The Rum Will Come Out Amaro

• 1.0 oz. Probitas rum
• 0.5 oz. Barcardi 8
• 0.5 oz. Smith & Cross overproof
• 0.5 oz. Amaro Brovo 14
• 0.5 oz. passion fruit liqueur (Giffard)
• 0.25 oz. lemon juice
• dash of Angostura bitters
• dash of Angostura Orange bitters

Shake with ice then strain into glass.

I built this around the amaro. I used a blended base of rums I felt suited. The Probitas has an underlying vanilla that I like to match with the passion fruit, and for acid counterbalance I chose lemon. Even though the amaro provides bitter, I felt it needed a boost from the two Angosturas.

I’ve been a little overreliant on puns for names recently, but this one is perfect and I wouldn’t change it. I was close to adding a red wig to the skull for the picture, but thankfully edited myself in the end. Now stick out your chin, and grin, and DRINK!

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Walnut Tree

• 1.5 oz. Apple brandy (Laird’s bonded)
• 0.75 oz. Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear liqueur
• 0.5 oz. Cardamaro
• 0.25 oz. walnut liqueur (Nux Alpina)
• dash of orange bitters

Stir with ice then strain into glass.

I started with the Nux Alpina and it just naturally paired with the Laird’s. A little bit of sweet pear and then Cardamaro for some brightness nearly completed it, with the bitters rounding it out.

Does the name need an explanation? Not really. Just sip and enjoy.

Logan’s Rum

• 2.0 oz. Medford rum
• 0.75 oz. loganberry liqueur
• 0.25 oz. Bravo Amaro #14
• 2 dashes mole bitters
• 2 dashes absinthe

Stir with ice then strain into coupe.

Picked up the loganberry liqueur (have I ever had a loganberry?) and paired it with some rum. It definitely needed some bitter from the amaro and the mole bitters. The absinthe added a nice bright anise bite.

Loganberry. Rum. The name was a given.

Rum Plum Tugger

• 1.5 oz. Mt. Gay Eclipse rum
• 0.5 oz. Plantation O.F.D. rum
• 0.5 oz. Averell Damsom Plum liqueur
• 0.5 oz. Amaro Nonino
• 0.25 oz. vanilla syrup

Stir with ice and strain into coupe.

I’ve had the damsom plum for a while (very similar to sloe gin) and wanted to find something for it. Gin is what I usually reach for, so tried rum in this case. The Eclipse is a nice base, but I wanted more bite and grabbed the overproof Plantation. The vanilla deepened the sweet tartness of the plum, and the bitter amaro was necessary for balance. The tartness of the liqueur meant no citrus was needed in addition.

The name came from my daughter almost immediately when I mentioned the ingredients, and I thank her for it. And there’s no doing anything about it.

Won’t Bejeweled Again

• 1.5 oz. aged gin (Liberty Tree)
• 1.0 oz. sweet vermouth
• 0.5 oz. Green Chartreuse
• 0.25 oz. fir brandy (Clear Creek)
• dash of Abbot’s bitters

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

Here’s a modified Bijou with aged gin and fir brandy added. I swapped the orange bitters to Abbot’s, and that was it.

The name is a bad pun on a Who song, and also a play on the meaning of Bijou, which is a small and elegant jewel or trinket. You better you better you bet.

Yozakura

• 1.5 oz. Cerasum aperitivo
• 0.75 oz. Sakura gin
• 0.75 oz. elderflower liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

Cerasum is a sweeter amaro that features cherries and cherry blossoms. It’s pleasant to sip without the harsh bitterness often found in other amaros. I wanted to use this for a lower ABV drink, so to a healthy base of Cerasum I added Sakura gin, a NY based gin that also uses cherry blossoms. To balance these two I grabbed elderflower, keeping to the floral theme.

The name comes from a Japanese tradition of nighttime viewing of illuminated cherry blossoms. The printing in the photograph is one I picked up in Tokyo years ago that just enraptured me. The drink is a nice complement to that feeling.