At Drink in Boston one night, I made the Giuseppe's Lady (gin, Cynar, grenadine, lime, Angostura) for a guest who wanted gin, citrus, and bitter. When I got home, I was inspired to take those flavors in a Martini riff akin to an embittered Atta Boy from The Savoy Cocktail Book such as what was what was done in the Atta Girl with Fernet. For a name, I had still been thinking about my Lyft driver moments before who was talking to me about Aristotle that began with the theory on the three kinds of friendship: friendships of pleasure, of utility, and of virtue. Therefore, I dubbed this one Hope is a Waking Dream after one of Aristotle's sayings.

I'd been looking for a decent use of my long neglected bottle of Cocalero. After trying the Improved Chartreuse Swizzle, I realized that a larger amount of Overproof Rum might balance out the substitution of the weaker (but still decidedly green) Cocalero in place of Chartreuse.

Named for the drink being able to visually pass for its original inspiration while using a less distinguished base ingredient. Also, CHARlatan/CHARtreuse.

The 22 November Soiree approaches, cocktail ideas continue.

One of the recipes that I make for Scotch-citrus requests at Drink (Boston) is the Modernista recipe provided by Ted Haigh in his seminal Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails book. I took a page from the Havana Cocktail as adapted in Jeff Masson and Greg Boehm's Big Bartender's Book and added in apricot liqueur in place of the orange bitters in Haigh's recipe. For a name, I dubbed this one Havana 3 A.M. after the mid-80s rock group which took its name from a 1956 album by Pérez Prado.