In memory of a Naval Academy graduate ......
2 lbs of corned beef in the crockpot.
2 lbs of Santa Maria Tri-Tip in the same crockpot.
Lots of red wine in the crockpot.
Lots of spices in the crockpot.
8 hours on the simmer ........

One of my fellow bartenders at Drink made the Midnight Mass from Death & Co. for a guest, and I became curious about the combination of Cardamaro and Benedictine. After having a drink two nights prior with the Genever-Cardamaro duo, I decided to split the spirit with Batavia Arrack as I had done in the Dutch Hand after experiencing the two in recipes like the Double Dutch and Weirding Way. Also a nod to how the original was made with rum. For a name, I paid tribute to the Midnight Mass inspiration and dubbed it Midnight to Midnight after a Psychedelic Furs album.

During a trip to the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, I was inspired by the works of Estefania Puerta, a Columbian born sculptor living in Vermont. Her style was coated in surrealism, biological touches, and palpable symbolism, and I found myself returning to that section of the museum after the first lingering pass. One of my favorite pieces from her was the 2020 All of Freud's Beautiful Women (see blog post link for a photo), and that night, I was inspired to craft a cocktail tribute to it especially given its name. For a starting point, I focused in on an Amaro Montenegro for Campari riff on the Rose Gold that I had been making at Drink. Both the Bourbon and gin versions of this have been successes giving a touch of clementine and cinnamon complexity to the Gold Rush and Bee's Knees yet not as bitter as the Rose Gold. To that, the art made me think of the earthy and funky weirdness of the mezcal-rhum agricole combination that I have used in a few recipes. Despite the spirits leaning towards lime, I am glad that I stuck with lemon juice here akin to the Honey Bee.

Cheers to a potential 3rd generation USNA Graduate.

In honor of The Newest Vike !!

A guest at Drink wanted a dessert cocktail that was coffee flavored, and I came up with this Flip on the fly with the Borghetti Espresso Liqueur and Averna from our house Espresso Martini recipe and the Benedictine, egg, and nutmeg garnish from the Colleen Bawn. I later made it for a guest requesting a nightcap towards the end of the night (captured here in the photo before I delivered it). Overall, it was a Flip like the classic Coffee Cocktail, but one that actually tastes of coffee. For a name, I dubbed this one after a line from the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross – namely Coffee's for Closers.

"Always Be Closing" = A is for Averna, B is for Benedictine, C is for Coffee Liqueur!

At Drink, there can frequently be a bigger call for Old Fashioned variations than for Manhattan riffs; sometimes a duo can order four rounds of two different Old Fashioneds meaning that I needed 8 to fit their specific requests. Sadly, I know more Manhattan ones for the structure allows for more adaptations including the fortified wine component. This is one that I crafted on the fly for a guest who wanted a Scotch Old Fashioned, and I repeated for multiple guests over the following weeks. The liqueur combination of Yellow Chartreuse-Benedictine is one that has worked since 1895 in the Widow's Kiss from George Kappeler's Modern American Drinks and the Colleen Bawn from Edward Spencer's The Flowing Bowl. Eventually, guests began to want a name, so I decided to make myself one at home. I ended up dubbing this Blues from a Gun after a song from the Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain.