Bento on the Rock

1 oz Shochu (rice shochu)
1 oz Umeshu
1 ds Peychaud's Bitters
2 ds Rice vinegar
2 spl Salt Solution (spritzes from an atomizer, as garnish)
1 Plum (crunchy ume, as garnish)
Instructions

Stir; strain; rock; garnish.

Picture of Bento on the Rock
Craig Eliason
Yields Drink
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Shingo Gokan, SG Club, Tokyo (Japan)
Source reference

Masahiro Urushido, The Japanese Art of the Cocktail, p. 186.

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From other users
  • Made with sweet-potato shochu (and sadly lacked the plum garnish). Added salt as a pinch on the rock instead of the solution. Really nice play of tart-acidic-sweet-salty.
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Comfortably Plum

1 oz Bourbon
1 oz Shochu
3⁄4 oz Umeshu
3⁄8 oz Simple syrup
2 ds Bitters, Angostura
1 twst Orange peel (as garnish)
1 pn Salt (as garnish)
Instructions

Stir; strain; one big rock; express and add twist and sprinkle salt on ice.

Notes

I used bonded bourbon, a sweet-potato-based shochu, Suntory brandy-based plum liqueur, 1:1 turbinado syrup, and Noto salt.

Picture of Comfortably Plum
Craig Eliason
Yields Drink
Year
2024
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Craig Eliason, Saint Paul, Minnesota (USA)
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  • Split base has just enough funk to make it interesting. Plum liqueur is the feature, hits late and tart. Some bubblegum and caramel flavors in there too.
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Worldling

1 oz Navy strength rum, Hamilton 114
1 oz Lime juice
3⁄4 oz Bénédictine
1⁄2 oz Falernum
2 ds Bitters, Angostura
1 twst Lime peel (as garnish)
Instructions

Shake; strain; up; garnish.

Notes

On a base level this drink is built on a daiquiri model: rum, sugar, lime. But with each of those components, and at every stage of experiencing it, the drink offers an intriguing complexity.

History

Winner of the Reddit Original Cocktail challenge, Feb. 2024: Bénédictine and falernum.

Picture of Worldling
Craig Eliason
Yields Drink
Year
2024
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Craig Eliason, Saint Paul, Minnesota (USA)
Source reference

https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/1ag3115/original_cocktail_c…

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4 stars
(2 ratings)
From other users
  • Nose has sweet tea, citrus peel, flower, peach, Band-Aid. Up front bright and tart, but the zest-heavy falernum gives the lime layers. After, bitterness, again layered: that of citrus pith but also sweetened coffee.
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Czechpoint Apple

1 1⁄2 oz Apple brandy, Lairds Bonded
3⁄4 oz Becherovka
3⁄4 oz Aromatized wine, Cocchi Americano
1 ds Cinnamon bitters, Infuse Cassia Bark
Instructions

Stir, strain, big rock. Or, build over ice, if you’re lazy like me

Notes

Laird’s Tenth Generation works nicely here too

Yields Drink
Year
2024
Authenticity
Your original creation
Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3 stars
(2 ratings)
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  • Ampleforth — Apple brandy, Aromatized wine, Bénédictine, Bitters, Lime
  • Widow's Tryst — Calvados, Dry vermouth, Brandy, Herbal liqueur, Bénédictine, Pear eau de vie, Bitters, Lemon peel
  • Norman — Calvados, Sweet vermouth, Bénédictine, Fernet Branca
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Biff Malibu commented on 9/21/2024:

The Becherovka did not play as well with the other elements as I would have liked.

Major Joe

1 1⁄2 oz Scotch
1⁄2 oz Zucca (Can sub Sfumato)
1⁄2 oz Honey syrup
1⁄2 oz Lemon juice
1 ds Bitters, Angostura
1 ds Peychaud's Bitters
1 twst Lemon peel (As garnish)
Instructions

Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass, fill with ice, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Notes

Left out of the history on the blog was that the honey-Zucca combination was one that I gleaned from Frank Cisneros' Margot Tenebaum from Amanda Schuster's New York Cocktails. That inspired my use of the combination in the Shipwrecked. But Scotch works better with Zucca does that the MT's Bourbon.

History

As part of menu development at La Brasa, I was inspired by the honey-rabarbaro combination that worked so well in the Shipwrecked. Our bar's blended Scotch sadly gets neglected save for except at weddings, and I thus recalled how well rabarbaros like Zucca pair with Scotch such as in the Caustic Negroni. The rest fell into place as I used lemon juice to cut the sweetness, and Angostura and Peychaud's Bitters to donate darker and brighter levels of bitter herbal complexity and spice, respectively. For a name, I dubbed it after Somerville's mayor, Joe Curtatone, although Joe is more of an Averna guy from the times that I have served him elsewhere in town.

Yields Drink
Year
2020
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Frederic Yarm, La Brasa, Somerville, MA.
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2020/02/mayor-joe.html

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4 stars
(5 ratings)
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Delores del Rio

1 oz Cognac
1 oz Mezcal
1⁄2 oz Coffee liqueur
1⁄2 oz Bénédictine
1 ds Absinthe (I used 8 drops)
1 pn Coffee bean (Freshly grated, as garnish)
Instructions

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with freshly grated coffee bean.

History

On New Year's Day, I became inspired by the Streets of Gettysburg's coffee-Benedictine combination and the 1910 Cocktail's Cognac-mezcal duo. I dubbed the creation the Delores del Rio named after the Mexican actress taught by French nuns in Mexico City that mirrors the split-based spirit.

Yields Drink
Year
2024
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Frederic Yarm, Boston, MA
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2024/01/delores-del-rio.html

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4.5 stars
(6 ratings)
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Mai Tai Suissesse

1 oz Absinthe
1 oz Rhum Agricole (Blanc)
1 oz Lime juice
1 oz Orgeat
1⁄2 oz Triple sec, Cointreau (Or other orange liqueur like curaçao)
1 oz Heavy cream
1 Egg white
1 pn Nutmeg (Freshly grated as garnish)
Instructions

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into a Tiki mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Notes

The contest restricted things to 7 ingredients so I could not garnish with freshly grated nutmeg in the submitted recipe

History

In 2018, I submitted a recipe to the USBG Cocktail Classique sponsored by Lucid Absinthe. It ended up making the cut to compete in the New York semi-final round, but it was not a convenient time for me to travel, so I bowed out. My drink idea began with considering how Tiki drinks are very absinthe friendly, and I selected the Mai Tai as a starting place. Instead of swapping pure absinthe in place of one of the rums in a Mai Tai, I opted to swap in the delightful New Orleans treat, the Absinthe Suissesse, in place of that rum. My rational was that both drinks contained orgeat as a common ingredient, and how the creamy, rich, nutty, citrus, and grassy combination in the mashup would complement the herbal spice notes in absinthe.

Yields Drink
Year
2018
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Frederic Yarm, Boston, MA (working at Nahita at the time but created at home)
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2018/05/mai-tai-suissesse.html

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Staggerly

1 1⁄2 oz Rye
3⁄4 oz Aquavit
3⁄4 oz Amaro Nardini
1 twst Orange peel
Instructions

Stir, strain, one big rock, garnish.

Yields Drink
Year
ca. 2013
Authenticity
Unknown
Creator
Zig Zag Café, Seattle, WA
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-staggerly.html

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
3.5 stars
(3 ratings)
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Shawn C commented on 1/17/2024:

The flavor profile is good, but quite boozy, which adds heat while somewhat masking the herbal notes of the amaro and aquavit unfortunately. (Note that Frederic Yarm's version uses Rittenhouse and Linie, which is how I made it, coming in at 85+ proof undiluted.) I like the use of Linie here, but for a second try would opt for a lower proof rye, perhaps basic Overholt at 80 proof, to see if that creates a better balance of flavor and alcohol heat. I am rating it at 4+/5 without making an adjustment to the rye choice.

yarm commented on 1/17/2024:

A bar spoon of Demerara could also round things out for you. I've gotten used to NYC drinks that use even less sweetener (sometimes 1/2 oz amaro or even 1/4 oz falernum total) and if it's still hot and not soothed by ice melt before things fall apart, I use some syrup (Dem for anything with brown spirits or dark amaro, and simple (or agave) for white spirits) the next time to give a better balance to the proof/bitter-sweetener ratio. Or sometimes in the glass to patch things up.

I selected Rittenhouse since I find its spice notes complement most aquavits well, and better than most other ryes.

Shawn C commented on 1/19/2024:

The drink is sweet enough, I wouldn't want to add any more sugar and unbalance it. The problem with running too hot is that at a high enough level it can mask some of the flavors--a reason for adding just enough water through dilution of one sort or another to release some of the flavor notes. This can be a tricky balance because sometimes the heat is contributing useful flavors as well.

I did a test last night cutting 1/4 oz of the Rittenhouse and diluting with 1/4 oz additional water to get it in the target range for mixing. Unfortunately, this did not reveal much more herbal character in the finished cocktail. The sweetness of the drink was more apparent this way (despite not adding any additional syrup/sugar), but the rest of the profile was about the same as before. My conclusion is that I was getting most of the flavor/aroma already with the original recipe. I thought there might be more waiting to be uncorked, but that was illusory.

Paulsgrave

2 oz Pineapple rum, Plantation Stiggins' Fancy
1⁄2 oz CioCiaro (Or other Amer Picon-like liqueur, see notes)
1⁄2 oz Crème de Banane
2 ds Bitters, Bittermens Xocolatl Mole
1 Whole egg
1 pn Nutmeg (Freshly grated, as garnish)
Instructions

Shake one round without ice and one round with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass, and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Notes

If Ciociaro is not available, I could see this working with other Amers and Amari like Lucano, China-China, Tornani Amer, Amer Picon

History

I became inspired by the classic Colleen Bawn Flip and a few recent drinks with the Ciociaro-banane combo such as the After School Special and Goldilocks, and I began to scheme. Besides the whole egg aspect, I took the flavor combination in a pineapple rum direction for something a bit more tropical. The rum, banana, and pineapple notes led me to name this after something nautical in nature, and I dubbed it the Paulsgrave after Paulsgrave Williams, a pirate active from 1716-23 in the Caribbean, Eastern seaboard, and the coast of Western Africa.

Yields Drink
Year
2023
Authenticity
Your original creation
Creator
Frederic Yarm, Boston, MA
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2024/01/paulsgrave.html

Curator rating
Not yet rated
Average rating
4.5 stars
(2 ratings)
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f.r.d.

2 oz Pineapple rum, Plantation Stiggins' Fancy
1⁄2 oz Jamaican rum, Smith & Cross
1⁄4 oz Crème de Banane
1⁄4 oz Crème de mure
1 ds Orange bitters
Instructions

Stir, strain, one big rock.

Yields Drink
Year
2023
Authenticity
Authentic recipe
Creator
Jenifer Anastas, Backbar, Boston, MA
Source reference

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2023/07/frd.html

Curator rating
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3 stars
(1 rating)
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