Recently, I was inspired by a local drink I spotted with rye, Braulio, maple syrup, and walnut bitters to tinker. The Amaro Daiquiri made me think of the Braulio-Sfumato combination, and I split the rye 3:1 with mezcal that has worked in a number of drinks. I named this Black Manhattan with a touch of maple after a sketchy alley in 19th century San Francisco mentioned in Herbert Asbury's The Barbary Coast book.

A tribute to Phil Ward, my first cocktail hero.

Riff on a classic Bee's Knees.

Riff on a classic Between the Sheets.

A riff on a High Five from Alex Day/Death & Co., via Alex Taylor/Pennyroyal's riff (Big Tens: brandy and simple instead of bourbon and cinnamon).

I recently looked over various recipes for ingredients that worked well with Ancho Reyes and decided to create a cocktail. Of the 10 Ancho Reyes drinks on the blog, 7 contain mezcal, 2 with Cynar, 2 with mole bitters, and 1 with banana liqueur; moreover, I figured that pineapple rum would bolster the tropical notes of the banana despite it not having previously been paired with Ancho Reyes in my tasting history. Finally, I dubbed this the Devil's Kitchen after a neighborhood described in the 1933 book The Barbary Coast as a rough one in San Francisco during the latter half of the 19th century.