wow tried this with Maguey single village vida this morning, yes that's right morning. :)

really tasty!

This is a good drink, but needs more acid in my opinion. I tried the recipe as written and then added some lemon juice which I think really helped. I do suggest trying it as written though because I know many of my friends would have really loved it as-is.

good but much less maraschino

So weirdly enough, this works. It definitely gets enough orange into the drink, and the Manzanilla + Arrack give almost a smoky, Mezcal accord. This is definitely dry, but interesting.

Well, I could tell by the description that this would probably be too dry for me, though the ingredients got my attention. I had a regular navel orange to work with. I liked it with .75 oz orgeat (the homemade stuff is just so good) and an equal measure of lime. Sorry for over-modifying....

So, I'd like to retract what I said last year, because I tried this again and this is really a great cocktail. I know I didn't use the right sherry last time (and it was probably old), and maybe my tastes have changed or I was just crazy that day. I still have mixed feelings about batavia arrack but the soft nutty orange flavors do work quite well here.

Christina,

That's nice of you. I think that people who drink enough craft cocktails tend to move toward liking bitter and sour flavors over sweet ones. I've now found that I love Amaro Sibilla, and I think the only thing left for me is to chew on straight gentian roots or cinchona bark ;)

Thanks,

Zachary

The Sibilla is potent stuff. It is a little much for me straight, but I do like it with some soda and a twist. Thanks again for all the good stuff you post- I've learned some of my very favorite flavor combos from your recipes.

Curated slightly - moved instructions from inline with the maple syrup to the Notes section.

Curated to add float and garnish to ingredients list.

I like it with about .1oz creme de violette and a touch more lemon.

May be better with cognac for more base-spirit flavor. Try skipping Cointreau. Promising.

Dan,

From looking at it, maybe drop the simple and change the Cointreau for Averna?

Well, it's supposed to be a sidecar riff -- get it ;-)

I'm not sure Averna has the orange to pull it off, but it might be worth trying. I think it's Montenegro that's very orange forward, but I don't intend to buy it as I've heard it described as a "creamsicle." The simple was there only because the kumquats were very sour. Sometimes they are almost sweet, though.

I'll try what you suggest. Since you have Amer Picon, you could take it in that direction. I do have a small amount of Amer Picon Biere. Maybe try that.

Tried this again. No kumquats on hand, so I muddled a small clementine with 2 swaths of lemon peel. Used Averna instead of Cointreau. Added a dash of Bokers and two of Regans'. Upped lemon to 1oz. Good, but not as good as it was with kumquats, I think.

Wow... a whole ounce of Batavia Arrack. That frightens me about as much as a 3 oz glass of Parfait Amour scares Dan ;)

So funny! This kinda Tiki-ish cocktail serves only if you're "one and done". I'd recoil in horror if I'd had more! Thank Lordy that moderation is a virtue.

Rob,

Did I ever tell you that I think Batavia Arrack smells like buttered stripper pole?

Depending on one's taste and mood, buttered stripper pole might be fun! You know Zach, one of these days I'm gonna make a batavia arrack cocktail called "Buttered Stripper Pole" just for you!
Speaking of arrack, I hope to try its Pinoy relative lambanog in the Philippines later this year.

Rob,

Check out the 17th Century cocktail, which I made to get over my fear of Batavia Arrack. I bet that lambanog smells like suntan oil!

Not sure how that lambanog will taste, actually. I've heard that Pinoys flavor lambanog with bubble gum flavoring and such, so I'll have to hunt down the real deal when I get there in November. Last trip there I tried the local rum Tanduay, and the gold stuff is passable in an Old Fashioned variant with calamansi and simple syrup.
I'm thinking of a toddy (or more properly a skin) with batavia arrack...something with arrack, hot water, lemon peel and spiced butter. That will probably be your "Hot Buttered Stripper Pole" =) Stay tuned.

Subbed out a few things - got good results: used B&B rather than Benedictine and Agave. Swapped the Whiskey Bitters for Grapefruit bitters, and used Averna as the amaro of choice. Sipping delight.

This is a brilliant drink, 5/5 for me. I followed the previous suggestions and incorporated the CioCiaro into the drink and used .25 oz simple syrup since I had no agave. My lemon slices were pretty thick, and I couldn't resist adding a couple dashes of rhubarb bitters. I used Bulleit bourbon.

I agree with others, it needs less agave. The drink w/ 1/2 oz agave syrup is very sweet, not quite cloying, but close. Otherwise the flavor is good--I incorporated the CioCiaro into the shake since others noted that the float sank.