While writing up the Clever Visual Metaphor (see my blog), I became inspired to craft a new drink using the spirit-amaro base supplemented by small amounts of Fernet and grenadine structure. Instead of the Bourbon in the Clever Visual Metaphor, I opted for a split of apple brandy and mezcal. And in place of the Ramazzotti, I tried a few amari before landing on Meletti. For what to call it, I went back to an old list of potential drink names (from a bar I worked at 2013-2015) and chose the Street of Crocodiles; that made the list from reading Bruno Schulz's 1934 short story when I was on a surrealist kick a while back that was amplified when I watched the Brothers Quay stop-motion animation short of the same name years later.

Named for the Martinique literary magazine founded by Aimé and Suzanne Césaire.

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).