I’ve Heard It Both Ways

• 1.0 oz. Diplomatico rum
• 1.0 oz. Ritual Sister
• 1.0 oz. Huana Guanabana liqueur
• 0.5 oz. Velvet Falernum
• 0.5 oz. lime juice
• dash of Angostura bitters
• dash of Crude Tiki Threeki bitters

Shake with ice and strain into coupe.

Ritual Sister, a smoked pineapple eue de vie, was a recent acquisition that I was looking to experiment with, and my initial instinct was to go tiki and pair it with rum. The Huana is from the same distiller who produces Kalani coconut liqueur, and presents an interesting sort of pineapple, strawberry, coconut hybrid taste.

The sweetness needed a little warming depth from the falernum, and for tart I chose lime. The two bitters balanced and smoothed things out.

The name is a reference to a running gag that was done on the Psych television show, a show that had another bit where a pineapple was hidden (well, or obviously) in every episode.

C’mon, son! Have you heard about Pluto?

Juniper Fairy

• 2.0 oz. French gin (Esme)
• 0.5 oz. dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz. apricot liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
• 0.25 oz. absinthe (Kübler)
• barspoon of simple syrup
• dash of Regan’s orange bitters

Stir with ice and strain into coupe.

Absinthe! I wanted a cocktail that highlighted absinthe, falling somewhere between a dash in a drink and a traditional absinthe pour, with gin as a base.

I used a French gin in this case, but actually tried a number of gins with equal success. Apricot is a flavor I felt might pair well, and the vermouth lengthens the drink with some additional botanical and wine influence. Add the sugar for additional sweetness, if desired, then finish with the bitters.

I.. can’t recall the exact origin of this name, although I acknowledge it is not very clever. Was I thinking of a play on juniper berry? Did I misread some entries on the the Juniper Tree fairy tale? Was it just late and I just settled for a name? I don’t know. Also, I don’t much care as long as I have this drink in hand.

Terra Mater

• 1.5 oz. Sochu
• 0.75 oz. Yobo Kish Earth
• 0.5 oz. Tempus Fugit Kina L’aéro D’Or
• 0.5 oz. loganberry liqueur
• dash of Fee’s Black Walnut bitters

Stir with ice and strain into coupe.

I don’t think I’ve ever used sochu, a Japanese spirit distilled from a variety of things like rice, buckwheat or sweet potato, in an original cocktail. In this case, I started with a sweet potato based one I had picked up some time ago in Tokyo.

This really was to play a bit with one of Chef Kristen Kish’s (of Top Chef fame — I’m a bit of a fan) new series of liqueurs. Earth has notes of smoked mushroom and an umami profile. So to this and the sochu I added some tart loganberry for sweetness and some bitter from the Kina. The black walnut bitters just seemed right for balance.

The title just took the name Earth further, with the Latin for Earth Mother, which struck me as appropriate with all of the fruits, nuts and bounties of the earth. I love that human nature historically has pushed us to take all of that and make alcohol. Naturally.

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

• 1.5 oz. Greek gin (Grace)
• 0.5 oz. Raki (Yenu)
• 0.5 oz. Fernet Menta
• 0.25 oz. apricot liqueur (Rothman and Winter)
• 0.25 oz. cinnamon syrup
• 0.25 oz. lemon juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Orange bitters

Shake with ice and strain into glass.

I was gifted some raki from a Turkish colleague, so played with some Greek and Turkish ingredients for this tipple, with apricot, cinnamon and mint. Lots of experimentation to get to the final mix, but I love this end result.

The name of course is from the song, made known to me at least through They Might Be Giants. The city changed hands a few times, so I felt captured the composite of ingredients. Have a drink. Or two. And that’s nobody’s business but the Turks.

Emerald Forest

• 2.0 oz. London Dry gin (London #1 Blue Gin)
• 0.5 oz. Cocchi Americano
• 0.25 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
• 0.25 oz. Douglas Fir brandy
• dash of Virtue Alpine Sage bitters

Stir with ice and strain into coupe.

I had the blue gin and wanted to make some jewel hued concoction., so I added the Yellow Chartreuse to create a shade of green, further modified by the Cocchi and fir brandy. Obviously it wasn’t all for color, as the herbaceousness brought things together, with the bitters taming some of the sweetness.

I honestly don’t know about the name. Emerald always makes me think of green and Oz, but I went with Forest over City due to the brandy. I guess there’s a movie with this same title from the 80s that I don’t remember at all.

Sometimes a drink is just a drink and a name is just a name. And you ask for it by name and drink it for what it is. And it all works out.

Hainuwele

• 1.5 oz. aged rum (Don Q Gran Añejo)
• 0 75 oz. Meletti
• 0.5 oz. Clement Mahina Coconut Rhum Liqueur
• 0.25 oz. lemon juice
• 0.125 oz. crème de menthe (Tempus Fugit)
• dash of Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into coupe.

Coconut and mint were the catalyst here. I wanted lots of bitter to counter the sweetness, so went for an amaro in Meletti, bolstered by Angostura. For acid I added the lemon. The Don Q made a nice base, but honestly I took it off my shelf in order to finish the bottle.

The name comes from The Coconut Girl creation myth from Indonesia. It’s a trip, so I encourage you to look it up. But it’s only the coconut reference I was looking for. Google leads you down some fascinating paths. Just have a nice drink in your hand as you go down the rabbit hole.

Il Gioiello

• 2.0 oz. Truffle Gin (Dioniso)
• 0.5 oz. Benedictine
• 0.5 oz. dry vermouth
• dash of mole bitters

Stir with ice and strain into coupe. Garnish with black truffle, if you have it. I did not.

My wife and I recently took our 20th anniversary in Italy, visiting Venice. There I found a truffle store that was offering a truffle gin. This gin on the nose is pure truffle. I fell in love. It is there at the initial taste, but isn’t overwhelming.

The picture here includes a coaster I bought there, a lace doily from Burano, and a mask ornament my parents got me on their previous trip.

The name is Italian for a jewel, which is a translation of Bijou, which is what this cocktail is based on. Truffle Gin here replaces London Dry, with mole bitters also replacing orange bitters.

Aren’t we fancy with our truffle, pig-rooted truffle gin? Saluti!

Louisiane and Maine

• 2.0 oz. Rye
• 0.5 oz. Sweet Vermouth
• 0.25 oz. Benedictine
• 0.25 oz. Cherry Heering
• dash of Peychaud’s bitters
• dash of Angostura bitters
• dash of absinthe

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

Meld of two of my favorite (and similar) drinks, Remember the Maine and A La Louisiane cocktails, which only differ by using either Benedictine or Cherry Heering. Here I’ve used both, and lessened the sweet vermouth.

The name, then, is obvious, though for me it sounds like an intersection of streets, not drinks, or states. An intersection it is, so I like it. And I’ll be on that corner raising a glass.

All Quinine on the Western Front

• 1.5 oz. French gin (Generous)
• 0.75 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
• 0.75 oz. Cocchi Americano
• 0.25 oz. Maurin Quina
• dash of lemon bitters

Stir with ice and strain into glass.

I was just looking for a gin and Chartreuse drink. Maurin Quina brought the brightness I needed.

Obviously the name comes from the Maurin Quina. I moved to a French gin just to match the theme. Santé!

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!