‘Shroom Where It Happens

• 2.0 oz. Amass Mushroom Reserve gin
• 0.5 oz. Gran Classico
• 0.25 oz. Benedictine
• 0.25 oz. crème de cassis
• dash of chaga extract

Stir with ice and strain to glass. I think this would pair nicely with a little chocolate.

I have had Amass’s regular dry gin on my shelf for a while, and enjoy it’s subtle mushroom inclusion (reishi and lion’s mane, according to their website). This reserve gin adds an additional infusion of shiitake, along with cacao and bergamot. It’s tasty.

I bumped up the herbs and bitterness using Gran Classico and Benedictine to work with the umami of the gin. It needed some brightness and a little more sweet, so I grabbed cassis. I finished up with a bit more mushroom, because why not?

Another punny title, this time with apologies to Hamilton. A Shroom with a View, Shroommates, Shroom & Board, Shroomraider. It was never going to end well.

Hull Breach

• 2.0 oz. bourbon rested in rum barrels
• 0.75 oz. Cynar
• 0.25 oz. sweet vermouth
• 6 drops lactart

Stir with ice, smoke mixer or glass with hickory chips, strain into glass.

I got a new smoke kit earlier this year and was playing around with different smoked drinks. This was a Manhattan variation where the Cynar helped to balance the sweeter bourbon/rum base. You could play with different spirits, as there are a number of bourbons rested in rum barrels. The lactart here was to brighten the final drink without moving towards a sour.

The smoke and the rum inclusion pushed me to think of a cannon shot, thus the name of Hull Breach. I wish I had captured the smoke in the image. Consider this pre-battle.

Thanks Elote

• 1.5 oz. mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
• 0.75 oz. Cardamaro
• 0.75 oz. Nixta
• 2 dashes Miracle Mile chocolate chili bitters

Stir with ice and strain into glass. If you’re feeling extra, serve alongside elote.

I built this around the Nixta liqueur which features corn. I suppose I could have reached for a corn whiskey, but wanted to keep this more traditionally south of the border, so out came the mezcal for some smokiness. For some brightness I added the Cardamaro, which has literally nothing to do with elote, but really worked well and tasted great. The chocolate chili bitters added some heat and bitterness, and brought it all together.

Where would cocktail naming be without puns? I don’t know. I could say something about being corny, but even I have my limits.

Devil Rock

• 1.5 oz. bourbon
• 1.0 oz. sweet vermouth
• 0.5 oz. Green Chartreuse
• dash of orange bitters
• dash of mole bitters

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

I was asked recently what my current go-to drink was, and it undoubtedly was this. I sheepishly said it was one of my own, and I was asked how long it took me to perfect it. I had to answer honestly that I mostly copied some classics, so not long at all.

Here is my bourbon Bijou variant. I always make my Bijou as 3:2:1, which I guess is my own take, and I did the same here as I swapped in bourbon for the gin. In addition, I added mole bitters to the orange, which I always enjoy with bourbon, and I’ve had success in the past adding chocolate to the Chartreuse.

The name is a common variant for the red agate, the state gem of Kentucky, and matched the drinks hue. It’s all in the details.

I Found This Cool Dragon

• 1.0 oz. Planteray coconut rum
• 1.0 oz. Plantation Jaymaica
• 0.5 oz. Ramazatti
• 0.5 oz. crème de cacao (Tempus Fugit)
• dash of Vena’s Island bitters (charred pineapple)

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

This was my first attempt at playing with Planteray’s (formerly Plantation) coconut rum, which has a strong, ripe coconut flavor at full non-liqueur proof. I paired this with their Jamaican rum (old branding), chocolate, and some bitter Ramazatti and pineapple bitters.

The name. Ok, I had nothing. But I’d recently acquired this cool dragon trinket while hunting for Christmas presents for my kids. I wanted to use it in a picture. So I did, and I like it. It’s a cool dragon, and a good drink.

No Brainer

• 1.5 oz. Scarlet Ibis rum
• 0.5 oz. crème de cacao
• 0.5 oz. Kina L’Aero d’Or
• 0.5 oz. lemon juice
• 0.25 oz. crème de banane
• dash of Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into glass.

Rum with banana and chocolate. No brainer. That’s it.

Broken Umbreller

• 1.0 oz. French gin (Citadelle)
• 0.5 oz. dry vermouth
• 0 5 oz. apricot liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
• 0.25 oz. Aperol
• barspoon of absinthe
• dash of orange bitters

Stir with ice and strain into coupe. Top with 1.0 oz. of champagne.

It tasted good, as I experimented. That’s about it. I started with a French gin, in honor of Janet Van De Graaff’s bad French accent in Drowsy Chaperone, where she also sings about the broken umbrella, or umbreller.

I made this for a Drowsy Chaperone cast party. No umbrellas were harmed in the construction of this drink.

Comuni

• 2.0 oz. Italian gin
• 1.0 oz. dry vermouth (preferably Italian)
• 0.5 oz. amaro (Meletti, though here I used and photographed an amaro I bought in Florence at the oldest western pharmacy)
• barspoon maraschino liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

I wanted a nice balanced gin cocktail somewhat like a negroni. I chose to stick with Italian ingredients, and opted for dry instead of sweet vermouth — I believe it was Carpano. I started with Meletti, but I did try the amaro liqueur I picked up from Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Florence a couple of years ago. The maraschino just adds a touch of brightness.

I named it for the city states in pre-unified Italy. No other reason beyond I liked the simple name for a simple, delicious drink.

Earl Grey Street

• 1.0 oz. Scottish gin (Edinburugh)
• 1.0 oz. Edinburgh Lemon & Jasmine gin
• 0.5 oz. bergamot liqueur (Otto)
• 0 5 oz. Lillet Blanc
• 0.25 oz. ginger liqueur (Giffard)
• 0.25 oz. lemon juice
• 2 dashes 1821 Earl Grey bitters
• 1 dash lavender bitters (Greenbar)

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

Bergamot was the theme here, after picking up the Otto liqueur. As that is a main component in Earl Grey tea I went full throttle in that direction. Everything else here was in support of that.

The name is of a street in Edinburgh. It’s as simple as that. Scottish gin, earl grey bitters, bergamot. Sometimes it’s not rocket science. Just good flavor mixing.

Manila Galleon

• 1.0 oz. Probitas rum
• 0.5 oz. Plantation Dark rum
• 0.5 oz. absinthe
• 0.5 oz. mango liqueur
• 0.5 oz. lemon juice
• 0.25 oz. pimento dram
• 0.25 oz. vanilla liqueur
• 0.25 oz. cinnamon syrup
• dash of Angostura bitters
• dash of El Guapo Polynesian Kiss bitters

Shake with ice and pour into glass. Alternatively, pour over crushed ice into Collins or tiki glass.

I formed this tropical drink around the mango liqueur (I used Chinola), starting with the rums, adding some sweetened warming spices, lemon for pop and then an herbal and anise hit from the absinthe. It’s strong, so you can lengthen it with ice, but I always like mine up.

Did you know that the mango is the national fruit of the Philippines? I didn’t either, till I was researching for a name. The Manila galleon (and yes, Manila and vanilla were definitely a consideration here too) were Spanish ships that ran a trade route from the Philippines to Mexico, and seemed to fit for the drink. I love the rhythm of the name as well. Fun to drink, fun to say!