After writing up the Blue Plate Special from the Paper Plane on the blog, I latched onto the Ciociaro-banana liqueur combination. I took it in a funky rum direction and tried to fit it into the .38 Special's structure, but it was still rather aggressive. I then utilized some cream sherry to tame it, and I added accents with allspice bitters. For a name, I dubbed this one Anchor-Faced which is a slang term for someone who is extremely enthusiastic to be in the British Royal Navy.

I was inspired by Phil Ward's Tequila Gumption, and I decided to cross it with the American Trilogy by replacing the reposado tequila and mezcal duo with bonded Bourbon and apple brandy. Utilizing a Mr. Potato Head swap seemed like a perfect tribute to Phil, and I dubbed this the American Gumption.

I was inspired by Ezra Star's Martini-like When the British Came to Spain with hints of two sweeteners and a citrus juice, and I mashed up a Martini with the classic Havana Cocktail of gin, apricot liqueur, Swedish punsch, and lemon in that style. For a name, I kept the names of the two source drinks in mind and dubbed this the Siege of Havana after the events of 1862 that were part of the Seven Years' War.

When I was writing up the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co.'s Lonely Holiday for the blog, I recalled how I taught a co-worker a few days before about Phil Ward's Cornwall Negroni. Soon, I plotted out a mashup of the two concepts. I kept with the Franklin's song title drink names and dubbed this after the Clash's Lost in the Supermarket.

Senza Finne is a local amari producer and the Autum expression is notable for including mushrooms along with the more typical root and bark. Makes for a nice almost savory drink.

This drink is featured in Spanish barman Antonio Josa's excellent 1933 "Cocktelera Universal" and the spelling is retained here. The original proportions are 1 gin: 1 St. Raphael: 1/2 peach brandy, and 1/2 Creme de Cassis. The original proportions make for a very rich drink, not unusual for the time. I increased gin and decreased others proportionately.

By 1947 Pedro Chicote's "Cocktails Mundiales" had changed the same-named drink considerably into a gin/Grand Marnier/cherry brandy mix.

I was looking for a way to balance the assertive cinnamon/clove sweetness of Alchermes and felt it could stand up to Riga Black Balsams. The song Black Hole Sun was going through my head the whole time. I tried the mix first with Linie Aquavit, but that was too potent/peppery. I dialed back with Ahus Akvavit and replaced part of it with Comoz Vermouth which added some balancing sweetness and white wine.

Unfortunately, there are several Black Hole Sun cocktails already, but the name and presentation were too good to give up, so I noted the Riga (Latvian) inspiration in the name.