oona-oneill-whiskey-cocktail/

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
5 stars
(1 rating)
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Viva Maria! #2

1 1⁄2 oz Blanco tequila
1⁄2 oz Nocino
2 t Bénédictine
7 dr Bitters, Bittermens Xocolatl Mole
Instructions

Build over ice. Optional lemon twist

Notes

Curator's note: There is an older, unrelated tequila cocktail with the Viva Maria! name, so the one here has been renamed to #2 per the suggestion of the latter's creator.

History

Named after the Louis Malle 1965 film starring Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot, shot in Mexico. The Benedictine seems an appropriate hat-tip to a theme of the movie

Yields Drink
Year
2013
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
haresfur, Bendigo, Australia
Source reference

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/144979-cocktails-with-b%C3%A9n%C3%A9di…

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3.5 stars
(2 ratings)
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  • My DIY walnut liqueur is very cinnamon-y which worked well with this. A flavorful blanco is a must here I think.
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