The Cocktail Workshop - Steven Grasse

Copyright © 2021 by Steven Grasse and Adam Erace
Interior and cover photographs copyright © 2021 by Quaker City Mercantile

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Library of Congress Control Number:2021938081
ISBNs: 978-0-7624-7297-0 (hardcover), 978-0-7624-7298-7 (ebook)
E3-20210813-JV-NF-ORI
CONTENTS
COVER
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
WELCOME TO THE WORKSHOP
WHO RUNS THE WORKSHOP
STOCKING THE HOME BAR
Base Spirits and Modifiers
Sweeteners and Syrups
Juices
Sodas
Fresh Produce and Dairy
Spices and Flavorings
Miscellaneous
Equipment and Techniques
Glassware and Ice
Garnishes
Mint Julep (1803)

Gimlet (1857)
Negroni (1860)
Corpse Reviver No. 1 (1861)
Old Fashioned (1862)
Whiskey Sour (1870)
Manhattan (1880)
Martini (1890)
Spritz (1890)
Daiquiri (1900)
Pisco Sour (1903)
El Presidente (1915)
Grasshopper (1919)
French 75 (1927)
Mai Tai (1934)
Brandy Alexander (1937)
Margarita (1940)
Piña Colada (1950)
Batanga (1961)
Naked and Famous (2011)
DISCOVER MORE
WORKS CITED
Explore book giveaways, sneak peeks, deals, and more.
Tap here to learn more.

In Oats in the North, Wheat from the South, author Regula Ysewijn
acknowledges the rotten bridge between cheap and plentiful sugar and slavery in
the Caribbean. This is also true for rum and its relatives, for which many of the
recipes in this book call, and the early American sugar industry in colonial
Louisiana. “Sugar has a cost,” Ysewijn writes, “and that cost was paid by those
in bondage.”
WELCOME TO THE COCKTAIL
WORKSHOP!
Oh, you don’t know anything about mixing drinks at home? Nice. You picked
up the right book.
Oh, you already know a lot about mixing drinks at home? Nice. You picked
up the right book.
We’re publishing The Cocktail Workshop with the belief that learning is a
lifelong pursuit, so whether you can launch a flotilla of Mai Tais with your eyes
closed or don’t know the difference between tequila and mezcal, this book will
help you deepen your knowledge and up your game.
Here’s how the book works: We’ve collected the recipes, mythologies, and
nerdy details of 20 classic cocktails, from the Mint Julep (here) to the Margarita
(here). Each drink forms a self-contained chapter with three components—the
Classic, the Riffs, and the Workshop—a liquid curriculum, if you will. The goal
is to nail what makes an iconic cocktail tick, then continue along to the
variations.
Think of the riffs as cousins of the classics—related but independent. Each
riff section contains a suite of three drinks. Some of these interpretations are well
established cocktails that are considered classics in their own rights, like the Rob
Roy (here), kin to the Manhattan (here), and the Martini’s (here) predecessor, the
Martinez (here), but most are original cocktails developed expressly for this
book. The riffs proceed up a ladder of increasing complexity. We call these
ascending levels Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master, drawing from the spirit of
workshops around the world and the talented craftspeople who make them hum.
The Apprentice level involves easy swaps and substitutions, such as
replacing the gin in a Gimlet (here) with arak to create an Arak Gimlet (here) or
using coconut water and rhum agricole to flip the frothy, creamy Piña Colada
(here) into the Piña Arriba (here), a sipper befitting a dignified evening.
The Journeyman level introduces extra elements, including homemade
syrups, cordials, tinctures, and infusions, which deepen the complexity of the
original cocktail while also building the relationship between your bar and your
kitchen. Earl Grey Syrup turns the French 75 (here) into the Brit 75 (here), for
example. Mulled wine and spice-steeped brandy transform the stiff Corpse
Reviver (here) into the autumnal Sanderson Sister sangria (here).
The Master level cocktails have multiple Journeyman modifiers, some of
which require advance planning, plus what bartenders call an elevated serve:
more intricate garnishes, specialty glassware, etc. Instead of crushed ice, the
Home Stretch (here) arrives over watermelon granita. A hollowed pineapple
carries the sized-for-two Running Mates (here). You won’t get a diploma or pay
bump for graduating to this tier, but your cocktails will be damn impressive.
The third section of each drink chapter is the Workshop. Each workshop
presents a technique (Flaming Garnishes, here), project (Solera Aging, here), or
DIY ingredient (Grenadine, here) that’s germane to its classic cocktail and will
lift your home mixology to a rarefied level.
The Cocktail Workshop meets you where you are. You can begin at the
beginning with two- and three-ingredient bangers like the Martini (here) and
Negroni (here) or cannonball into the deep end of fat-washed whiskies, fresh-
fruit shrubs, and postmodern slushies. As the book’s name implies, The Cocktail
Workshop is about learning, tinkering with, and mastering a craft—the craft of
mixing cocktails. Let’s get to work.
WHO RUNS THE WORKSHOP?
STEVEN GRASSE,
FOUNDER, ART IN THE AGE, TAMWORTH DISTILLERY, QUAKER
CITY MERCANTILE
Hometown: Souderton, PA
Classic Cocktail: Rye Manhattan (here)
The Cocktail Workshop Crush: Breakfast Manhattan, Reversed (here)
Drink When I’m Not Drinking: Bubbly seltzer water
Mixing Soundtrack: David Bowie
Cocktail Snack: Dry-roasted Planter’s peanuts
Dream Bar: Tokyo’s Old Imperial Bar, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in
1923
Hangover cure: Exercise
SONIA GRASSE,
COFOUNDER, ART IN THE AGE, TAMWORTH DISTILLERY
Hometown: Philadelphia
Classic Cocktail: Negroni (here)
The Cocktail Workshop Crush: Rose Gimlet (here)
Drink When I’m Not Drinking: Structured water
Mixing Soundtrack: DJ Jake Rudh’s weekly Transmission dance
broadcast
Cocktail Snack: Cornichons, trashy barbecue chips, Mahina Mele
macadamia nuts
Dream Bar: Chateau Marmont pool bar
Hangover cure: Federal Donuts’ fried chicken sandwich
LEE NOBLE,
HEAD MIXOLOGIST, ART IN THE AGE
Classic Cocktail: Negroni (here)
The Cocktail Workshop Crush: The Home Stretch (here)
Drink When I’m Not Drinking: Ginger beer with bitters and a lime
wedge
Mixing Soundtrack: A Tribe Called Quest
Cocktail Snack: Ordering from the raw bar
Dream Bar: Panda and Sons, Edinburgh, Scotland
Hangover cure: Middle Child’s breakfast sandwich with black coffee
ADAM ERACE,
FOOD AND TRAVEL WRITER, COOKBOOK AUTHOR, RETIRED
BARTENDER
Classic Cocktail: Bourbon Manhattan (here)
The Cocktail Workshop Crush: 80-Proof and Sunny (here)
Drink When I’m Not Drinking: Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer
Mixing Soundtrack: Spotify “Kitchen Swagger” playlist
Cocktail Snack: Marinated Castelvetrano olives, wasabi-soy almonds,
Parmigiano-Reggiano drenched in honey
Dream Bar: Lobby bar and terrace at the Grand Hotel Timeo, Taormina,
Sicily
Hangover cure: Bowl of cereal before bed
DANIELA FEDOROWICZ,
PHOTOGRAPHER
Hometown: Westmoreland, New Hampshire
Classic Cocktail: Manhattan (here)
The Cocktail Workshop Crush: Modena Spritz (here)
Drink When I’m Not Drinking: Overly caffeinated sparkling tea
Mixing Soundtrack: Tom Waits or Ella Fitzgerald
Cocktail Snack: Cheese and charcuterie board
Dream Bar: Just a camp mug by the fire
Hangover cure: Flank steaks and wet socks to bed
RON SHORT,
ILLUSTRATOR
Hometown: Burlington, New Jersey
Classic Cocktail: Coffee is my only vice
The Cocktail Workshop Crush: Orgeat (here) with seltzer and lemon
Drink When I’m Not Drinking: Kale smoothie
Mixing Soundtrack: My very loud Vitamix blender, which drives
everyone in the office kitchen nuts
Cocktail Snack: Zack’s Mighty Tortilla Chips
Dream Bar: Naked Lunch’s counter at Mom’s Organic Market
Hangover cure: Competitive road cycling
KEVIN FLAGLER,
ART DIRECTOR
Hometown: Horsham, PA
Classic Cocktail: Old Fashioned (here)
The Cocktail Workshop Crush: Oaxacan Negroni (here)
Drink When I’m Not Drinking: Way too much coffee
Mixing Soundtrack: Charlie Christian with some Ella sprinkled in and a
dash of Dinah Washington
Cocktail Snack: Peanuts
Dream Bar: In the middle of the woods, maybe it’s snowing, maybe it
was designed by Richard Neutra, and maybe I also live there
Hangover cure: Water with sea salt and honey
Jillian Anderson, Kurt Cain-Walther, Becca Jordahl, and other past and
present members of the Art in the Age–Tamworth Distilling–Quaker City
Mercantile team also contributed to The Cocktail Workshop. This book
would also not be possible without the bartenders, historians, and
cocktail writers whose works we reference within: M. Carrie Allan, Dave
Arnold, Talia Baiocchi, Simon Difford, Jason Eisner, Erin DeJesus, Carey
Jones, John McCarthy, Brett Moskowitz, Leslie Pariseau, Joaquín Simó,
Robert Simonson, and David Wondrich, among others. Cheers!
STOCKING THE HOME BAR
One of the most daunting things about delving into a new cocktail book,
especially if you don’t already keep a thoroughly kitted out home bar, is the long
list of products you’re told you need to buy before even using the book. You can
just feel your credit card melting in your wallet, right? We don’t want to do that
to you, which is why we’ve broken down everything you will need for The
Cocktail Workshop, according to both base spirits and modifiers, as well as
according to the Classic and Riff levels.
If you’re starting from scratch, the first section will help you lay the
foundation for a smart, functional home bar—you might even have some of the
bottles kicking around already. You’ll be able to mix 20 classic drinks with this
basic arsenal, plus hundreds of others we only wish we had room for in these
pages. You can also feel free to edit the selections as you please. We call for
both Bourbon and rye, for example, but you can really use them interchangeably
in any whiskey cocktail. The Spritz (here) calls for prosecco, while the French
75 (here) specifies Champagne, but if you pick one bottle of bubbles and let it do
double duty, guess what? The cocktail cops aren’t coming.
When you progress to the Riffs and Workshops—or if you’re beginning this
book from a more experienced place—it’s easy to overfill a shopping cart with
various expressions of gin, six types of rum, and several unusual amari. Our
advice: Pick a cocktail chapter that intrigues you and build from there.
THE BASIC ARSENAL
BASE SPIRITS
Brandy, American
Calvados
Cognac
Gin, London Dry
Mezcal, joven
Pisco, Peruvian
Rum, white
Tequila, blanco
Whiskey, Bourbon
Whiskey, rye
MODIFIERS
Aperol
Campari
Chartreuse, yellow
Cointreau
Crème de cacao, dark
Crème de cacao, white
Crème de menthe, green
Curaçao, dry
Vermouth, blanc (bianco)
Vermouth, dry
Vermouth, sweet
Wine, Champagne
Wine, prosecco/cava
RIFFS AND WORKSHOPS
BASE SPIRITS
Apple Brandy, American
Armagnac
Brandy, Spanish (de Jerez)
Cachaça
Genever
Gin, Old Tom
Gin, Western Style
Mezcal, reposado
Pisco, Chilean (aged)
Rhum agricole
Rum, añejo
Rum, Navy-strength
Rum, overproof (Jamaican)
Rum, pineapple
Rum, spiced
Tequila, añejo
Tequila, reposado
Vodka
Whiskey, Irish
Whisky, Scotch
MODIFIERS
Absinthe
Amaro, Averna
Amaro, Braulio
Amaro, Nonino
Amaro, Vecchio del Capo
Arak
Bénédictine
Chartreuse, green
Cider, dry
Fernet-Branca Menta
Génépy
Grand Marnier
Kahlua
Lillet, blanc
Maraschino
Salers
Select aperitivo
Sherry, Fino
Velvet Falernum
Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine, Champagne rosé
Wine, Crémant
Wine, Lambrusco
Wine, Pinot Noir
SWEETENERS AND SYRUPS
Agave Syrup, light

Apple Butter
Grenadine
Lime Curd
Maple Syrup
Orange Marmalade
Orgeat
Sugar, cubes
Sugar, demerara
Sugar, granulated
SIMPLE SYRUP
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP / 236 ML
½ cup / 118 ml water
½ cup / 100 g granulated sugar
Bring the water to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Remove
the pot from the heat, add the sugar, and stir to completely dissolve.
Allow the finished syrup to cool. Transfer it to an airtight container or
plastic squeeze bottle and store in the fridge, where it will keep for 2
weeks.
DEMERARA SYRUP
½ cup / 118 ml water

½ cup / 125 g demerara sugar
the pot from the heat, add the sugar, and stir to completely dissolve.
weeks.
HONEY SYRUP
⅓ cup / 79 ml water
½ cup / 227 g honey
the pot from the heat, add the honey, and stir to completely dissolve.
weeks.
JUICES
Apple
Cantaloupe (here)
Ginger
Grapefruit, Ruby Red
Lemon
Lemon, Meyer
Lime
Lime, Key
Orange
Orange, blood
Passion fruit
Pineapple
Pomegranate
Soursoup
Sugarcane
Watermelon (here)
SODAS
Coca-Cola, Mexican
Cola
Ginger beer
Lemon-lime
Limonata, San Pellegrino
Seltzer
FRESH PRODUCE AND DAIRY
Apples, Granny Smith

Basil leaves
Buddha’s-hand citron
Cream, heavy
Eggs
Ginger
Grapes, black/red
Half-and-half
Lemon verbena sprigs
Makrut lime leaves
Milk, whole
Peppermint leaves
Rhubarb
Spearmint leaves
Turmeric
SPICES AND FLAVORINGS
Allspice, ground
Cardamom, ground
Cinnamon, ground
Cinnamon, sticks
Cloves
Cocoa powder
Hibiscus, dried
Hops, Cascade
Orange blossom water
Peppercorns, assorted
Rose petals, dried
Rose water
Saffron
Salt, kosher
Sesame seeds
Star anise
Tamarind paste
Vanilla, beans
Vanilla, extract
MISCELLANEOUS
Almond milk, unsweetened

Almonds, toasted
Apple cider vinegar
Apricots, dried
Bee pollen
Beer, IPA
Bitters, assorted
Coconut milk
Coconut oil
Coconut water
Coffee, cold-brewed
Coffee, ground
Cream of coconut
Espresso
Lactic acid, powdered
Mango, dried
Milk, sweetened condensed
Oat milk, unsweetened
Peanuts, unsalted
Rice, long-grain white
Tea, black (loose-leaf)
Tea, Chamomile (bagged)
Tea, Earl Grey (bagged)
EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES
For mixing simple cocktails, there are only a few items you need:
• BARSPOON, for stirring

• BOSTON SHAKER, consisting of interlocking large and small tins, for
shaken cocktails
• FINE-MESH STRAINER, for removing ice chips and other particles
from shaken and muddled cocktails
• HAWTHORNE OR JULEP STRAINER, for straining stirred cocktails
• MALLET AND ICE BAG, for crushing ice
• MICROPLANE GRATER, for zesting citrus and grating spices
• MIXING GLASS, a beaker-like pitcher, for stirred cocktails
• MUDDLER, for bruising herbs, citrus, and other ingredients
• SHARP KNIFE, for cutting fruit and vegetables
• VEGETABLE PEELER, paring knife, and channel knife, for making
citrus garnishes
As you progress into the upper-level cocktails and workshops, you’ll also need:
• COFFEE FILTERS
• CHEESECLOTH
• FOOD PROCESSOR
• GLASS BOTTLES AND JARS, assorted
• HANDHELD TORCH AND BUTANE LIGHTER
• HIGH-POWERED BLENDER
• ICE SHAVING MACHINE
• ISI CREAM WHIPPER
• MIXING BOWLS
• OAK COCKTAIL BARREL
• PLASTIC CONTAINERS, assorted
• POTS AND PANS, assorted
• SILICONE ICE MOLDS (large cube, jumbo cube, sphere)
• STRAINER
SHAKEN COCKTAILS
You need: Boston shaker | Fine-mesh strainer
SHAKE
The initial shake contains ice.
1. Add ingredients to the large shaker tin.
2. Fill the small shaker tin with ice.
3. Pour the ice into the large shaker.

4. Wedge the small shaker down hard inside the large one to create a
tight seal.
5. Grip the shakers tightly, with the small shaker in the top hand and the
large shaker in the bottom.
6. Shake back and forth from end to end for the prescribed time.
7. Strain into the glass with a fine-mesh strainer.

Examples: Daiquiri (here), Margarita (here)
DRY-SHAKE
The initial shake contains no ice; this is mostly used for cocktails
including eggs, dairy, and other thick liquids that require extra agitation.
1. Add ingredients to the large shaker tin.
2. Wedge the small shaker tin down inside the large one to create a tight
seal.
3. Grip the shakers tightly with one hand on each end.
4. Shake back and forth from end to end for the prescribed time.
5. Add ice.
6. Briefly shake to chill.

7. Strain into the glass with a fine-mesh strainer.
Examples: Brandy Alexander Flip (here), Whiskey Sour (here)

STIRRED COCKTAILS
You need: Mixing and/or serving glass | Barspoon | Hawthorne or julep
strainer
MIXING-GLASS COCKTAILS
1. Add the ingredients to the mixing glass.
2. Fill the mixing glass two-thirds to three-quarters full with ice.
3. Stir briskly for the prescribed time with a barspoon.

4. Strain into the glass with a Hawthorne or julep strainer.
Examples: Martini (here), Negroni (here)
BUILD-IN-GLASS COCKTAILS
A simpler style of stirred cocktail. Instead of using a mixing glass, you
stir the ingredients together in the drinking glass in which the drink will
be served.
1. Add the ingredients to the serving glass.
2. Fill the glass two-thirds full with ice.
3. Stir briskly for the prescribed time with a barspoon.

Examples: Old Fashioned (here), Spritz (here)
MUDDLED COCKTAILS
You need: Muddling vessel | Muddler
The process of muddling is an efficient (and therapeutic) way to extract

the juices and oils from solid ingredients like herbs and fruits. The tool
used to accomplish this task, called a muddler, is like an elongated
pestle with a flat stopper at the bottom capable of slightly bruising or
fully crushing ingredients, depending on the applied pressure—go light
on the muscle in cocktails where we call for gentle muddling and firm
where we call for vigorous muddling. Muddled drinks can be shaken or
stirred, but the muddling always happens first.
1. Put the ingredients to be muddled in the bottom of the vessel (serving
glass, mixing glass, or shaker).
2. Grip the vessel in your non-dominant hand and the handle of the
muddler in your dominant one.
3. Press the tip of the muddler down gently on the ingredients and give it
a half-turn.
4. Continue to finesse the flavor out of the ingredients with a few more
turns.
5. Add the liquid ingredients and ice and finish making the cocktail as
prescribed.
Examples: Garden Gimlet (here), Virgil’s Grasshopper (here)

BLENDED COCKTAILS
You need: High-powered blender
Because some drinks are just better in a blender.

1. Measure out the liquid ingredients.
2. Measure out the ice.
3. Combine them in the pitcher of the blender.

4. Blend at the designated speed for the designated time and serve.
Examples: Running Mates (here), Sesamint Daiquiri (here)

GLASSWARE AND ICE
FOR COCKTAILS SERVED ON THE ROCKS (WITH ICE)

OR FROZEN
BEER TULIP, whose curves emphasize foam in Sour cocktails

COLLINS, a taller and narrower highball
DOUBLE OLD FASHIONED, basically an oversize rocks glass
HIGHBALL, used for fizzy cocktails topped with seltzer or soda
HURRICANE, ideal for large frozen drinks
JULEP CUP, traditional pewter cup for Mint Juleps (here)
RED WINE, for dramatic Spritzes (here)
ROCKS, also called a lowball or Old Fashioned glass
SNIFTER, which can also be used for up drinks

PINT, for tiki cocktails containing crushed ice and multiple modifiers
FOR COCKTAILS SERVED UP (WITHOUT ICE)

CHAMPAGNE FLUTE, for French 75s (here)
COUPE, also known as a Champagne saucer and an elegant vessel

for any up drink
MUG, for toddies and other drink served warm

SNIFTER, which can also be used for drinks on the rocks
Occasionally in The Cocktail Workshop, we call for nonstandard

glassware and serving vessels specific to certain drinks, such as a julep
cup, hollowed pineapple, Mexican clay mug, milk and swing-top bottles,
and paper snow cone cups. Substitute as you see fit.
ICE
Each cocktail served on the rocks calls for one of the ice types below, which is
designated at the top of each recipe. This is your service ice, while your
shaking and stirring ice should always be assumed as standard cubes.
CRUSHED, not as coarse as pebble ice but can be used

interchangeably
JUMBO CUBE, the striking, slow-melting, 2 inch/5 cm cube often seen

in whiskey cocktails, typically from a 6-cube silicone mold
LARGE CUBE, measuring 1¼ inches/3 cm square, typically from a 15-

cube silicone mold
PEBBLE, not as fine as crushed ice but can be used interchangeably
SHAVED, essential for Margarita Raspado (here) but you’ll need an ice
shaver
SPHERE, like the jumbo cube but round
STANDARD CUBES, essentially what comes out of a plastic tray or

your freezer’s ice maker
GARNISHES
CITRUS
GRAPEFRUIT, LEMON, LIME, MEYER LEMON, ORANGE
EXPRESSED PEEL
1. Cut a rectangular peel about 1 inch by 2 inches/2.5 cm by 5 cm.
2. Hold it between your thumbs and forefingers over the drink with the
outside of the peel facing down and pinch to release the oils.
3. Run the peel around the rim of the glass.
4. Drop the peel in the drink.
PARED PEEL
1. Cut a rectangular peel about 1 inch by 2 inches/2.5 cm by 5 cm.
2. Use a paring knife to trim off any rough edges and square the corners.
3. Cut a 1 inch/2 cm slit in the middle of the peel.

4. Use the slit to mount the peel on the rim of the glass with the zest facing
out.
SPIRAL PEEL
1. Grip the fruit firmly in your nondominant hand and a channel knife in
the other and start a deep crosswise cut at one end of the fruit, moving
down and around.
2. Rotating the fruit as you go, slowly run a spiral pattern around it until
you reach the other end.
3. Coil the spiral up in a tight spring before dropping it in the drink.

GRATED ZEST
1. Hold the microplane grater in one hand over the cocktail.
2. Scrape the citrus over the holes in the grater so that the zest falls out
the other side onto the surface of the drink.
3. Keep rotating the fruit as needed to find fresh skin, being mindful to
avoid grating any pith.
WEDGE
1. Cut the fruit in half lengthwise and lay the halves flesh side down on
the cutting board.
2. Cut the first one in half lengthwise, then cut into each of those sections
at a 45 degree angle to make wedges.
3. Repeat for the other side of the fruit.

4. Cut a slit in the center of each wedge in order to mount to the rim of
the glass.
WHEEL
1. Hold the fruit firmly on the cutting board and trim off the ends.
2. Slice off full cross sections of the fruit approximately ¼ inch/6 mm
thick.
3. Cut a slit in from the center of each wheel in order to mount it on the
rim of the glass.
SLICE
1. Cut the fruit in half lengthwise.
2. Cut a shallow slit down the middle of the flesh side from end to end.
3. Lay the halves flesh side down and slice through the fruit crosswise.
HERBS
BASIL, LEMON VERBENA, MINT, ROSEMARY, THYME
EXPRESSED
1. Slightly cup your nondominant hand and place the herbs in the center.
2. Cup your dominant hand the same way and clap it down over the
herbs.
3. Open your hands quickly so the oils are released into the air and add
the expressed herb to drink.
MINT JULEP
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: JULEP CUP | ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE
½ ounce / 15 ml Simple Syrup (here)

8 spearmint leaves
2 ounces / 60 ml Bourbon
Garnish: Spearmint sprig
Combine the syrup and mint in a julep cup and gently muddle. Fill the cup
with ice, add the Bourbon, and stir with a barspoon until the outside of the
cup is frosty. Top up with more ice until it makes a mound on top of the
drink. Garnish with the mint and serve.
Long before it became the official drink of the Kentucky Derby in 1938, the
Mint Julep had already journeyed thousands of miles from the cradle of
civilization. The origins of the word julep come from the Middle East, where
gulab (Persian) or julab (Arabic) referred to a rose water elixir. Most cocktail
historians believe this tonic spread west into Europe, losing its flowers and
collecting mint along the way, and eventually crossed the Atlantic with a new
name, julep, and an adopted home on the plantations of Virginia.
In his Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America, John
Davis retells the story of an enslaved man named Dick, who groomed the horses
of a certain Squire Sutherland’s rowdy son: “The first thing he did on getting out
of bed was to call for a Julep; and I honestly date my own love of whiskey, from
mixing and tasting my young master’s Juleps.” Davis included a helpful
postscript, the first printed recipe for a Mint Julep: “A dram of spirituous liquor
that has mint steeped in it, taken by Virginians of a morning.” This was way
back in 1803.
While Dick mentioned his affection for whiskey specifically, Juleps of the
era were more likely to be made with “low-quality, high-proof rum (AKA ‘kill-
devil’). These early juleps were unpleasantly strong and skunky: room-
temperature hairs-of-the-dog sucked down with a wince and a yelp,” according
to cocktail writer Brett Moskowitz. Finer spirits, in particular Cognac, and
crushed ice replaced the cheap moonshine as the Mint Julep matured through the
first half of the 1800s and maintained an association with both freed and
enslaved African American bartenders. “Some of the finest examples of the early
to mid-19th century were, in fact, served by proud and accomplished Black
men.”
One such julep maestro was Thomas Bullock, a Louisville native who mixed
drinks in his hometown and at the distinguished St. Louis Country Club in the
city of the same name. By the time he became the first Black bartender to author
his own cocktail book, 1917’s The Ideal Bartender, whiskey had replaced
Cognac as the featured julep spirit thanks to the 1872 blight that decimated
France’s vineyards. Bullock’s “Mint Julep—Kentucky Style” calls for Bourbon
specifically and is accompanied by a sensible word of caution that still holds up:
“Be careful and not bruise the Mint.”
MENTA JULEP
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: DOUBLE OLD FASHIONED | ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE
The original Mint Julep is a bright, sweet thing. Introducing Fernet-Branca

Menta, the minted sister of the inky Italian amaro (and bartender favorite)
Fernet-Branca, to the mix creates a bittersweet Julep you can sit with instead of
slurp down. This riff doubles down on the mint, too, with both fresh muddled
leaves and the persistent aroma that emerges from the bottle of Branca Menta
like a green genie.
¼ ounce / 7 ml apple cider vinegar

8 large spearmint leaves
1 ounce / 30 ml Bourbon
1 ounce / 30 ml Fernet-Branca Menta
Garnish: Expressed spearmint sprig
Combine the vinegar and mint in the glass and gently muddle. Fill the
glass with ice, add the Bourbon and Fernet, and stir with a barspoon until
the outside of the glass is frosty. Mound more ice on top, garnish with the
expressed mint, and serve.
MINT JEWEL
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: COUPE | ICE: NONE
Want the essence of a Mint Julep without all the fuss of muddling and crushed
ice? In the Mint Jewel, the classic flavors are recast in a mixed cocktail served
up. Instead of fresh leaves, a spearmint syrup carries the herbal flavor through
the drink, while the addition of Curaçao brings a welcome citrus note.
½ ounce / 15 ml Spearmint Syrup
½ ounce / 15 ml dry Curaçao
Garnish: Expressed spearmint leaf
Chill the glass. Combine the ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and stir
with a barspoon for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass, float
the expressed mint on the surface, and serve.
SPEARMINT SYRUP
MAKES ABOUT 1½ CUPS / 350 ML
1 cup / 236 ml water

1 cup / 200 g granulated sugar
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepot over medium-high heat. Add
the mint, cover, and turn off the heat, allowing the mint to steep for 5
minutes. Skim off the leaves and press as much liquid out of them as
possible into the pot. Return the pot to medium-low heat and add 1 cup
sugar, stirring to completely dissolve. Remove the mixture from the heat
and allow it to completely cool. Transfer the finished mint syrup to an
airtight container and store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2
weeks.
THE HOME STRETCH
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: DOUBLE OLD FASHIONED | ICE: WATERMELON GRANITA
Imagine a Mint Julep in which the glittering peak of crushed ice is made not
with water but watermelon. Refreshing, right? A homemade watermelon granita
forms the foundation of the Home Stretch, chilling down and slowly melting into
a mixture of Bourbon infused with basil—we gave mint the day off—and a
ginger-and-peppercorn-spiced syrup made from ultra-fragrant makrut lime
leaves. You can find these leaves fresh at farmers’ markets in citrus-growing
areas and at groceries specializing in Southeast Asian ingredients, but dried
ones, which are widely available online, work just as well.
2 ounces / 60 ml Basil Bourbon

½ ounce / 15 ml Makrut Lime Syrup
Garnish: Expressed basil sprig
Chill the glass and pack it with the watermelon ice. Combine the Bourbon
and syrup in a Boston shaker with ice and vigorously shake for 10
seconds. Strain over the watermelon ice and stir with a barspoon to mix
the cocktail and settle the ice. Mound more watermelon ice on top,
garnish with the expressed basil, and serve.
Menta Julep, Mint Jewel, The Home Stretch
BASIL BOURBON
MAKES 1½ CUPS / 350 ML
1½ cups / 350 ml Bourbon

20 expressed large basil leaves
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container and allow to infuse for 2

hours. Skim off the leaves and press as much liquid out of them as
possible into the container. Strain the Bourbon into a clean airtight
container to remove any leftover basil debris. This will keep indefinitely at
room temperature, but the basil flavor will begin to degrade after 1 month.
WATERMELON GRANITA
MAKES ABOUT 16 CUBES (1 STANDARD ICE CUBE TRAY)
1 small seedless watermelon
Cut the melon into slices, removing and discarding the rind. Process the
flesh in an electric juicer. Alternately, puree the flesh in a blender and
transfer the puree to a fine-mesh strainer set over a mixing bowl. Allow
the juice to strain off for about 1 hour. Freeze the watermelon juice in an
ice cube tray until completely solid. Remove the frozen watermelon ice
and pulse in a blender until it reaches a chunky, crushed consistency.
(You’ll have more than you need for 1 cocktail.) Reserve in the freezer
until ready for use.
MAKRUT LIME LEAF SYRUP
¾ cup / 177 ml water

6 fresh or dried makrut lime leaves
½ tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
½ teaspoon cracked white peppercorns
¾ cup / 150 g granulated sugar
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepot over medium-high heat.

Gently crush the leaves in your hand to release the essential oils. Add
the leaves, ginger, and peppercorns and slightly decrease heat to
maintain a lazy boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and strain the
mixture, discarding the solids and returning the liquid to the saucepot. Set
it over low heat and add the sugar, stirring to completely dissolve.
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to completely cool.
Transfer the finished makrut lime syrup to an airtight container and store
in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 weeks.
The Bourbon and the mint are lovers. In the same land they live, on the
same food they are fostered. The mint dips its infant leaf into the same
stream that makes the bourbon what it is. The corn grows in the level
lands through which small streams meander. By the brook-side the mint
grows. As the little wavelets pass, they glide up to kiss the feet of the
growing mint, the mint bends to salute them.
—JOSHUA SOULE SMITH, “THE MINT JULEP,” LEXINGTON

HERALD, 1891
WORKSHOP
CLARIFIED MILK PUNCH
Clarifying cocktails with milk goes way back to the 1700s—Ben Franklin
was a fan—when booze was harsh and refrigeration was spotty. The strange-
sounding technique of purposely curdling milk with an acidulated cocktail
both softens substandard alcohol’s edges and guards against spoilage. Neither
of those issues are very pressing in drink-mixing today, but modern bartenders
rarely meet an old-timey technique they don’t like, and clarified milk punches
began regularly appearing on cocktail menus around the early 2010s.
As the term punch implies, this workshop is best undertaken as a large
batch. The recipe we’re using to illustrate it is Mint Julep Milk Punch, which
starts with a 1½ cup/350 ml mixture of Bourbon, Simple Syrup, water (to
account for the dilution ice would otherwise provide), and mint. After infusing
for two hours, the mint is strained out, and the cocktail is acidulated with
lemon juice. When the acid in the batched Julep encounters scalded milk, the
dairy ostensibly spoils. Curds form, and the impurities latch on to them like a
life raft. (This is similar to how a chef clarifies a consommé, only they use egg
whites instead of dairy.) After you strain the curdled concoction, you’re left
with a beautiful, clear punch that retains the silky texture of dairy but appears
to contain no dairy at all—a milk ghost, if you will.
Once strained, bottled, and chilled, the clarified milk punch is ready to
serve, but will also keep indefinitely in the fridge. While we’re running the
Mint Julep through the workshop, the technique will work with most cocktails
that contain acid. Scale up a Margarita (here), Daiquiri (here), or Naked and
Famous (here) by four, then proceed to the curdling stage and follow the rest
of the recipe outlined below.
MINT JULEP MILK PUNCH
ACTIVE TIME: 20 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 28 HOURS
MAKES 4 TO 5 (3 OUNCE/90 ML) COCKTAILS

GLASS: ROCKS | ICE: JUMBO CUBE
1 cup / 236 ml Bourbon

2 ounces / 60 ml Simple Syrup (here)
2 ounces / 60 ml water
30 mint leaves, coarsely chopped
2 ounces / 60 ml lemon juice
1 cup / 236 ml whole milk
Garnish: Expressed large spearmint leaf x 4
Equipment: 1 quart/1 L airtight container x 4, fine-mesh strainer,
saucepot, heat-safe pitcher, plastic wrap, coffee filters
Start by making a batched Mint Julep. Combine the Bourbon, syrup,

water, and mint in an airtight container and vigorously shake for 30
seconds. Rest the mixture for 2 hours at room temperature. Filter the
mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the solids and
reserving the finished batched cocktail.
Combine the batched Julep and lemon in an airtight container.
Shake to integrate and set aside at room temperature. Bring the milk to
a boil in a saucepot over medium-high heat and transfer to a heat-safe
pitcher. Add the acidulated julep to the milk, which will curdle. Gently
stir the mixture once, careful not to break up the curds, then swirl a few
times to maximize contact between the dairy and acidulated julep.
Cover the pitcher with plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room
temperature for 1 hour, after which the curds will have significantly
separated.
Filter the mixture through a coffee filter, replacing the filter as many
times as needed to keep the liquid flowing. Once the mixture has been
completely strained, transfer it to an airtight container and place in the
refrigerator for 24 hours. Do not disturb the container during this
period, as the liquid needs to remain very still for the rest of the milk to
successfully settle. Once this has been achieved, the remaining milk
solids will be in a relatively stable layer on the bottom of the container,
with the clarified punch on top.
Slowly pour the clarified punch into another airtight container so
that the milk solids remain undisturbed. Keep refrigerated.
To serve, set up the glasses with the ice. Evenly divide the Mint
Julep Milk Punch between them and garnish each with an expressed
mint leaf.
GIMLET
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
2 ounces / 60 ml London Dry gin

½ ounce / 15 ml strained lime juice
Chill the glass. Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker with ice and
vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass and
serve.
More than a century before it became an official royal decree, members of the
British navy consumed citrus to ward off scurvy on the high seas. To keep the
juice from spoiling on long voyages, it was preserved with alcohol, then with
sugar when a Scottish shipyard owner named Lauchlin Rose created Rose’s
Lime Cordial in 1857, the antecedent of the common sweetened bottled lime
juice sold today. While the ordinary sailors would take their “medicine” with
their daily allotment of rum, the officers would mix Rose’s with gin.
Thus the Gimlet was born. Journalist Charles H. Baker described it as a
“good cooler… without fancy fizzings” in Eastern ports of call, “starting with
Bombay—down the Malabar coast to Colombo; to Penang, Singapore, Hong
Kong and Shanghai,” in 1939’s The Gentleman’s Companion, Vol. II Exotic
Drinking Book. “The Gimlet is just as popular as our Martini here.”
Like the Martini (here) and the oldest classic cocktails, the Gimlet is very
simple to make. It follows the straightforward formula of spirit + citrus +
sweetener; think of it as the British cousin of the Daiquiri (here). While bottled
lime cordial may have been preferred by the British navy, fresh juice is king
now.
The Master of every such Ship as last aforesaid shall serve or cause to be
served out the Lime or Lemon Juice with Sugar… or other such
Antiscorbutics as aforesaid to the Crew so soon as they have been at Sea
for Ten Days, and during the Remainder of the Voyage, except during
such Time as they are in Harbour and are there supplied with fresh
Provisions; the Lime or Lemon Juice and Sugar to be served out daily at
the Rate of an Ounce each per Day to each Member of the Crew, and to
be mixed with a due Proportion of Water before being served out, or the
other Antiscorbutics, if any, at such Times and in such Quantities as Her
Majesty by Order in Council may from Time to Time direct.
—THE MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT OF 1867

ARAK GIMLET
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Arak (also spelled araq) is an anise liqueur sipped in squares, souks, and cafés
from Istanbul to Tel Aviv. Flavored with aniseed, think of it as the Levantine
equivalent of Italian anisette or Greek ouzo. Arak’s intense taste is polarizing
for sure; if you like black licorice, you’ll enjoy this Gimlet riff, which works off a
one-to-one base-spirit substitution: out goes the gin, in comes the arak. The
blend of cool, refreshing, minty anise and sharp, tart, floral lime really works.
Can’t find arak? Make your own by infusing vodka with toasted aniseed and a
bit of sugar.
2 ounces / 60 ml arak
Garnish: Expressed mint leaf
vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass.
Garnish with the mint and serve.
ROSE GIMLET
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
This Gimlet begins with an easy homemade flower syrup. Rose is the primary
flavor, while hibiscus brings a balancing, cranberry tartness and lends a little
color to the finished product. Shaken with gin and Key lime juice (a bit sweeter
than regular), it produces a pale pink Gimlet that looks as good as it tastes.
Serving note: Be sure to mist the glass with rose water inside and outside, which
you can do with an atomizer—bar supply and kitchen stores sell them—or even
an old cleaned and sanitized perfume bottle. Some of the rose water will get on
your hands as you drink, and the experience becomes tactile. It’s like making a
cocktail 3D.
Rose water, in an atomizer or spray bottle, for misting

2 ounces / 60 ml floral gin
¾ ounce / 22 ml strained Rose Syrup
½ ounce / 15 ml strained Key lime juice
Garnish: Dried rose petals
Chill the glass, then mist the inside and outside of it with rose water.
Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker with ice and vigorously
shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass, garnish with a
few rose petals, and serve.
ROSE SYRUP

¼ cup / 8 g dried rose petals
1½ tablespoons dried hibiscus
Bring the water to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add the
flowers, cover, and remove from the heat. Steep for 5 minutes. Strain the
mixture into a clean pot and add the sugar. Place over low heat and stir
to dissolve. Transfer to a heat-safe lidded jar (like a canning jar) and
reserve. This will keep refrigerated for 2 weeks.
GARDEN GIMLET
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: ROCKS | ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE
Making cocktails is like cooking; it’s all about layering flavor. The reason why
you sweat onions and garlic as the first step in a pot of soup or sauce, for
example, is akin to why you muddle the basil and cucumber as the first step in
this cooling, curiously pickle-y, jade Gimlet. We bruise the herbs and cuke with
salt—an abrasive—and lime juice—a solvent that helps fully extract the flavors
from the ingredients—then layer in the gin and syrup. Remember: when
muddling, soft herbs like mint and basil require less elbow grease than hard
ones like rosemary and sage. The goal is to coax out those essential oils, not
bash them into oblivion.
4 fresh basil leaves

2 cucumber wheels
1 pinch kosher salt
¾ ounce / 22 ml strained lime juice
2 ounces / 60 ml cucumber gin
Garnish: Cucumber wheel, celery stalk, celery seed
Combine the basil, cucumber, salt, and lime juice in a shaker and gently
muddle. Add the gin, Simple Syrup, and ice and vigorously shake for 30
seconds. Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail over the ice and
mound more ice on top. Garnish with a cucumber wheel, celery stalk, and
sprinkling of celery seed and serve.
Arak Gimlet, Rose Gimlet, Garden Gimlet
WORKSHOP:
OLEO-SACCHARUM
Oleo: oil. Saccharum: sugar. The Latin verbiage makes this versatile,
viscous, flavor-charged style of cocktail syrup sound like an arcane potion—
and it is quite old, dating back at least to the 18th century. Saveur touches on
its history:
As Jerry Thomas wrote in The Bon Vivant’s Companion, first

published in 1862, “To make punch of any sort in perfection, the
ambrosial essence of the lemon must be extracted, by rubbing lumps of
sugar on the rind (a process that has evolved over the years).” Cocktail
scholar David Wondrich has traced oleo-saccharum back to 1707 and
perhaps before, and in his definitive book Punch, states that “lemon oil
adds a fragrance and a depth that marks the difference between a good
Punch and a great one.”
An oleo-saccharum is so easy to make: it just about makes itself. If you

can peel a bunch of citrus, toss those peels with sugar, and be patient, you can
get an oleo-saccharum. As the mixture sits, the essential oils weep from the
zest, melting the sugar, and creating a thick, glossy, intensely fragrant citrus
syrup. In terms of flavor and aroma per square inch, there is just no substitute
for the oils locked inside the stippled rind of an orange, grapefruit, lemon, or
lime. No juice-based syrup delivers as intense a payoff as an oleo-saccharum,
and because of the weight of the oils, it does double duty by adding body to
your cocktails.
Since we’re talking Gimlets, we’ve formulated a lime oleo below, but the
same base recipe works with any of the aforementioned citrus fruits. As
they’re all typically larger than limes, you need less of them. For one cup of
sugar, eight lemons, six oranges, or four grapefruits create the right ratio of
peel to sugar. You can also add an extra layer of flavor by introducing herbs
and spices into the oleo mixture: toasted peppercorns, basil, dried hibiscus or
rose petals, ginger.
LIME OLEO
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS / 470 ML
10 limes
Equipment: Vegetable peeler, large mixing bowl, plastic wrap,
saucepot, strainer, 1 quart/1 L airtight container x 2
Thoroughly wash the limes. Using the vegetable peeler, carefully

remove the zest in large strips, leaving behind the dry white pith.
Reserve the peeled fruit for juicing (for this or other cocktails). Combine
the peels and sugar in an airtight container. Stir the mixture so the
sugar coats the peels evenly, cover, and allow it to rest for at least 24
hours at room temperature, or until the peels look shriveled and a
viscous solution has started to form.
Bring the water to a low boil in a small saucepot over medium heat.
Carefully scoop the lime mixture into the water, stirring to completely
dissolve the sugar. Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it
through a strainer to separate the peels from the oleo-saccharum.
Completely cool, transfer to an airtight container, and store in the
refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 weeks.
OLEO GIMLET
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
2 ounces / 60 ml London Dry gin

1 ounce / 30 ml Lime Oleo-Saccharum
¼ ounce / 7 ml strained lime juice
Garnish: Expressed lime peel
Chill the glass. Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker with ice
and vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass.
Express the lime over the surface of the drink, rub it around the rim,
drop it in the cocktail, and serve.
OTHER OLEO-FRIENDLY COCKTAILS
CHILCANO SOUR (here): Replace the Quick Ginger Syrup with an
equal measure of lemon-ginger oleo-saccharum.
FRENCH 75 (here): Replace the Simple Syrup with an equal
measure of lemon oleo-saccharum.
WISCONSIN BRANDY OLD FASHIONED (here): Replace the fresh
orange and sugar cube with ½ ounce/15 ml orange oleo-saccharum.
NEGRONI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: ROCKS | ICE: LARGE CUBE X 2
1 ounce / 30 ml gin
I ounce / 30 ml Campari
1 ounce / 30 ml sweet vermouth
Garnish: Expressed orange peel
Combine the ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and stir with a
barspoon for 15 seconds. Set up the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail
into the glass. Express the orange peel over the surface of the drink, rub
it around the rim, drop it in the cocktail, and serve.
While the Negroni is considered one of the most classic cocktails, this amber,
all-booze sipper is thought to have grown out of another drink: the Milano-
Torino, a mix of Campari (made in Milan) and sweet vermouth (made in Torino)
shot with seltzer and garnished with a lemon peel. During World War I, the
easygoing Mi-To became popular with US servicemen stationed in Italy, where
it took on the nickname it’s now known by today: the Americano.
Different origin stories credit competing counts, Camillo Negroni and Pascal
Negroni, with inventing the Americano riff that would eventually bear the family
name. The drink’s true father is debated, as is the location of its invention. Was
it Camillo, who allegedly asked a bartender at Caffe Casoni in Florence to
replace the seltzer in his Americano with gin sometime around 1920? Or was it
Pascal, a Corsican general stationed in colonial French Senegal, who created the
drink in honor of his wedding in the 1860s? Whatever the real story, the switch
turned a bubbly, thirst-quenching long drink into a stiff short drink that went on
to conquer modern cocktail culture.
The classic Negroni formula is equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet
vermouth, but you can tinker with the recipe based on your preferences. A huge
gin fan might bump up the base spirit in a 2-1-1 ratio. Someone looking for a
more bitter-forward Negroni might do the same with Campari. While vermouth
plays a bit of a third wheel here, you can create a lot of variation by
experimenting with different types. Using rich, full-bodied Carpano Antica
Formula, for example, will produce a different Negroni than French Dolin
Rouge, a lighter style. Think about matching the vermouth to the gin. Piney,
juniper-forward gins from the London Dry school need a vermouth that can
stand up to them, while the botanical profiles of modern-style gins like
Hendrick’s are better matched to mellower vermouths. Experiment. Cocktails
can be classic, but that doesn’t mean they’re carved in stone.
CIDER SBAGLIATO
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: RED WINE | ICE: LARGE CUBE × 4
Campari attributes the Negrino Sbagliato to Mirko Stocchetto, a bartender at

Bar Basso in Milan. In 1972, Stocchetto mistakenly added prosecco instead of
gin to a Negroni, a fortuitous accident that’s lower in proof than a traditional
Negroni but not as flitzy as a Spritz. (Sbagliato means “mistaken” in Italian.)
This twist on the Sbagliato sources its bubbles from cider rather than prosecco,
and you want one that’s very dry. If you’re unsure of a cider’s sugar level, most
French bottles are safe bets, though we love the “Stark” Stayman-Spitzenberg
blend from our neighbors, Ploughman Cider, in Adams County, Pennsylvania.
1 ounce / 30 ml Campari
Dry cider to top, about 4 ounces / 120 ml
Garnish: Expressed lemon peel
Set up the glass with the ice. Add the ingredients and briskly stir with a
barspoon for 5 seconds. Express the lemon peel over the surface of the
drink, run it around the rim, drop it in the cocktail, and serve.
WHITE NEGRONI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: ROCKS | ICE: LARGE CUBE X 2
Think of the White Negroni as the classic formula’s blonde younger sister. It’s
not actually white, but soft yellow. The color comes from Salers, a bitter oak-
aged gentian aperitif, which swaps in for Campari, and nimble, aromatic Lillet
Blanc, which replaces sweet vermouth. Blended with gin in the same equal-parts
ratio, the result preserves most of the proof of the original Negroni, but has a
layer of sweetness that brings to mind melted lemon hard candies.
1 ounce / 30 ml gin
1 ounce / 30 ml Salers gentian aperitif
1 ounce / 30 ml Lillet Blanc
into the glass. Express the lemon peel over the surface of the drink, rub it
around the rim, drop it in the cocktail, and serve.
OAXACAN NEGRONI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Imagine a Venn diagram with three circles: smoky, bitter, and sweet. The
Oaxacan Negroni would live within that intersection. So would coffee, which
bridges smoky mezcal, bitter Campari, and sweet vermouth in this riff. While you
can certainly make your own, store-bought cold brew works well here. Just be
sure to use a full-strength variety, as the more delicate flavor of a light roast will
get lost.
1 ounce / 30 ml joven mezcal

1 ounce / 30 ml Campari
¾ ounce / 22 ml strong cold-brew coffee
Garnish: Expressed orange peel, 6 drops cardamom bitters, such as
Dashfire or Fee Bros.
into the glass. Express the orange peel over the surface of the drink, rub
it around the rim, and drop it in the cocktail. Garnish with cardamom
bitters and serve.
NEGRONI ALTERNATES
CAMPARI DRINKER’S NEGRONI
1½ ounces / 45 ml Campari
¾ ounce / 22 ml gin
¾ ounce / 22 ml sweet vermouth
GIN DRINKER’S NEGRONI
1½ ounces / 45 ml gin
¾ ounce / 22 ml Campari
Cider Sbagliato, White Negroni, Oaxacan Negroni
WORKSHOP:
SOLERA AGING
In Jerez, Spain, the ancestral home of sherry, the famous fortified wines are
aged using the solera method, a multiyear process of blending that results in
each barrel containing several different ages of sherry. Think of it like
sourdough bread made from a mother that’s been passed down through the
generations. Every new loaf contains a bit of the old.
Other fortified wines like Madeira and Lillet are made this way as well, but
you can also apply the process to cocktails. The Negroni is perfect for it.
Jarred and aged a month, the gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth meld into a
better, more homogenous version of the cocktail you were trying to mix in the
first place. This happens on a molecular level, with time and exposure to
oxygen doing the work of your hands and a mixing spoon. The gin’s harsh
edges soften, the tannins in the vermouth and bitterness of the Campari relax,
and the aged cocktail that emerges after a month is more concentrated in
flavor but also a smoother drinking experience.
You could stop there and have an excellent batch of cocktails on your
hands—one bottle each of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth will yield about
24 month-aged Negronis. But you’re only going to pour off half that amount
for drinking, saving the rest for the next stage in your solera. Each month
you’ll pour off half of the last batch and add new gin, Campari, and sweet
vermouth. In effect, you’re layering flavors, so that within 4, 6, or twelve
months, you’ll have a Negroni batch comprised of 4, 6, or twelve different
ages. (Once bottled, these should be stored in a cool, dark place, where they’ll
keep forever.) You can continue this process indefinitely, but just saying, for
example, if you start in January you’ll have 120 single-serve solera-ed
Negroni by November. One of those and a copy of The Cocktail Workshop
would make an excellent holiday gift.
SOLERA-AGED NEGRONI
ACTIVE TIME: 30 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 1 TO 12
MONTHS
MAKES 1 STARTER BATCH
1 (750 ml) bottle gin

1 (750 ml) bottle Campari
1 (750 ml) bottle sweet vermouth
Equipment: 1 gallon/3.8 L lidded glass jar, funnel, 1 quart/1 L
lidded glass jar
Combine the ingredients in the gallon jar; there should be 3 to 4

inches/8 to 10 cm of headspace. Screw on the lid and gently shake.
Store in a cool dark place for 1 month. Using a funnel, pour off and
bottle half the aged Negroni for consumption; it will be enough for
about 12 cocktails.
To the remainder in the jar, add half a bottle (13 ounces/375 ml)
each of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. Store in a cool dark place
for 1 month. Pour and bottle half the aged Negroni, which is now a
blend of 2 different batches: 1 month old and 2 months old. Continue
the process, refreshing every month, for as long as desired.
To serve, pour 3 ounces/90 ml of the Solera Negroni into a rocks
glass filled with 2 ice cubes. Express an orange peel over the surface
of the drink, rub it around the rim, drop it in the cocktail, and serve.
image
OTHER COCKTAILS TO SOLERA AGE

CORPSE REVIVER NO. 1 (here)
EL PRESIDENTE (here)
MANHATTAN (here)
CORPSE REVIVER NO.1
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
1½ ounces / 45 ml Cognac
¾ ounce / 22 ml Calvados
with a barspoon for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the prepared
glass. Express the orange peel over the surface of the drink, rest it on the
rim of the glass, and serve.
Great name for a cocktail, right? No one knows who came up with the catchy
moniker for this amber necromancer (not to be confused with the circa-1930s
Zombie), but its earliest appearance in print dates to 1861, when London’s
Punch magazine wrote of a hangman who “after liquoring up with a Sling, a
Stone Wall, and a Corpse-Reviver… merrily danced forth into the middle of the
room, and sang a little song with this agreeable refrain…”
Made with two types of French brandy—Cognac (made from grapes) and
Calvados (made from apples)—and sweet vermouth, the Corpse Reviver No. 1
can definitely make a body dance and sing, though it’s unlikely the anonymous
hangman’s 19th-century version contained those exact ingredients. The first
published recipe, from 1871’s The Gentleman’s Table Guide, calls for brandy,
Maraschino, and Boker’s bitters (the leading bitters brand from the 1820s
through Prohibition). We don’t arrive at the established brandy-Calvados-sweet
vermouth mix until 1930, when it appears in Harry Craddock’s The Savoy
Cocktail Book. Craddock distinguishes this recipe as the Corpse Reviver No. 1.
His Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a lithe and citrusy ballet of gin, Lillet, Cointreau,
and lemon with a scintilla of absinthe. They’re very different drinks but could be
members of the same aristocratic French family, perhaps a generation apart.
The No. 2 went on to eclipse the original in popularity, and since then
bartenders have ushered new Corpse Revivers into the world. But the stiff, noble
No. 1 bears the numerical distinction for a reason: it’s not only a true classic but
also an enduring relic from an era when brandy—until recently imprisoned at the
dusty back of the bar—was a status symbol.
REANIMATOR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
France isn’t the only producer of fine brandies. The spirit is also made in
Andalusia, Spain, where brandies age in the solera method (see here), just like
the area’s most famous liquid export of sherry. (Sherry is the anglicized word for
Jerez, the Andalusian city and epicenter of sherry production.) Unlike smooth,
luxurious Cognac, brandy de Jerez is fruity and wild, a dynamic player in the
Reanimator. This apple-forward Corpse Reviver riff features two different
expressions of the fall fruit: brandy and cider. For the former, we like Laird’s,
whose packaging looks like it hasn’t changed in a century. For the latter, local is
best if you live in an apple-growing region, and if not, Martinelli’s produces an
organic Honeycrisp cider that’s delicious and widely available.
2 ounces / 60 ml apple cider

1½ ounces / 45 ml Spanish brandy (de Jerez)
¾ ounce / 22 ml American apple brandy
Set up the glass with the ice. Combine the ingredients with ice in a mixing
glass and stir with a barspoon for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the
glass. Express the lemon peel over the surface of the drink, rest it on the
rim, and serve.
SANDERSON SISTER
MAKES ABOUT 2 QUARTS / 1.9 L
GLASS: RED WINE × 8-10 | ICE: NONE
The boozy Corpse Reviver and a fruit-filled goblet of sangria may not seem like
they have much in common, but look a little closer: Both have brandy. Both have
wine. Transforming one into the other doesn’t take witchcraft, only some extra
time to build in the layers of spice and fruit. It’s a three-step process: melting
honey and infusing vanilla into Cognac and Calvados, macerating apples and
grapes in the brandy mixture, and mulling the wine. It can all be done ahead of
time, so when you’re serving, all you need to do is combine the components with
a good stir and half-hour chill. This recipe makes enough for a crowd, so light a
black candle and brew up a pitcher.
1 cup / 236 ml Calvados

1 cup / 236 ml Cognac
½ cup / 118 ml honey
2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
3 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and medium diced
3 cups seedless black or red grapes, halved lengthwise
4 cinnamon sticks
12 cloves
8 star anise
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
2 (750-ml) bottles light-bodied red wine, such as Pinot Noir
Garnish: Expressed rosemary sprigs x 8 to 10
Combine the Cognac, Calvados, honey, and vanilla in a medium pot over
medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, then allow it
to cool to room temperature. Once cool, add the apples and grapes to the
pot, cover, and allow the fruit to macerate at room temperature for 1 hour,
occasionally stirring to make sure all fruit gets in contact with the liquid.
This can be done up to 1 day in advance; just be sure to transfer the
mixture to the refrigerator after 1 hour.
Toast the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and peppercorns in a large
pot over low heat until fragrant, occasionally tossing, about 5 minutes.
Add the wine, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and
simmer for 30 minutes. Allow the mulled wine to cool to room
temperature and strain it into a 2 quart/1.9 L pitcher, discarding the
spices. (This can be done up to 3 days in advance.) Chill.
When the fruit has macerated for at least an hour, add the mixture to
the pitcher, stir to combine, and chill for at least 30 minutes before
serving. Divide the sangria between 8 to 10 wineglasses. Clap each sprig
of rosemary between your palms to express the oils. Garnish the glasses
with a rosemary sprig and serve.
OSIRIS MYTH
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: MUG | ICE: NONE
Named for the mythological Egyptian king who returned from the afterlife, the
Osiris Myth recasts the Corpse Reviver into a hot toddy inspired by yansoon, the
fragrant anise tea found in Egypt and other Eastern Mediterranean countries.
The Corpse Reviver trio—Cognac, Calvados, sweet vermouth—carries over to
this warming cocktail, though the vermouth gets a prior infusion with bee pollen
in another nod to the ancient Egyptians, who associated honeybees with royalty
and spirituality. The Osiris Myth also uses a tincture of baharat, a Middle
Eastern spice blend that varies from country to country, souk to souk, merchant
to merchant. Ours features cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, and cloves and
makes this toddy a natural for hayrides and holiday festivities.
2 tablespoons aniseeds
4 star anise
6 ounces / 177 ml hot water
¾ ounce / 22 ml Cognac
¾ ounce / 22 ml Calvados
¾ ounce / 22 ml Bee Pollen Vermouth
4 drops Baharat Tincture
Garnish: Dried apple slice
Add the spices to a saucepot and lightly toast them over low heat,
frequently stirring, until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the water, increase
the heat to high, and allow the mixture to come to a boil. When it hits a
boil, remove the pot from the heat, and allow the spices to steep in the
water for 5 minutes. While they steep, warm a mug in the microwave for
15 seconds, then add the remaining ingredients to the mug. Strain the
anise tea directly into the mug and stir three times to incorporate. Garnish
the cocktail with a dried apple slice and serve.
Reanimator, Sanderson Sister, Osiris Myth
BEE POLLEN VERMOUTH
1½ cups / 350 ml Lo-Fi sweet vermouth

½ cup / 80 g bee pollen
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container and vigorously shake for

10 seconds. Allow the jar to rest at room temperature for an hour, then
transfer it to the refrigerator for 24 hours. Strain out the bee pollen,
reserving the infused vermouth. Strain the vermouth a second time
through a coffee filter to remove any fine sediment. Be patient; you may
have to gently wring out and replace the filter a few times. Transfer the
finished vermouth to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator,
where it will keep for 2 weeks.
BAHARAT TINCTURE
MAKES ABOUT 4 OUNCES / 120 ML
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
12 cloves, toasted and lightly crushed
4 ounces / 120 ml vodka
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container and allow them to infuse

at room temperature for three days. Strain the mixture through a strainer
lined with a coffee filter and transfer the finished tincture to a small
eyedropper bottle. Store in a cool, dark place. This will keep indefinitely,
but the spice flavor will begin to degrade after 2 months.
WORKSHOP:
BARREL AGING
Like the running “We can pickle that” Portlandia sketch, barrel aging
everything from maple syrup to vinegar to beer to—in a bit of chicken-or-the-
egg poetry—pickles, became A Thing in the 2000s. This process, by which
liquids are rested in used (usually Bourbon) barrels, imparts a subtly sweet,
smoky-oaky character with suggestions of vanilla, caramel, and spice. The
technique is a natural for mixed drinks, and lately it’s become hard to find a
bar not touting its Bourbon barrel-aged Manhattan (here) or Negroni (here).
Thanks to the arrival of personal-sized barrels from brands like Bluegrass
Barrel, home cocktail enthusiasts can try this method without committing to
the typical 53 gallons most Bourbon barrels hold. Most of the mini barrels
come in the 1 quart/1 L size, which will hold about 10 cocktails. The Corpse
Reviver is well suited to barrel aging, as is any cocktail that doesn’t contain
any of the following: dairy, egg, fruit juice or perishable ingredients, or
carbonation. The aforementioned Manhattan and Negroni are perennially
popular, but also consider the Hail to the Chief (here), Martinez (here), and
Easy Does It (here).
BARREL-AGED CORPSE REVIVER NO. 1
WEEKS
MAKES 10 COCKTAILS
2 cups / 470 ml Cognac

1 cup / 236 ml Calvados
1 cup / 236 ml sweet vermouth
Equipment: 1 quart/1 L oak cocktail barrel, such as Bluegrass
Barrel brand; 1 quart/1 L glass bottle; funnel
Combine the ingredients in the barrel, plug it closed, and gently agitate
to mix. Allow the mixture to rest in the barrel for 2 to 4 weeks, testing
the contents once a week to observe progress. When the desired
intensity of flavor has been achieved, transfer the finished Barrel-Aged
Corpse Reviver No. 1 from the barrel to the bottle and store in a cool,
dark place, where it will keep indefinitely.
To serve, combine 3 ounces/90 ml of the Barrel-Aged Corpse
Reviver No. 1 with ice in a mixing glass and stir with a barspoon for 30
seconds. Strain the cocktail into a chilled coupe. Express an orange
peel over the surface of the drink, rest it on the rim, and serve.
Alternately, the entire batch can be well-chilled and served straight
from the bottle for a heavier, undiluted cocktail.
OLD FASHIONED
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: ROCKS | ICE: STANDARD CUBES
¼ ounce / 7 ml water
1 granulated sugar cube
4 dashes Angostura Aromatic bitters
2 ounces / 60 ml American whiskey (choice of Bourbon or rye)
Add the water, sugar cube, and bitters to a rocks glass and vigorously
muddle them until the sugar has completely dissolved. Fill the glass to
the rim with ice and add the whiskey. Briskly stir to integrate the cocktail
and top with more ice if necessary. Express the orange peel over the
surface of the drink, rub it around the rim, drop it in the cocktail, and
serve.
The Old Fashioned is so old, its recipe fits the earliest printed definition of a
“cocktail” as an alcoholic beverage, (see here), as published in the
grandiloquently named Hudson, New York, newspaper The Balance, and
Columbian Repository. It takes just four ingredients to make this classic:
whiskey, sugar, water, bitters—five if you count orange peel garnish. Before it
was called the Old Fashioned, the mixture was known simply as the Whiskey
Cocktail, according to Difford’s Guide, but “beginning in the 1870s, bartenders,
bewitched by the new liqueurs available to them, began making ‘Improved’
Whiskey Cocktails.… This led to a revolt among old-school imbibers, who
began to call out for ‘Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktails.’”
If you’re looking at this recipe and wondering, “Where’re the oranges and
cherries?” it’s a fair question. Muddling fruit along with the sugar cube in the
base of an Old Fashioned came into vogue during Prohibition, allegedly to mask
the taste of subpar booze. This step has been largely jettisoned in the modern
cocktail era, though persisting in regional variations, including the Wisconsin
Brandy Old Fashioned (here). For the original, fruit remains relegated to the rim
of the glass.
Rye and Bourbon are both acceptable, traditional bases for the Old
Fashioned, so the choice is up to your preference. (This is the case in many of
the cocktails calling for American whiskey in this book.) Rye will produce a
spicier, sturdier drink, while Bourbon informs a smoother, sweeter one. For price
and quality we recommend Rittenhouse rye for the former and Buffalo Trace or
Elijah Craig for the latter.
WHISK(E)Y 101
RYE, BOURBON, AND SCOTCH are all types of whiskey produced
from grains. Most whiskey made in the United States and Canada is
rye, meaning produced from a grain blend that is at least 51 percent
rye.
BOURBON is always produced in America—not just Kentucky, despite
the state’s effective marketing—and must be produced from a blend
that is at least 51 percent corn, which lends its signature sweetness.
SCOTCH is always produced in Scotland from some proportion of
malted barley, unmalted barley, and other grains. Typical blended
Scotch contains at least 20 percent malt whisky, while celebrated
single malts are made exclusively from malted barley and produced at
single distilleries. Scotch whisky is typically spelled without an e, as is
Japanese whisky, which is made in the Scottish style and has gained a
cult following in the United States in recent decades.
EASY DOES IT
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
With nothing more than a sugar cube and splash of water standing in the way of
the booze, the Old Fashioned is a potent cocktail. So what if you want an O.F.
vibe but don’t want to be falling over after two drinks? As the name of this riff
implies, the Easy Does It won’t knock you out. Replacing half the whiskey with
dry Fino sherry reduces the overall ABV by about 25 percent. You can stretch
out the booze even further by preparing this cocktail in a Collins or Highball
glass and topping with seltzer.
1 ounce / 30 ml rye
1 ounce / 30 ml Fino sherry
4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Combine the ingredients in the glass and fill with ice. Stir with a barspoon
for 20 seconds to mix the cocktail and settle the ice. Add more ice to
reach just below the rim of the glass. Express the lemon peel over the
serve.
WISCONSIN BRANDY OLD FASHIONED
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Like the Grasshopper (here) and the Brandy Alexander (here), the Wisconsin
Brandy Old Fashioned is a fixture of the Badger State’s beloved supper club
scene. This is like a souped-up O.F., with brandy subbing in for whiskey,
muddled cherries and orange, and a burst of bubbles or sour mix to top it off.
We have three suggested finishers in the recipe below, so you can adjust the
overall profile to your tastes.

1 sugar cube
2 orange slices
2 Luxardo or Brandied Cherries (here)
2 ounces / 60 ml American brandy
Splash lemon-lime soda, seltzer, or sour mix (optional)
Add the bitters, sugar, and fruit to the glass and muddle until the sugar
has completely dissolved. (Take care not to bruise the white pith of the
orange, muddling only the flesh of the fruit.) Add the brandy and fill the
glass with the ice. Stir with a barspoon for 20 seconds to mix the cocktail
and settle the ice. Add more ice to reach just below the rim of the glass. If
desired, top the cocktail with the lemon-lime soda (sweet finish), seltzer
(dry finish), or sour mix (sour finish) and serve.
COLD BREW OLD FASHIONED
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
As long as whiskey and coffee have existed in the same place, people have been
adding one to the other, from old Irish Coffee to the modern classic Revolver.
This riff applies the Old Fashioned’s whiskey-sugar-bitters trinity to a coffee
cocktail, with both homemade liqueur (think Kahlua but creamy) and bottled
cold-brew. We serve this drink on the rocks, but it would also be delicious
warmed up and served in a mug topped with whipped cream.
1½ ounces / 45 ml Bourbon
1½ ounces / 45 ml strong cold-brew coffee
½ ounce / 15 ml Coffee Liqueur
2 dashes Dashfire star anise bitters
Garnish: Toasted star anise
Add ingredients to the glass and top with ice. Stir for 10 seconds so that
the ice begins to settle into the liquid. Add more ice to just below the rim
and stir again for 10 seconds. Garnish with the star anise and serve.
Easy Does It, Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned, Cold Brew Old
Fashioned
COFFEE LIQUEUR
4 ounces / 120 ml hot brewed coffee

1 ounce / 60 ml heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 drops vanilla extract
Combine the hot coffee and sugar in a saucepot and set over low heat,
gently stirring to completely dissolve. Remove the pot from the heat and
allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes before stirring in the remaining
ingredients. Allow the coffee mixture to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer
to an airtight container and vigorously shake to emulsify the cream and
thoroughly integrate all the ingredients. Store the finished liqueur in the
refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 weeks. Shake before using as the
cream and cinnamon may separate.
Cock tail, then in a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind,

sugar, water and bitters… is supposed to be an excellent electioneering
potion inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time
that it fuddles the head. It is said also, to be of great use to a democratic
candidate: because, a person having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to
swallow any thing else.
—THE BALANCE, AND COLUMBIAN REPOSITORY, 1806

WORKSHOP:
FAT WASHING
Infusing is a very effective way to get flavor into booze. It’s how we make
our Spiced Mango Rum (here), Basil Bourbon (here), Bee Pollen Vermouth
(here), and several other flavored spirits in this book, but fat washing is
another important, if lesser known, and nifty technique for the home
bartender. You fat wash alcohol by combining it with, well, fat. Olive oil,
brown butter, bacon grease, and ghee are all game, though in this workshop
we’re suggesting coconut oil, which lends a subtle coconut flavor that’s
surprising, yet welcome, in an Old Fashioned. Shaking the mixture emulsifies
the fat into the spirit, and as they slowly re-separate in the fridge, the former
flavors the latter. Fat washing also lends weight and body, making whiskey
feel richer and allowing gin to glide across the tongue.
COCONUT OLD FASHIONED
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
2 ounces / 60 ml Coconut-Washed Whiskey

½ ounce / 15 ml Apricot Syrup
4 dashes Bittermen’s Buckspice Ginger Bitters
Combine the ingredients with ice in the glass. Stir with a barspoon for
20 seconds to mix the cocktail and settle the ice. Add more ice to reach
just below the rim of the glass. Express the orange peel over the
serve.
APRICOT SYRUP
1¼ cups / 295 ml water

¼ cup dried apricot, chopped
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepot over medium-high heat and
add the apricot. Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer
for 10 minutes. Strain off and discard the apricots and return the liquid to
the pot. Add the sugar, stirring to completely dissolve. Remove the pot
from the heat and allow to cool completely. Transfer the finished apricot
syrup to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, where it will
keep for 2 weeks.
WHISKEY SOUR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
2 ounces / 60 ml American whiskey (choice of Bourbon or rye)

1 ounce / 30 ml strained lemon juice
¾ ounce / 22 ml Simple Syrup (here)
Whites from 1 large egg
1 dash Angostura Aromatic bitters
Garnish: Skewered Luxardo or Bourbon Cherry (here)
Fill the glass with the ice. Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker
and vigorously dry-shake for 30 seconds. Add ice to the shaker and
shake for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass, lay the skewered
cherry across the rim, and serve.
Like the Daisy (here), Flip (here), and Julep (here), the Sour represents a
family of drinks rather than any one single cocktail. Essentially any drink
constructed according to the formula of spirit + citrus + sweetener can claim
common ancestry with this clan of tarts. The Daiquiri (here) is a Sour: rum +
lime + sugar. The Gimlet (here) is a Sour: gin + lime + sugar. The Margarita
(here) is a Tequila Sour with a modifier of orange liqueur. Unlike these drinks,
the cocktails typically thought of as Sours clearly state their affiliation right in
the name: the Amaretto Sour, the Midori Sour, the Pisco Sour (here), and of
course, the most popular member of the family, the Whiskey Sour.
Though prototypes likely date back to the scurvy-battling British navy (see
also, the Gimlet), written record of various Sours begin to appear in the 1850s,
when Gin and Brandy Sours showed up on the menu at Mart Ackerman’s Saloon
in Toronto—“6¼” cents a piece—and in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 book, The
Bartenders Guide. It appears whiskey usurped brandy as the go-to Sour spirit
sometime in the following decade and has stayed on top since.
The most critical piece of information for making an excellent Sour cocktail
is not to use sweet-and-sour mix. That modern invention is a blight on the Sour
family, resulting in too many horrible hangovers and bouts of acid reflux
throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Around the new millennium, better
bars went back to the old and proper way of doing things, eschewing bottled
juices and mixes in favor of their fresh and natural ancestors, sour mix included.
Lemon juice with Simple Syrup (here) is the clean, effective way to achieve a
lip-smacking tang with none of the nonsense.
SON OF SOURS: THE COLLINS

If you add seltzer to a Sour and serve it in a tall glass, you have a
Collins. The Tom Collins is basically a sparkling Gin Sour. Its brother
John Collins is a Whiskey Sour made specifically with Bourbon.
Convert your Sour to a Collins when you want something with a lower
alcohol content and a little fizz. Drop the egg white when making a
Collins.
NEW YORK SOUR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Bartenders in the late 1800s would float a layer of claret, the old-timey British
moniker for Bordeaux, over their Whiskey Sours. This wine-modified Sour went
by various names through the decades, including the Brunswick Sour and Claret
Snap, before the cocktail cognoscenti settled on the New York (sometimes
Greenwich) Sour. Following the lead of seminal Manhattan bar Employees
Only, our New York Sour is made with rye and egg white.
2 ounces / 60 ml rye whiskey

½ ounce / 15 ml dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
Chill the glass. Combine the rye, lemon, syrup, and egg in a Boston
shaker and vigorously dry-shake for 30 seconds. Add ice to the shaker
and shake for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Place a
barspoon upside down as close as possible to the surface of the drink.
Gently pour the wine onto the barspoon; it will “float” on the surface of the
drink. Serve.
RASPBERRY BOURBON SOUR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: COLLINS | ICE: STANDARD CUBES
An effective way to weave another layer of flavor into a Whiskey Sour is by using
an infused syrup instead of just plain old Simple Syrup. Try raspberries. They
ripen alongside corn during Kentucky’s high summer, making Bourbon a perfect
guest to invite to this riff. Greek yogurt slides in to add background tang and
body.
¾ ounce / 22 ml Raspberry Syrup
¾ ounce / 22 ml Greek yogurt
½ ounce / 15 ml strained lemon juice
Garnish: 3 drops Fee Bros. cherry bitters, 3 skewered raspberries
shake for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with the
bitters, lay the skewered raspberries across the rim, and serve.
RASPBERRY SYRUP
MAKES 2 CUPS
1½ cups / 350 ml water

½ pint raspberries
1 cup / 200 granulated sugar
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepot on the stove over medium
heat. Add the raspberries, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for
10 minutes. Add sugar and stir to completely dissolve. Reduce the heat
to low and allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pot
from the heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Strain
out and discard the raspberry seeds, reserving the finished syrup.
Transfer to an airtight container and reserve in the refrigerator, where it
will keep for 2 weeks.
TRIPLE HOPPED SOUR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: BEER TULIP | ICE: STANDARD CUBES
From the Boilermaker to the Irish Car Bomb to the Dr. Pepper (a shot of
amaretto plunged into a pint of Yuengling lager) served around our hometown of
Philadelphia, pairing booze with beer is a long and storied tradition. This riff on
the Whiskey Sour uses both brewed beer (in an IPA Syrup) as well as one of
beer’s key flavoring agents, hops, to infuse the Bourbon. Hops are the flowers of
the hop plant and resemble young green pine cones with tightly clustered,
overlapping leaves. There are dozens of varieties, but we call for the commonly
used Cascade in this Whiskey Sour, which has a floral, grapefruity bitterness—
hence the grapefruit juice and bitters in this drink. Some farmers sell hops fresh,
but if you can’t find them, any physical or online brewing supply store will have
dried available.
2 ounces / 60 ml Hops Bourbon

¾ ounce / 22 ml strained Ruby Red grapefruit juice
¾ ounce / 22 ml IPA Syrup
4 dashes Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit bitters
Garnish: 3 whole-flower Cascade hops
Fill the tulip glass with ice. Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker
shake again for 15 seconds to chill the liquid. Strain the cocktail into the
glass, garnish with hops, and serve.
“Then may God have mercy on your soul,” says I, taking a drink out of
me cousin’s glass. “Amen” says the Methodist, as he ordered another
whisky sour.
—WAUKESHA PLAIN DEALER, JANUARY 1870
New York Sour, Raspberry Bourbon Sour, Triple Hopped Sour
HOPS BOURBON
1½ cups / 350 ml Bourbon

½ loosely packed cup / 7 g whole-flower Cascade hops
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container and gently shake. Allow

to infuse in a cool, dark place for 48 hours, gently shaking once a day.
Strain out the hops, reserving the infused Bourbon. Squeeze any excess
Bourbon out of the hops and strain the liquid to remove any particles.
Discard the hops and combine the infused Bourbon back together in the
container. This will keep indefinitely, but the hops flavor will begin to
degrade after 2 months.
IPA SYRUP
MAKES 2 CUPS / 470 ML
1½ cups / 350 ml American IPA, such as Bell’s Two-Hearted, at room

temperature
Rapidly pour the beer into a cool saucepan so it foams up and releases
some carbonation. Place the saucepan on the stove over low heat.
Gradually raise the temperature to medium-low heat. (If this is done too
quickly, the remaining carbonation will escape rapidly and foam will spill
over the sides of your pan.) Continue to raise the heat until the beer is
hot but not boiling. Add the sugar, stirring to completely dissolve.
Remove the finished syrup from the heat and allow it to cool to room
temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and reserve. This will keep
refrigerated for 2 weeks.
WORKSHOP:
AQUAFABA
Though the earliest Sours did not include egg white, it’s become the
standard procedure since the cocktail renaissance of the new millennium. This
minimal inclusion adds a whole lot in both texture and appearance, and it’s an
easy extra that makes a cocktail at home feel like a cocktail out, so we include
it in our Whiskey Sour recipe. But what if you can’t/don’t/won’t eat eggs (raw
or otherwise)? Aquafaba enters for a vegan version.
While the name sounds like a Latin American soft drink or bath gel you’d
find on a crowded HomeGoods shelf, aquafaba is admittedly more appealing-
sounding than “spent chickpea cooking water,” which is exactly what it is.
Like egg whites, aquafaba—by the way, the name, coined in 2015, is a
portmanteau of the Spanish for “water” and “bean”—is protein-dense, which
is why it also creates a cap of foam atop a cocktail when thoroughly agitated.
The only difference, bartender Jason Eisner told Bon Appétit in 2016, is “Egg
whites smell like wet dog, and chickpeas have no smell whatsoever.” (This is
why bitters often stain the snowy surfaces of egg-white cocktails; they mask
any sulfur smell.)
Could you just open up a can of garbanzos and use the ready-made
aquafaba you’d normally just dump down the drain? Of course. But as with
anything else, making your own with dried chickpeas allows you to control
the quality of the ingredients. And, bonus: Hummus goes great with cocktails.
1 pound / 456 g dried chickpeas

5 cups / 1.2 L water
1 teaspoon Morton’s kosher salt
Equipment: Large pot, 1 quart/1 L airtight container
Rinse the chickpeas and allow them to soak overnight in a pot or bowl
of cold water at room temperature. When ready to cook, bring the 5
cups of water with the salt to a boil in a large pot. Drain the soaked
chickpeas and add them to the boiling water. Cover the pot and reduce
the heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours. Remove the chickpeas with a
strainer and reserve for a future use. Allow the cooking liquid
(aquafaba) to completely cool. Transfer the aquafaba to an airtight
container and store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 weeks.
Foam fail? If a cocktail shaken with aquafaba is not foaming up
properly, the aquafaba is too thin. You can fix this simply by further
reducing. Place the aquafaba in a pot on the stove and boil rapidly until
reduced by half. Completely cool before using.
MANHATTAN
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
2 ounces / 60 ml rye whiskey

with a barspoon for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Lay the
skewered cherry across the rim and serve.
After the Martini, the Manhattan is likely the best recognized of the pre-
Prohibition cocktails. Drink lore puts the first blending of whiskey, sweet
vermouth, and bitters sometime around 1880, attributed to various New York
hangouts for bon vivants and high-society types. It went by various names, too,
including the Turf Club and the Jockey Club, but bartenders eventually settled
on the Manhattan, which, according to David Wondrich, went on to survive
“good times and bad, wars, recessions, Prohibition, the Depression, cultural
upheavals, and, comfortingly, any number of truly terrible presidential
administrations.”
Today, the Manhattan is one of the most called-for cocktails in America, as
smooth, supple, and timeless as a cashmere trench coat. Anyone who drinks or
makes drinks for others should know how to put one together. A quick shortcut
for remembering the recipe: 2-1-2. These are the Manhattan’s measurements—2
ounces Bourbon, 1 ounce vermouth, 2 dashes bitters—as well as New York
City’s main area code. It should always be stirred, which creates a silky texture
and prevents over-dilution, a side effect of shaking. In some cocktails, dilution is
desirable. The Manhattan ain’t one of those cocktails.
Changing up the types of whiskey, vermouth, and bitters will create different
Manhattan profiles, but the best expression leans into the drink’s robust nature:
American or Canadian rye; Carpano Antica Formula, voluptuous with vanilla
and spices; and Angostura, the workhorse of the bitters family. With the bitters,
be judicious. Adding too much to a cocktail is like adding too much hot sauce to
your eggs; they’ll be all you taste.
ROB ROY
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Substitution of the base spirit is the most straightforward way to riff on a classic
cocktail. That’s what’s happening here in the Rob Roy, a classic in its own right.
Named for a Scottish folk hero, the drink invites Scotch to switch-hit for rye.
Scotch whisky has a less intense flavor because it’s aged in lightly toasted
barrels, as opposed to the American and Canadian whiskies that rest in
thoroughly charred ones. Match that softness with a lighter French vermouth.
2 ounces / 60 ml blended Scotch

with a barspoon for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass.
Express the lemon peel over the surface of the drink, rub it around the
rim, drop it in the cocktail, and serve.
TIPPERARY
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Named for a county in Ireland, the Tipperary substitutes the base spirit of the
Manhattan (Irish whiskey for rye) and introduces an extra modifier in the form
of green Chartreuse. Chartreuse falls under the category of génépy, a family of
herb-based French-Swiss Alpine liqueurs, and comes in green (the original) and
yellow varieties. It’s crafted from over 130 ingredients, and the Carthusian
monks who’ve been making it for centuries aren’t telling what those might be.
Irish whiskey lacks the stage presence of its cousins, so you really taste the
Chartreuse. It’s a polarizing liqueur, so make sure you like it before investing in
an expensive bottle.
1½ ounce / 45 ml Irish whiskey

½ ounce / 15 ml green Chartreuse
Express the orange peel over the surface of the drink, rub it around the
THE NEW YORK FAMILY OF COCKTAILS

There’s a classic cocktail named for each of the Big Apple’s boroughs.
The Brooklyn is a Manhattan with Maraschino and dry vermouth
instead of sweet. The Bronx is a perfect Martini with a splash of orange
juice; the Queens subs pineapple for orange. A drink for the fifth
borough, Staten Island, came much later in the form of a stripped-down
Piña Colada made from coconut rum and pineapple juice. It goes by
the name Staten Island Ferry.
BREAKFAST MANHATTAN, REVERSED
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Nobody thinks “brunch” when they hear “Manhattan.” Composed entirely of

booze, the silky, sophisticated slow-sipper is best suited to long nights. To create
a daytime-appropriate cocktail that preserves the Manhattan’s Bourbon-
vermouth DNA, this riff is built out as a reverse, which lowers the overall proof,
with extra sweeteners in the forms of orange marmalade and maple syrup to
further soften the whiskey’s kick. The notes of citrus, maple, coffee, chocolate,
and spice harmonize beautifully with the vermouth and Bourbon, creating a
drink that just begs for a big plate of French toast.
A reverse refers to flip-flopping the proportions on a spirit-forward, two-
ingredient cocktail. A Reverse Manhattan, for example, would call for 2 parts
sweet vermouth and 1 part whiskey. This would be a great way to showcase a
vermouth you really love or to lower the proof on a very strong drink. If you’re
having a second Manhattan, try making it a reverse so the last 10 minutes of the
drink aren’t so hard.
2 ounces / 60 ml Coffee Vermouth

1 ounce / 30 ml Bourbon
2 teaspoons orange marmalade
¼ ounce maple syrup
2 dashes Dashfire chocolate mole bitters
Garnish: Grated coffee bean, grated orange zest
Chill the glass. Combine the vermouth, Bourbon, and marmalade in a

Boston shaker. Stir with a barspoon until the marmalade begins to
dissolve. Add the maple syrup and ice and vigorously shake for 30
seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Grate a coffee bean and
orange over the surface of the drink and serve.
Rob Roy, Tipperary, Breakfast Manhattan, Reversed
COFFEE VERMOUTH
MAKES 1 CUP / 236 ML
2 tablespoons freshly ground medium-roast coffee

1 cup / 236 ml sweet vermouth
Combine the ingredients in a French press coffee maker. Stir and allow
to rest at room temperature for 2 hours. Press, strain, and bottle for future
use.
WORKSHOP:
BOURBON CHERRIES
Popularized in the decades following Prohibition, fluorescent red

“Maraschino” cherries add a retro crimson glow to the bottom of a cocktail,
Manhattan or otherwise, but not a whole lot else. Quality Italian cocktail
cherries, meanwhile, are delicious treasures waiting for you after the last sip.
They’re made from small, dense, sour cherries of the Marasca or Amarena
species, packed in heavy burgundy syrup, and potted in antique-y ceramic
crocks. We call for Luxardo cherries in this book, the same producer as
Maraschino liqueur, but Fabbri and Toschi are other good brands. They’re
increasingly easy to find at cocktail emporiums and Italian specialty stores,
but you can also make your own fancy cherries that will instantly give your
Manhattan a professional polish.
ACTIVE TIME: 10 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 35 MINUTES
MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART / 1 L
2½ pints sweet red cherries, washed, pitted, and stemmed

½ cup / 63 g confectioners’ sugar
2 cups / 500 ml water
½ vanilla bean, slit lengthwise and scraped (substitute ¼
teaspoon vanilla extract)
2 cups / 400 g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon strained lemon juice
Equipment: Large mixing bowl, medium pot, 1 quart/1 L glass jar
Combine the cherries and confectioners’ sugar in a large mixing bowl

and toss to evenly coat. Set the cherries aside to macerate. Bring the
water to a rolling boil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the
vanilla bean and granulated sugar, gently stirring to dissolve. Reduce
the heat to medium-low. Add the macerated cherries to the vanilla
mixture and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the
Bourbon (and the vanilla extract, if using instead of bean) and simmer
for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pot from heat and
allow the cherries to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and
strain the mixture to separate the cherries from the syrup. Spoon the
cherries into the jar and cover with the syrup. Seal the lid tightly and
store the cherries in the fridge, where they will keep for 1 month.
Replace the Bourbon with brandy to make Brandied Cherries, a
component in the Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned (here) and Armie
Alexander (here).
MARTINI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
3 ounces / 90 ml gin
½ ounce / 15 ml dry vermouth
Garnish: Expressed lemon peel or skewered green olive
Express the lemon peel over the surface of the drink, rub it around the
rim, drop it in the cocktail, and serve. Alternately, garnish with the olive
and serve.
Nine out of 10 people, on hearing “classic cocktail,” think first of the Martini.
Codified by TV, movies, and marketing as the drink of dapper gents suavely
swilling Martinis at their desks overlooking Madison Avenue, at long lunches in
wood-clad supper clubs, and at dinner parties in their suburban sunken living
rooms, the cocktail has become synonymous with a bygone era of sophistication
and style.
As such, the Martini feels very tethered to the 1950s and ’60s, but its origins
are much older, dating back at least to the 1880s as a gin-and-sweet vermouth
cocktail, perhaps one of the first riffs on the Manhattan. By the 1890s, bartenders
began trading the established sweet (Italian) vermouth for newly trendy dry
(French) vermouth, and the Martini evolved into the clear, dry thing we know
today, one that “wraps the dude in a sweet, snoreless slumber,” as poetically
explained by the Chicago Tribune in 1893.
When you order a Martini, most bartenders will ask your preference for gin
or vodka, though Martinis up until about the 1940s were made traditionally with
the former. Vodka became popular in America during the US-Russia alliance of
WWII, and the Martini was a natural fit, subbing one clear, high-proof spirit for
another. But gin has flavor, while vodka is a neutral spirit, and a vodka Martini
tastes like… alcohol. (Maybe that’s why they’re so often ordered dirtied with
olive juice?) America’s preference for gin over vodka inverted over the next 50
years, hitting a crescendo with the Martini bar boom of the 1990s; neutral vodka
didn’t get in the way of the sour apple, Key lime pie, and blue raspberry flavors
lighting up our oversized triangular glasses.
Fashions always swing back around eventually, and a Martini is once again
best appreciated with gin. And since the recipe calls only for gin and dry
vermouth, make sure you’re using ones whose flavors you really enjoy. Having
trouble deciding between all the options on the market? Try our favorite combo:
a strong citric gin like Tanqueray Rangpur and a light French vermouth like
Dolin.
PERFECT VESPER
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
The Martini has long been associated with James Bond, but 007 actually created
his own riff on the drink. In Sir Ian Fleming’s 1953 caper Casino Royale, Bond
orders as follows: “Three measures of Gordon’s [gin], one of vodka, half a
measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large
thin slice of lemon peel.” This variation on the Martini came to be known as the
Vesper, which Bond later names for Vesper Lynd, his love interest in the novel.
And like the beguiling double agent, it’s a doozy. For a more modern approach,
we build out the Vesper in a perfect, or equal parts, construction. Giving Lillet
an even share of the glass helps defang the vodka and provides a fuller botanical
bouquet that dovetails nicely with the gin. Make no mistake, though; like its
namesake the all-booze Vesper can still be deadly.
1 ounce / 30 ml gin
1 ounce / 30 ml vodka
1 ounce / 30 ml Lillet Blanc
Garnish: Pared lemon peel
with a barspoon for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Place
the lemon peel on the rim and serve.
BIJOU
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Harry Johnson, author of 1882’s New and Improved Bartender’s Manual, is the
supposed inventor of this cocktail, which actually predates the Martini. The
name is French for jewel, a reference to the precious stones representing each of
the three ingredients: diamond for gin, sweet vermouth for ruby, green
Chartreuse for emerald. The Bijou is botanical and fairly sweet up front, with
the Chartreuse providing a pleasantly medicinal epilogue. Try replacing the
sweet vermouth with dry for a less sweet, strikingly green cocktail.
1 ounce / 30 ml gin
1 ounce / 30 ml green Chartreuse
with a barspoon for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Lay the
skewered cherry across the rim of the glass and serve.
MARTINEZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
As the Martini evolved through the decades, prevailing tastes stripped away its
bells and whistles to eventually reveal something brisk and clear. The Martinez,
popularized around 1884 courtesy O.H. Bryan’s The Modern Bartender, is
probably what the proto-Martini looked like—which is to say, a lot like a
Manhattan. But despite the ruddy-red appearance, the bracing gin backbone
revealed on first sip is the cocktail’s you-are-the-father moment. This drink calls
for Old Tom, a style of gin with a distinct juniper profile and subtle caramel
character from barrel aging, though feel free to try this with any gin.
Maraschino liqueur, whose name comes from the Italian Marasca variety of
cherry used in its production—no relation to the neon red ones filling bar
caddies across America—adds an intriguing back-note of bubblegum.
1½ ounces / 45 ml Old Tom gin

1½ ounces / 45 ml sweet vermouth
¼ ounces / 7 ml Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
Perfect Vesper, Bijou, Martinez
GIN 101
GENEVER (Netherlands, 1500s) is gin’s rich Dutch ancestor made
from grain and flavored with juniper. Brand we like: Bols.
OLD TOM (England, early 1800s) is slightly sweetened and sometimes
barrel-aged to create caramel complexity and viscous texture. Brand
we like: Hayman’s.
LONDON DRY (England, 1830s) is most people’s idea of gin, its sugar
stripped away and the juniper turned up. Brand we like: Beefeater.
WESTERN STYLE (UK and America, 1990s) is the new-school style
made with fuller botanical profiles that de-emphasize juniper. Brands
we like: Hendrick’s (cucumber-forward), Blue Coat (citrus-forward),
Tamworth Floral (flower-forward).
VARIATIONS ON THE GIN MARTINI

A martini ordered SWEET is made with more dry vermouth than usual.
A martini ordered DRY is made with less dry vermouth than usual.
A martini ordered PERFECT is made with equal parts of sweet and dry
vermouths.
A martini ordered FIFTY-FIFTY is made with equal parts gin and dry
vermouth. Orange bitters make it extra nice.
WORKSHOP:
VERMOUTH
What even is vermouth? Basically, it’s plant wine. You start with a white-
wine base; fortify it with a high-proof spirit (brandy, vodka); and aromatize it
for a period of time with some combination of plant life: herbs, barks, roots,
flowers, spices, etc. One nonnegotiable component is wormwood, the
herbaceous, bitter plant most associated with absinthe. Early vermouth
formulas, which were used as medical tonics, contained wormwood—or
wermut in German, the bungled pronunciation of which eventually gave
vermouth its modern name. Wormwood isn’t often used in contemporary
commercial formulas, but we think of its presence in our recipe as a historical
callback. You can find it in spice shops and online. (No, it will not make you
hallucinate.)
ACTIVE TIME: 5 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 2 WEEKS
MAKES ABOUT 3¾ CUPS / 868 ML
1 (750 ml) bottle Pinot Grigio

1 teaspoon dried wormwood
¼ teaspoon dried gentian root
¼ teaspoon dried angelica root
¼ teaspoon dried cinchona bark
¼ teaspoon dried sage
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried chamomile
½ tablespoon dried bitter orange peel
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated ginger
4 cloves, toasted and lightly crushed
1 star anise, toasted and lightly crushed
Equipment: 2 quart/1.9 L glass jar, fine-mesh strainer, 1 quart/1 L
glass bottle
Combine all the ingredients in the jar. Shake gently to make sure the
dried ingredients soak evenly. Store the mixture in a cool, dark place
for 2 weeks, gently shaking once a day. After the allotted time, strain
the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the liquid and
discarding the solids. Bottle the finished vermouth in a clean glass
bottle and store in the fridge between uses.
SPRITZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: RED WINE | ICE: LARGE CUBE X 4
3 ounces / 90 ml prosecco or other dry sparkling white wine

2 ounces / 60 ml aperitif of choice
1 ounce / 30 ml seltzer
Garnish: Orange slice
barspoon for 5 seconds. Garnish with the orange and serve.
You need five components to make a Spritz: ice + seltzer + wine (typically
sparkling) + amaro or aperitivo, the intermarried categories of bitter, usually
European liqueurs made primarily from herbs, flowers, spices, and barks +
garnish. To be ready to whip up a Spritz at any moment, commit this handy
acronym to memory: I SWAG. And yes, player, you do.
Not every Spritz is an Aperol Spritz. In fact, neither the classic recipe you’ll
find here, nor the riffs that follow, call specifically for the famous carmine
aperitivo, more or less a lower-proof analogue to Campari. Throughout Italian
bars and cafés, where Spritz culture unfurls during the leisurely golden hours
after work and before dinner, Aperol didn’t become synonymous with the Spritz
until the 1990s. According to Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau, authors of the
excellent cocktail book Spritz:
While the spritz had been the most popular aperitivo drink in the
Veneto and many parts of Friuli and Alto Adige for decades, it’s not until
Aperol began marketing the spritz in the 1990s that it went from being a
mostly local ritual to Italy’s most popular cocktail. […] When Aperol first
began marketing the drink in the 1990s, the spritz made up “10 percent of
the sales volume of Aperol,” says [former Aperol marketing director,
Vito] Casoni. Today it is the primary way in which Aperol is consumed,
worldwide.
Aperol’s marketing smarts coupled with the surging popularity of prosecco,

the Italian sparkling wine, made the Aperol Spritz a phenomenon throughout
Italy that was eventually exported abroad. But it’s important to note that—no
disrespect to Aperol—there is a whole spectrum of spritzing beyond that one
distinctive bottle. “Just as there are a million tiny rituals in Italy, there are also a
million tiny allegiances,” Baiocchi and Pariseau write. “If you are in Venice
your spritz will often be served with Select; in Padua it’s Aperol; in Brescia it
might be Cappelletti Aperitivo, and so on.”
With hundreds of different possible combinations, the best way to find the
flavor profile you most prefer is to experiment with different amari and aperitivi.
The matrix below organizes 10 terrific options by proof and flavor. Pick one that
sounds good to you and drop it into the classic 3-2-1 formula in the recipe, then
get into the riffs that follow, which switch up the bubbles and introduce various
modifiers.
MODENA SPRITZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
The Spritz is endlessly riff-able by mixing up the aperitif and the wine. A sharp
original pairing is Lambrusco, the family of burgundy firecrackers from Emilia-
Romagna, and Vecchio del Capo, a subtle Calabrese amaro with notes of
chamomile and licorice. Lambrusco comes in a wide spectrum of sugar
expressions, from trendily bone-dry to so sweet you might as well be drinking
grape soda. Shoot for something in the middle, like Famiglia Carafoli’s
“Nicchia.” It’s got mega sparkle, voluptuous berry-plum flavor, and a balance
of sweetness, tannins, and acidity.
3 ounces / 90 ml off-dry Lambrusco

2 ounces / 60 ml Vecchio del Capo amaro
Garnish: Strawberry
barspoon for 5 seconds. Garnish with the strawberry and serve.
ALPS SPRITZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
On the herb-and-wildflower-carpeted foothills of the French Alps, people have

been brewing wines and liqueurs from the native flora for centuries. One of the
more obscure—but newly en vogue in the cocktail world—is génépy, whose 30-
odd botanicals include a silvery sage-like strain of artemisia. The liqueur stands
in for amaro in this white Spritz, its herbal and floral notes laced together with a
misting of chamomile tea. There are several génépy producers on the market,
but for this recipe we recommend Dolin Génépy le Chamois, whose formula
dates to 1821.
3 ounces / 90 ml Crémant
2 ounces / 60 ml génépy
Chamomile Mist
Garnish: Expressed thyme sprig, expressed orange peel
barspoon for 5 seconds. Spray the Chamomile Mist across the surface of
the drink and outside of the glass. Garnish with the thyme. Express the
orange peel over the surface of the drink, rub it around the rim, drop it in
the cocktail, and serve.
CHAMOMILE MIST
1 chamomile tea bag
¾ cup / 177 ml boiling water
Brew the tea in the boiling water for 5 minutes. When it has cooled
completely, transfer it to an atomizer or spray bottle and reserve at room
temperature.
ROSÉ ROYALE SPRITZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Inexpensive Italian prosecco or Spanish cava will get the job done in any Spritz,
but when you want a version that’s dressed up for a night on the town (or pool
party at a villa), pop a bottle of rosé Champagne. The rose-gold bubbles not
only look regal as hell, but also introduce berry and toasted-brioche notes
you’re never going to get from steel-tanked sparkling wines.
3 ounces / 90 ml brut rosé Champagne

1 ounce / 30 ml Nonino amaro
1 ounce / 30 ml Watermelon Juice (here)
½ ounce / 15 ml Rhubarb Shrub
Garnish: Watermelon slice
barspoon for 5 seconds. Garnish with the watermelon slice and serve.
Modena Spritz, Alps Spritz, Rosé Royale Spritz
RHUBARB SHRUB
2 rhubarb stalks, peeled and cut in 1 inch / 2.5 cm pieces

1 cup / 236 ml Champagne Vinegar
Toss the rhubarb with the sugar in a medium mixing bowl and cover it
with plastic wrap. Let the fruit macerate at room temperature for 3 days,
stirring once a day, while the juices of the rhubarb combine with the
sugar to make a syrup. Strain off and reserve the syrup, pressing as
much liquid out as possible. Combine the reserved syrup, vinegar, and
water in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, where the
shrub will keep for 6 months.
CHAMPAGNE VINEGAR
1½ cups / 354 ml Champagne

1 ounce / 30 ml raw apple cider vinegar (with the mother), such as
Bragg
Combine the ingredients in a glass jar, cover it with cheesecloth or a

coffee filter, and screw on the lid. Move the jar to a dark place and allow it
to ferment into vinegar. This could take up 3 months, depending on
variable conditions, but begin tasting at 3 weeks.
WORKSHOP:
VERJUS
Acontraction of the French vert (green) and jus (juice), verjus is the liquid
wrung from unripe grapes. It’s also the solution to a problem: What’s a
winemaker to do when they have too much fruit on the vine? Maybe there are
more grapes than they can process into wine; maybe the overabundance is
spreading the nutrients too thin. It’s likely both are true, which is why growers
thin out grapes while they’re still unripe. Pressing verjus from the green
grapes—even ones that ripen red are green at this stage—turns waste into
gold. The nectar has a fruity, mellow acidity that can be used like vinegar or
citrus juice in cooking and cocktails.
Unripe grapes aren’t exactly something you find in the supermarket. Your
best bet is to reach out to a grower at your local farmers’ market or contact a
nearby winery. When making verjus, it’s important to work quickly as the
juice will begin to oxidize and turn brown. The sooner you get it strained,
bottled, and chilled, the better it will hold its greenish-gold color.
Our verjus recipe below introduces a second layer of flavor and aroma
with orange and lemon peels, which is not traditional but is especially
effective for mixing drinks. Feel free to leave them out if you want something
purer, or experiment with other aromatics, like lemongrass, blood orange, or
bergamot tea.
3 oranges
2 lemons
5 pounds / 2.3 kg unripe white wine grapes
½ teaspoon citric acid
Equipment: Vegetable peeler, food processor or food mill,
strainer, 1 quart/1 L airtight container x 2
Remove the peels of the lemons and oranges with a vegetable peeler,
careful to leave all the bitter white pith behind, and reserve. Pulse the
grapes in a food processor or run them through a food mill to release
as much juice as possible. Working quickly to prevent oxidation, strain
the crushed grapes through a fine-mesh strainer at least twice to
separate as much of the pulp and skins from the juice as possible.
Transfer the juice to an airtight container and express and add the
citrus peels to the juice. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 24
hours, then strain off and discard the peels. Transfer the finished verjus
to an airtight container, stir in the citric acid, and store in the
refrigerator, where it will keep for several months.
VERJUS SPRITZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
3 ounces / 90 ml cava
1 ounce / 30 ml Cointreau
¾ ounce / 22 ml Aperol
¾ ounce / 22 ml Citrus Verjus
Garnish: Grapefruit slice, spearmint sprig
barspoon for 5 seconds. Garnish with the grapefruit and mint and
serve.
DAIQUIRI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
2 ounces / 60 ml white rum

¾ ounces / 22 ml strained lime juice
¾ ounces / 22 ml Simple Syrup (here)
Garnish: Expressed lime peel
vigorously shake for 20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass,
express lime peel over the surface, and serve.
For some, the word conjures circa-1980s happy hours at TGI Fridays or conga
lines on a Carnival cruise. For others, it brings to mind Ernest Hemingway, linen
suits, and the suave sultriness of mid-century Havana. Daiquiri is as loaded as a
bootlegger’s pistol, twinned to associations of gauche excess and torpid
sophistication. All depends on your perspective. But the Daiquiri’s backstory
goes beyond either picture, reaching deep into the southeastern corner of Cuba in
the sundown of the 19th century.
The Spanish-American War in Cuba had just ended in a US victory that
included Spain’s ceding its territories of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Cuba.
Eager to exploit Cuba’s unmined caches of iron ore, American engineering
expeditions turned the Sierra Maestra near a village called Daiquirí into Swiss
cheese. There was money to be made in Cuba.
Jennings Stockton Cox was one of the lead engineers on the Sierra Maestra
mine. Though how he arrived at combining rum, citrus juice, and sugar—an
adaptation of the popular local Canchanchara cocktail, a stirred honey-sweetened
highball—is debated, Cox is the drink’s undisputed author. According to his
journal, Cox’s Daiquiri was batched to serve six and fizzed with a dose of
mineral water. His handwritten recipe also mentions lemon, not lime, perhaps a
phonetic spelling of the Spanish limón.
The Daiquiri traveled back to the States in 1909 with a Spanish-American
War veteran named Lucius Johnson, who preached the cocktail’s virtues to his
pals at D.C.’s Army & Navy Club. (The Club’s bar, the Daiquiri Room, took the
drink as its namesake, and a plaque commemorates Johnson’s introduction.)
Meanwhile, the Daiquiri was spreading around Cuba, where cantineros reverse-
engineered Cox’s serves-six formula into single-drink proportions and nixed the
bubbles along the way, streamlining it into the sharp, luminous cooler that’s
considered such a classic today.
GUARAPO DAIQUIRI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
This Daiquiri is all about bringing rum back to its essential ingredient:
sugarcane, the juice from which is called guarapo in Spanish. In this riff,
sugarcane juice takes the place of Simple Syrup, and grassy, barnyardy rhum
agricole takes the place of neutral white rum, creating a more dynamic drink.
Seek out freshly pressed guarapo at farmers’ markets and juice bars, or buy
whole cane—groceries specializing in Latin, African, Caribbean, or South and
Southeast Asian ingredients should have it—and juice it at home. Sugarcane
Island Company also ships six-packs of its pure cane juice across the country.
2 ounces / 60 ml rhum agricole

¾ ounces / 22 ml strained lime juice
¾ ounces / 22 ml strained sugarcane juice
3 dashes Fee Bros. molasses bitters
Garnish: Pared lime peel
vigorously shake for 20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass, place
the lime peel on the rim, and serve.
THE HEMINGWAY SPECIAL

Ernest Hemingway’s predilection for rum was famous in Havana,
especially at his favorite haunt, El Floridita, where the cantineros would
tweak and twist the basic rum-sugar-lime recipe. One of those twists,
the Hemingway Special, has become a classic cocktail in its own right,
though in modern times it goes by the name Hemingway Daiquiri. To
make this version, combine the same measure of rum and lime juice,
add a ½ ounce/15 ml each of strained grapefruit juice and Maraschino
liqueur, omit the Simple Syrup, and mix according to the directions
above. This makes for a stronger (fitting for Hemingway) and more
complex version of the original Daiquiri, with nuttiness from the
Maraschino and juicy bitterness from the grapefruit adding layers of
flavor as well as balancing out the extremes of rum and lime in the
absence of the sugar.
BONFIRE OF THE DAIQUIRIS
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
The relationship between the thirsty sailors of the British navy and Caribbean
rum goes way back. The term Navy Strength refers to a rum with 57 percent
proof. For a quality bottle we recommend Smith & Cross. In business since
1788, their Navy Strength tastes like a flambéed slice of extravagantly spiced
banana bread and is showcased well in this richer, darker Daiquiri.
2 ounces / 60 ml Jamaican Navy Strength rum

¾ ounce / 22 ml Demerara Syrup (here)
Garnish: Float (here) overproof Jamaican rum, Cinnamon Ignition
(here)
vigorously shake for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass.
Garnish with rum float and Cinnamon Ignition and serve.
SESAMINT DAIQUIRI
MAKES 2 COCKTAILS
GLASS: HURRICANE X 2 | ICE: BLENDED
Pop quiz: When someone says they don’t like frozen Daiquiris they are (a) a
liar, (b) a snob, (c) legitimately frightened by the quality of most frozen
daiquiris, or (d) any of the above. If you guessed (d), congrats. While it’s a sad
fact that the majority of frozen daiquiris are artificial, oversweetened offenders,
one that’s properly made can be just as satisfying—even more so on a very hot
day—as the classic that cocktail sophisticates have so overwhelmingly
embraced. This version builds on sekanjabin, a shrub-like Iranian beverage
made with honey, vinegar, and mint, and is crazy refreshing with just a hint of
salinity and sesame savoriness.

1½ ounces / 45 ml strained lime juice
1½ ounces / 45 ml Sekanjabin
¼ ounce / 7 ml Toasted Sesame Saline
20 ounces / 570 g ice, about 5 cups
Garnish: Expressed spearmint bunch x 2, metal straw x 2
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and
frosty. Divide the cocktail between the glasses, garnish each with the
mint and a straw, and serve.
Guarapo Daiquiri, Bonfire of the Daiquiris, Sesamint Daiquiri
SEKANJABIN

1⅓ cups / 454 g honey
⅔ cup / 157 ml distilled white vinegar
Bring the water to a boil over high heat in a small saucepan. Add the
honey and reduce the heat to low, continuously stirring to dissolve the
honey. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar. Add the mint to a heat-
safe jar. Slowly pour the honey mixture into the jar and tightly seal.
Gently shake for 10 seconds. Reserve the syrup at room temperature,
allowing the mint to infuse for 1 hour. Strain off and discard the mint.
Return the finished sekanjabin to the jar, allow it to completely cool, and
transfer it to the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 weeks.
TOASTED SESAME SALINE
MAKES 4 OUNCES / 120 ML
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

4 ounces / 120 ml water
1 tablespoon Morton’s kosher salt
Add the sesame seeds to a shallow pan and place over medium heat.
Allow the seeds to toast, stirring to prevent burning, until they turn a rich
orange-tan color, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the seeds immediately from
the heat, transferring to a cool tray or plate to stop the cooking. Bring the
water to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add the salt, stirring
to dissolve. Remove the salt water from the heat and transfer to a heat-
safe lidded jar, like a canning jar. Add the toasted sesame seeds to the
jar, seal it tightly, and gently shake for 10 seconds. Allow the mixture to
cool to room temperature, then move it to the refrigerator to infuse for 24
hours. Strain off and discard the sesame seeds, reserving the finished
saline in the jar. This will keep refrigerated for 2 weeks.
WORKSHOP:
ACID ADJUSTING
Tart, tangy, acidic—whatever you call it, the experience of sourness is an

essential and balancing component in many classic cocktails. As juices go,
lemon and lime rule as souring agents. But what if you don’t want your
cocktail to taste like lemon or lime? What if you want it to taste like, say,
orange or pineapple or grapefruit? These vitamin C heavy hitters are innately
acidic but have too much natural sugar to effectively convey sourness in a
drink.
The godfather of the acid-adjusting technique is Dave Arnold, who ran
New York City’s forward-thinking Booker and Dax cocktail bar from 2012 to
2016. By adding citric or malic acid to a fruit juice or puree, you can
manipulate its acidity to match that of a lemon or lime, while still preserving
the other flavors in that fruit. Imagine, for example, a Margarita with the
tropical caress of pineapple but the same tart punch as if it had been made
with lime juice—or, in the recipe below, a Strawberry Daiquiri. Acid
adjusting turns a drink that’s basically a vehicle for sugar into one with barely
any sweetness at all. It’s a mind trip.
ACID-ADJUSTED STRAWBERRIES
TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 5 MINUTES
1 pint strawberries, stemmed and hulled

2 tablespoons powdered citric acid
Equipment: high-powered blender, fine-mesh strainer, 1 pint/470
ml airtight container
Puree berries in a blender until very smooth. Run the puree through a
fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Measure out 1 cup/236 ml of
the puree and add the citric acid, stirring to completely dissolve.
Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, where it
will keep 2 weeks.
ACID-ADJUSTED STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL

2 ounces / 60 ml Acid-Adjusted Strawberry Puree
Garnish: Strawberry

shake for 20 seconds. Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail
over the ice and mound more ice on top. Garnish with a strawberry and
serve.
PISCO SOUR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
1½ ounces / 45 ml Peruvian pisco

Garnish: 3 drops Amargo Chuncho bitters
Chill the glass. Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker and

vigorously dry-shake for 30 seconds. Add ice to the shaker and shake for
15 seconds and strain the cocktail into the glass. Drop the bitters in a
triangle pattern in the middle of the drink’s foamy surface. Drag a
toothpick in circle through their centers to create leaf pattern. Serve.
For centuries, next-door neighbors Peru and Chile have been squabbling about
who produced pisco first. Each country has different grape preferences and
regulations—Peruvian pisco, for example, cannot be aged in wood and is always
gin-clear, whereas in Chile barrel resting is permitted—but regardless of the
differences, they share a common vehicle for showcasing their national drinks:
the Pisco Sour.
History long held Victor Morris, a circa-1903 Salt Lake City émigré to Peru
who worked on the railroads, as the inventor of the Pisco Sour. Morris, the story
goes, was mixing Whiskey Sours at a railway line inauguration, ran out of
whiskey, and swapped in Peru’s native spirit, pisco. It proved a serendipitous
substitution, as he parlayed the fame into his own bar, Morris’ Bar, which he
operated in Lima until 1929. There’s a whiff of colonialism to this story, but
maybe more so to the fact that it was long held up as the definitive account of
the Pisco Sour’s genesis. The excerpt on here from a Peruvian cookbook
published in 1903 indicates the Pisco Sour predated Morris’s arrival in South
America. The cookbook calls the drink, simply, “Cocktail.”
Like other Sour cocktails, the Pisco works off the formula of spirit, citrus,
sugar, and egg white, though it’s typically served straight up instead of on the
rocks like the Whiskey Sour (here). The brisk bite and grapey aromas of the
pisco soar through the tart drink. The classic recipe and some of the riffs that
follow specifically call for Amargo Chuncho bitters, which are made with
Amazonian flora, but Angostura will work in a pinch. Three careful drops on the
cocktail’s foamed surface, either in a symmetrical line or forming the points on a
triangle, are traditional.
DASHES VS. DROPS

Throughout this book, we call for bitters in both dashes and drops. The
difference? Dashes are added while mixing. Drops are added as a
garnish.
PISCO SOURSOP FIZZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Soursop, also known as guanabana, has the most intriguing flavor, like a tangy,
custardy cross between passion fruit, guava, and very ripe bananas. A little
soursop goes a long way, its juice performing three tasks in one in this
equatorial overlay on the Pisco Sour: sweetening (most commercially available
guanabana juice contains added sugar), reprogramming the acidity, and
modifying the overall flavor with its captivating je ne sais quoi.
2 ounces / 60 ml soursop juice

4 dashes Amargo Chuncho bitters
Seltzer to top, 1 to 2 ounces/30-60 ml
Garnish: Lemon wheel
Set up the glass with the ice. Combine all the ingredients except for the
seltzer in the glass and briskly stir with a barspoon for 10 seconds. Top
with the seltzer, garnish with the lemon, and serve.
CHILCANO SOUR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
The Chilcano is a fizzy, refreshing Peruvian highball made with pisco, bitters,
lime juice, and ginger ale. Here are the same and similar ingredients remixed
into a Sour format, the main alteration being turning the ginger soda into a
ginger syrup that gives the Chilcano Sour a distinctive zip. While we would
normally advocate for using fresh ginger in a cocktail syrup, simply simmering
bottled ginger beer with sugar is an easy and very effective shortcut. You want
the spiciest ginger beer you can find; look for Reed’s “strongest” variety or the
British brand Fever-Tree. In a pinch, Liber & Co.’s Fiery Ginger Syrup can be
substituted for homemade.

¾ ounce / 22 ml Quick Ginger Syrup

15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Drop the bitters in a
triangle pattern in the middle of the drink’s foamy surface and serve.
QUICK GINGER SYRUP
1½ cups / 350 ml bottled extra-spicy ginger beer

1½ cups / 300 g granulated sugar
Bring the ginger beer to a simmer in a small saucepot over medium-low

heat. Add the sugar, stirring to completely dissolve. Allow the finished
ginger syrup to completely cool, then transfer to an airtight container and
store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2 weeks.
PS & TS SOUR
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Unlike in Peru, where the virginal piscos never touch wood, Chile permits its
pisco makers to age their brandies in barrels. The Ps & Ts Sour is a showcase
for this aged Chilean pisco, whose confident maple-vanilla-caramel character
can keep up with the kinds of bossy ingredients (peanut, tamarind, turmeric) that
would overwhelm most Peruvian piscos.
1½ ounces / 45 ml aged pisco, such as Pisco Mistal Nobel

Reservado Extra Añejado
1 ounce / 30 ml Tamarind-Turmeric Cordial
¾ ounce / 22 ml strained lemon juice
8 drops Peanut Tincture
White from 1 large egg

15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Drop the bitters in the
middle of the drink’s foamy surface to create a large circle. Drag a
toothpick outward from the center of the circle to create a star pattern and
serve.
Pisco Soursop Fizz, Chilcano Sour, Ps & Ts Sour
TAMARIND-TURMERIC CORDIAL
MAKES ABOUT 1¼ CUPS / 296 ML
1 cup / 236 ml vodka

2 tablespoons tamarind paste
2 tablespoons freshly grated turmeric
Warm the vodka over low heat in a small saucepot. Add the sugar and
tamarind, stirring to completely dissolve. Add the turmeric and simmer
over low heat for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and
allow the mixture to cool for 20 minutes. Transfer it to an airtight
container, gently shake for 5 seconds, and store at room temperature in a
cool, dark place for 24 hours. Strain off and discard any solids and return
the finished cordial to the airtight container. Store in the refrigerator,
where it will keep for 1 month.
PEANUT TINCTURE
MAKES ABOUT 4 OUNCES / 120 ML
2 tablespoons unsalted peanuts, crushed

Combine the ingredients in an airtight container, gently agitate, and allow

them to infuse at room temperature for 24 hours. Strain the mixture
through a fine-mesh strainer and transfer the finished tincture to a small
eyedropper bottle. Store in a cool, dark place. This will keep indefinitely,
but the peanut flavor will begin to degrade after 2 months.
An egg, a glass of pisco, a teaspoon of fine sugar and a squeeze of lime,

will open up a good appetite.
—TRANSLATED FROM NUEVO MANUAL DE COCINA A LA

CRIOLLA, 1903
WORKSHOP:
AROMATIC BITTERS
Bitterness and sweetness, inversions of one another, are fatefully twinned in

the most essential of cocktails. Bitterness can come in the form of amari, like
Campari in the Negroni (here), Fernet-Branca in the Menta Julep (here), or
Averna in the El Capilla (here), but most often bitterness is introduced
through bitters, the concoctions of aromatics steeped in alcohol that deliver
depth charges of flavor and fragrance in just a few dashes or drops.
Over the last decade, dozens upon dozens of bitters boutiques have
exploded the market to join heritage brands like Angostura, Peychaud’s, and
Fee Bros., all of which are called for in various recipes throughout the book.
These days, if you can think of a flavor (bay leaf, passion fruit, chipotle),
there’s a bitters brewer out there making it. But you can also make your own
with very little effort. All it takes is the willingness to source some unusual
ingredients and patience.
Our base recipe for aromatic bitters is a broad-spectrum formula with a
top-note of red fruits that will work as well in a Pisco Sour as it will in a
Manhattan (here). What’s cool about making your own bitters is that you can
customize the profile to suit your preferences, so feel free to play around with
the baseline below.
WEEKS
MAKES ABOUT 1¼ CUPS / 296 ML
1 orange
1 tablespoon dried bitter orange peel
6 cloves
2 nutmeg, cracked
1 cinnamon stick, cracked
2 star anise, cracked
1 tablespoon dried hibiscus
2½ tablespoons dried sweet cherries
2 tablespoons raisins
1 tablespoon cacao nibs
1 tablespoon dried gentian root
1½ tablespoons dried sarsaparilla bark
1 teaspoon dried cherry bark
1 teaspoon dried birch bark
1 tablespoon dried cinchona bark
Overproof rum to cover, about 1¼ cups / 296 ml
Equipment: Vegetable peeler, 2 cup/470 ml airtight container, fine-
mesh strainer, eyedropper bottle
Remove the peel from the orange with a vegetable peeler, careful to
leave all the bitter white pith behind, and add it to an airtight container
with the remaining ingredients. Transfer the container to a cool, dark
place and allow the aromatics to steep in the rum for 2 to 4 weeks,
checking the intensity of the flavor once a week until the desired
intensity is reached. Strain the mixture twice through a fine-mesh
strainer, discarding the solids. Transfer the finished bitters to an
eyedropper bottle and store at room temperature, where they will keep
indefinitely.
TWEAK IT
CITRUS BITTERS: Add the peels of 1 grapefruit, 2 lemons, and 2
limes.
JAMAICAN BITTERS: Add 1 tablespoon each of whole allspice,
thyme leaves, and grated ginger, plus 1 halved Scotch bonnet chile.
PROVENÇAL BITTERS: Add 4 sprigs rosemary, 6 sprigs tarragon,
1 tablespoon dried lavender, and 1 teaspoon fennel seed.
EL PRESIDENTE
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
1½ ounces / 45 ml white rum

¾ ounce / 22 ml dry Curaçao
¾ ounce / 22 ml blanc vermouth
Dash grenadine
The Daiquiri (here) might be more famous, but it’s not the only classic to come
out of Cuba, whose cocktail culture thrived during American Prohibition. While
many bartenders jetted to Europe to ride out the dry spell, “much closer to
home… 90 miles off the Florida coast, affluent Americans gallivanted off in
droves to a place where both the literal and tippling climates were warmer,”
Washington Post spirits columnist M. Carrie Allan wrote in 2019. “Prohibition
didn’t stop Americans from drinking, but it did a heck of a lot for the tourism
industry in pre-revolutionary Cuba.”
Enter El Presidente, a sophisticated stirred rum cocktail allegedly named for
Mario García Menocal, Cuba’s president from 1913 to 1921. The drink first
appears in the 1915 Manual del Cantinero, the bible curated by the island’s
esteemed bartending association. At its essence, this is a rum-and-vermouth
drink blushed with grenadine. The addition of Curaçao came a few years later
when, according to legend, Cuba’s next president demanded his own version of
the drink. The citrus notes it introduces make the cocktail more complex without
overwhelming the rum. Either way you’ll understand why American society
reporter Basil Yoon described El Presidente in his 1928 book When It’s Cocktail
Time in Cuba as “the aristocrat of cocktails.”
THE OTHER VERMOUTH

Following the 1915 formula, our Presidente calls for blanc (in France)
or bianco (in Italy) vermouth. Blancs are clear like dry vermouths, but
sweet—though not as sweet as sweet vermouths—with suggestions of
melon, elderflower, and vanilla. Cuban cantineros of the era referred to
this style as vermouth de Chambery, the Alpine city where Dolin has
produced vermouth since 1821. According to David Wondrich, writing
for Imbibe! magazine, blanc “is the style for which the southeastern
French town of Chambery was historically known.” El Presidente
makes a fine introduction to blanc vermouth. Try it substituted for Lillet
in a White Negroni (here) or Perfect Vesper (here) or spritzed with
seltzer or tonic and garnished with a sliced strawberry. We like Dolin’s
floral blanc, while Italian biancos from Cocchi and Carpano tend to be
more vanilla-forward.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: SNIFTER | ICE: NONE
The simple tweak on the El Presidente rolls out the barrels, so to speak, with
añejo rum—we recommend Ron del Barrilito 3 Star from Puerto Rico, which is
rested in vintage sherry barrels—and Grand Marnier, the Cognac-kissed orange
liqueur. Paired with perfect proportions of dry and sweet vermouths and the
requisite dash of grenadine, they direct the Hail to the Chief into richer, deeper
waters.
1 ounce / 30 ml añejo rum

1 ounce / 30 ml Grand Marnier
½ ounce / 15 ml dry vermouth
½ ounce / 15 ml sweet vermouth
Dash grenadine
Garnish: Pared orange peel
with a barspoon for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Place
the orange peel on the rim and serve.
THE CANDIDATE
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
If the Hail to the Chief is an El Presidente riff to sip slowly and appreciate while
pondering by the fireplace in your executive study, the Candidate is one to take
long, thirsty swallows of when the summer heat, rather than geopolitics, has you
sweating. Spreading out the rum and vermouth through pomegranate juice and
seltzer—without adding sugar—makes this low-ABV, Spritz (here)–adjacent
cooler perfect for the pool and porch.
1 ounce / 30 ml pomegranate juice

1 ounce / 30 ml white rum
¾ ounce / 22 ml dry Curaçao
¾ ounce / 22 ml dry vermouth
4 drops rose water
Seltzer to top, about 2 ounces / 60 ml
Garnish: Pomegranate seeds, orange wheel
Fill the glass with the ice. Add all the ingredients except the seltzer to a
Boston shaker with ice and vigorously shake for 10 seconds. Strain the
cocktail into the glass and stir with a barspoon for 5 seconds so the ice
settles into the liquid. Top with seltzer and carefully spoon some
pomegranate seeds on top so they float on the surface. Garnish with an
orange wheel and serve.
RUNNING MATES
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL (SERVES 2)
GLASS: HOLLOWED PINEAPPLE, RESERVED FROM BELOW | ICE:
BLENDED
Frozen, overflowing a hollowed-out pineapple, and festooned with two straws

for sharing, the Running Mates looks like happy hour at the Hilton Hawaiian
Village, but its appearance disguises restrained sweetness and unexpected
spirits. Sure, rum is a given in frozen cocktails, but when was the last time you
saw El Presidente’s other modifiers, Curaçao and vermouth, given the blended
treatment? The result is as delightful for its taste as it is for how it subverts
expectations.
This riff calls for Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum and Pierre Ferrand Dry
Curaçao, both of which are collaborations between master blender and Maison
Ferrand founder Alexandre Gabriel and David Wondrich. While you can
substitute another dry Curaçao with fine results, the pineapple rum is essential.
Named for the Dickens character Reverend Stiggins, a lover of pineapple rum,
the collaboration is a delectable blending of Ferrand’s 3 Stars white rum
redistilled with pineapple rinds and Original Dark rum infused with pineapple
fruit. In addition to the Running Mates, it’s excellent in the Horchatai (here) and
the Bonfire of the Daiquiris (here).
1 large pineapple
3 ounces / 90 ml Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum
¾ ounce / 22 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
¾ ounce / 22 ml dry vermouth
½ ounce / 15 ml orange juice
¼ ounce / 7 ml grenadine
12 ounces / 340 g ice, about 3 cups
Garnish: Bendy straw x 2
Slice off and discard the crown of the pineapple. Carefully remove about
two-thirds of the fruit and core; it should be enough to approximately fill a
1 quart/1 L container. Reserve the hollowed pineapple for serving. Juice
and strain the quart of fruit. Measure out 1 ounce/30 ml of juice and add it
to a blender with the remaining ingredients. Blend the mixture until
smooth and frosty. Place the pitcher in the freezer for 15 minutes to set
the texture, then pour the cocktail into the hollowed pineapple, using a
spoon to help if needed. Garnish with the straws and enjoy with a friend.
Hail to the Chief, The Candidate, Running Mates
WORKSHOP:
GRENADINE
First impressions endure, which is why so many people associate grenadine

with a phosphorescent red waterfall poured from a bar caddy of cocktail
cherries into a fizzy cup of cola, lemon-lime soda, or ginger ale. Shirley
Temples and jury-rigged Cherry Cokes have powered generations of kids’
tables, but the real grenadine is nothing like what that bored bartender
streamed into plastic pitchers of pop at your cousin’s bar mitzvah in 1991.
Real grenadine isn’t cherry-flavored, but pomegranate-flavored. The word
itself is derived from the Spanish for pomegranate. The vermilion syrup has
shown up in cocktails since the mid-1800s, perhaps the most popular of which
is the Jack Rose, the grenadine-sweetened applejack classic shouted out in
Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Imitators, meanwhile, have been around
since at least 1912, when the federal government argued in U.S. v. Thirty
Cases Purporting to be Grenadine Syrup that manufacturers were
hoodwinking consumers with “grenadine” made from fruits other than
pomegranate. They lost the case, opening the door to more than a century of
legally sanctioned grenadine knockoffs.
While quality bottled brands (Jack Rudy, BG Reynolds) have become
available in recent years, making your own is as simple as making any other
cocktail syrup. It takes just four ingredients: equal measures of pomegranate
juice and sugar, a shot of lemon for acidity and improved shelf-life, and
orange blossom water, which adds dimension of flavor along with a lovely
fragrance. (Rose water works well, too.) In addition to sweetening cocktails
and nonalcoholic beverages like lemonade and seltzer, this grenadine is
fantastic drizzled over vanilla ice cream, Greek yogurt, and fresh berries.
½ cup / 118 ml pomegranate juice

1 dash orange blossom water
Equipment: Saucepot, 1 quart/1 L airtight container
Bring the pomegranate juice to a boil in a small saucepot over medium-

high heat, then slowly add the sugar. Stir to completely dissolve. Allow
the pomegranate mixture to return to a boil, reduce the heat to
medium, and gently boil for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the pot from
the heat, stir in the orange blossom water, and allow the grenadine to
completely cool. Stir in the lemon juice. Transfer the finished grenadine
to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, where it will keep
for 1 month.
RED RUM FIZZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: COLLINS
ICE: STANDARD CUBES

½ ounce / 15 ml grenadine
½ ounce / 15 ml strained blood orange juice
Seltzer to top, about 2 ounces / 60 ml
Garnish: Blood orange wheel
Fill the glass with the ice. Add the rum, grenadine, and blood orange
juice to a Boston shaker with ice and vigorously shake for 15 seconds.
Strain the cocktail into the glass and top with the seltzer. Garnish with
a blood orange wheel and serve.
GRASSHOPPER
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
1 ounce / 30 ml green crème de menthe

1 ounce / 30 ml white crème de cacao

shake for 20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Float the
expressed leaf on the surface and serve.
In 1918 or 1919—there’s some uncertainty over when exactly—Philip or
Philibert Guichet—there’s some uncertainty over who exactly—invented the
Grasshopper. Guichet was the owner or the son of the owner—there’s some
uncertainty over which exactly—of Tujague’s, a New Orleans establishment
founded in 1856 and still in operation in the French Quarter. Cocktail lore is full
of these uncertainties, especially pre-Prohibition, but we do know Guichet’s
creamed elixir of crèmes de menthe and cacao earned honored status at
Tujague’s, where more than 100 years later, customers come for Grasshoppers
graced with brandy floats.
The creamless category of crème liqueurs appears early in written cocktail
history. Jerry Thomas’s 1862 The Bartenders Guide has 22 recipes, including
obscure potions like crèmes de Martinique (vanilla, neroli, roses, and cinnamon)
and imperiale (carrot seed, angelica, cinnamon, and orris root), as well as the
familiar cacao and menthe still used in bars today. These bottles reached the
zenith of their popularity in the 1950s–70s in cocktails like the Brandy
Alexander (here) and Pink Squirrel, which—along with a blended, milkshake-y
take on the Grasshopper—were fixtures of the Wisconsin supper club scene.
“The combination of the state’s appreciation for ice cream, aggressive
marketing efforts by local dairy councils, and the convivial supper club
atmosphere likely combined to develop Wisconsinites’ taste for the sweet
cocktail,” Eater’s Erin DeJesus wrote in 2014. “While brandy Old Fashioneds
are still considered a pre-meal drink, Grasshoppers… are served more as an
after-dinner treat.”
The Grasshopper is having a bit of a moment, as contemporary bartenders
have been introducing fresh mint and amari to blunt the sweetness of this mint-
chocolaty frappé. For that sort of take, see our Virgil’s Grasshopper riff on the
next page, but the original formula still holds up as a peerless liquid dessert, with
or without ice cream.
GRASSHOP LIKE A WISCONSINITE

Substitute the heavy cream with two scoops of vanilla ice cream,
process in a blender or milkshake machine, and serve in a chilled
sundae glass.
VIRGIL’S GRASSHOPPER
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Sweet, creamy, and rich, the classic three-part Grasshopper definitely drinks
like dessert. This riff updates the cocktail for modern palates. It’s a little bitter, a
little sweet, and benefits from fresh muddled mint. If you can’t find peppermint
and spearmint, using one or the other will still create a delicious and refreshing
drink. The Tempus Fugit brand of crèmes de menthe and cacao, however, are
nonnegotiable for this version. The California-based restorer of historic liqueurs
crafts its crèmes to be more complex and less sugary than commercial
counterparts. The name refers to the Latin for “time flies,” a phrase coined by
the poet Virgil, who lends this Grasshopper his name.

12 large peppermint leaves
1¼ ounce / 37 ml Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao
¾ ounce / 22 ml Tempus Fugit Crème de Menthe Glaciale
Garnish: Grated dark chocolate
Chill the glass. Combine the mints and cream in a Boston shaker and
vigorously muddle. Add ice and the remaining ingredients and vigorously
shake for 20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass, grate the
chocolate over the surface, and serve.
MEADOW JUMPER
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
The Meadow Jumper strips the Grasshopper and sells it for parts. From the
classic formula, only the crème de cacao remains in this riff. It contains no
dairy, instead using powdered lactic acid dissolved into apple juice to create the
tangy illusion of crème fraîche or yogurt on the palate without giving weight to
the cocktail—kind of like the opposite maneuver of a Clarified Milk Punch
(here). It contains no crème de menthe. The mint comes from Braulio amaro, a
sweet and bitter digestivo from the Italian Alps with a whipcrack menthol-pine
personality—more mint-adjacent than the straightforward Andes candy vibe of
the classic. Stirred and served up, the Meadow Jumper looks completely
different from and has a more complicated taste than the Grasshopper while
maintaining its mint-chocolate core.
1 ounce / 30 ml white crème de cacao

1 ounce / 30 ml Braulio amaro
1 ounce / 30 ml Lactic Acid Apple Juice
with a barspoon for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Float
the expressed mint on the surface and serve.
LACTIC ACID APPLE JUICE
MAKES ½ CUP / 118 ML
½ cup / 118 ml bottled or fresh, well-strained apple juice

1 teaspoon lactic acid
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container and gently shake to

dissolve the acid. Store in the refrigerator, where it will keep 2 weeks if
made with bottled juice or 3 days if made with fresh.
FRANKLIN MINT
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Looking for a session-able Grasshopper-style cocktail? Invest in the Franklin

Mint. Served over ice in a Collins glass, this cocktail spreads the alcoholic
crèmes de menthe and cacao across a healthy pour of milk tea—think bubble
tea, minus the boba—steeped with plenty of fresh mint. The Minted Mint Tea
would also be terrific with Bourbon as a creamy take on the Mint Julep (here).
¾ ounce / 22 ml green crème de menthe

¾ ounce / 22 ml white crème de cacao
4 ounces / 118 ml Minted Milk Tea, chilled
Garnish: Expressed spearmint sprig, metal straw
Combine the ingredients in order in the glass with the ice. (The crème de
menthe will sink to the bottom.) Top with more ice if needed, garnish with
the expressed mint and straw, and serve. Stir before drinking.
Virgil’s Grasshopper, Meadow Jumper, Franklin Mint
MINTED MILK TEA
MAKES ABOUT 6 CUPS / 1.4 L
4 cups / 1L water, divided

1½ loosely packed cups spearmint, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons loose black tea
¼ cup / 50 g brown sugar
¾ cup / 177 ml sweetened condensed milk
Bring half of the water to a boil in a saucepot over medium-high heat.

Remove from heat and add the mint and tea. Steep for 5 minutes, then
carefully strain off and discard the mint and tea, returning the liquid to the
pot. Add the brown sugar, stirring to completely dissolve. Add the
condensed milk and remaining water, stirring to combine. Transfer the
finished tea to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, where it
will keep for 1 week.
It’s a sweet, green miracle.
—RAJ KOOTHRAPPALI, “THE GRASSHOPPER EXPERIMENT,”

THE BIG BANG THEORY
WORKSHOP:
ISI WHIP
You know the thick, stiff turrets of whipped cream that top photogenic
banana splits and sundaes at discriminating ice cream parlors? You don’t get
those defined snowy peaks from a can but from an iSi Whip, the Xerox of the
cream whipper world. It consists of a canister (typically stainless steel) and a
screw-on lid with a chamber for small NO2 (nitrous oxide) cartridge and a
spout for dispensing. Charging the cream inside the canister with the NO2
transforms it from a liquid state to an aerated but stable consistency.
The same principle applies to cream-based cocktails, like the Grasshopper.
While you can run pretty much any liquid through an iSi Whip, it would turn
something like a Martini (here) or Manhattan (here) into foamy bubbles.
Dairy, on the other hand, is a favorable environment for the NO2 to do its
thing, like a slack balloon waiting to be inflated.
Given the forethought required to iSi Whip a cocktail—you need to prep
and chill the mixture ahead of time, and keep the carafe cold until serving—it
makes the most sense to make a batch. Most models of whippers have 1
quart/1 L carafes, so you want a max of 2 cups/470 ml of liquid to account for
the increased volume from the aeration. Our Whipped Grasshopper makes
about four cocktails. Try dispensing them into sundae glasses or wide
Champagne coupes to emphasize their mousse-like texture.
WHIPPED GRASSHOPPER
ACTIVE TIME: 5 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 1 HOUR
MAKES ABOUT 4 COCKTAILS

GLASS: COUPE X 4 | ICE: NONE
5 ounces / 148 ml green crème de menthe

5 ounces / 148 ml white crème de cacao
5 ounces / 148 ml heavy cream
Garnish: Grated dark chocolate, Luxardo or Brandied Cherry
(here) x 4, demitasse spoons x 4
Equipment: 1 quart/1 L cream whipper, such as iSi brand, with 1
NO2 cartridge
Combine the ingredients in the canister of a cream whipper. Screw on

the lid and shake to mix. Place the whipper in the fridge along with the
glasses and chill for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, chill the
glasses and screw the NO2 cartridge onto the cream whipper.
Vigorously shake the whipper. Carefully dispense the cocktail into the
glasses. Garnish each drink with grated chocolate and a cherry and
serve with a spoon.
OTHER COCKTAILS TO WHIP:
HORCHATAI (here)
PIÑA COQUITO (here)
FRENCH 75
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: CHAMPAGNE FLUTE | ICE: NONE
1 ounce / 30 ml London Dry gin

Chilled Champagne to top, about 2 ounces / 60 ml
Garnish: Spiral lemon peel
Chill the glass. Combine the gin, lemon, and syrup in a Boston shaker
with ice and vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the
glass and top with Champagne. Twist the peel to express the oils, drop it
in the cocktail, and serve.
Its official name was the canon de 75 modèle 1897, but on the World War I
battlefield, American GIs simply referred to the field gun as the French 75. The
weapon’s powerful hydraulic recoil gave it quite a kick, which is how a strong
Champagne cocktail bouncing around Europe and North America since at least
the 1860s eventually took the gun’s name as its own several decades later.
David Wondrich references Charles Dickens, who, while visiting Boston in
1867, “liked to entertain the literary lions of the town in his room at the Parker
House with ‘Tom gin and champagne cups,’ as an 1885 article about the hotel
claimed. A Champagne Cup is bubbly, sugar, citrus and ice. Add Tom gin, as
that story seems to indicate, and you’ve got something perilously close to the
French 75.”
Potent but elegant, the mixture of sweetened gin, lemon, and Champagne first
appeared in print under the name French 75 in Here’s How!, a Prohibition-era
pocket manual from 1927, nine years after the Allied victory, by a bartender
credited only as Judge Jr. “This drink is really what won the War for Allies,”
reads the note above the recipe. The formula in the seminal Savoy Cocktail Book
from 1930 offers the cautionary coda, “Hits with remarkable precision.”
BRIT 75
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: CHAMPAGNE FLUTE | ICE: NONE
A dignified English accent on the French 75. The gin, lemon, and Champagne
remain, while Simple Syrup trades places with a homemade Earl Grey Syrup.
This not only sweetens the cocktail but also infuses it with gentle tannins and the
bergamot citrus essence that’s quintessential to British teatime.
1 ounce / 30 ml London Dry gin

¾ ounce / 22 ml Earl Grey Syrup
Garnish: Pared orange peel
Chill the glass. Combine the gin, lemon, and syrup in a Boston shaker
glass and top with Champagne. Place the orange peel on the rim and
serve.
EARL GREY SYRUP
2 Earl Grey tea bags

Bring the water to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add the
tea bags, cover, and remove from heat. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove the
tea bags and add the sugar. Place over low heat and stir to dissolve.
Transfer the finished syrup to an airtight container and store in the
SUMMER 75
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Bubbly, citrusy, fairly sweet, and served in the Spritz (here) style in a wine
goblet with lots of ice, the Summer 75 is built for warm, languorous evenings in
the yard and on the porch. Genever, gin’s Dutch granddaddy, is less bracing
than its offspring and moves with the same rhythm as honey and Meyer lemon
juice, each ingredient mellower than its familiar. Lemon verbena, muddled into
the cocktail and added as a garnish, lends an ephemeral green-meets-candied
citrus quality. If you can’t find fresh, add 2 tablespoons dried (widely available
at tea shops and online) to the boiling water in the Honey Syrup recipe to make
a tea, then strain, and proceed with adding the honey.
2 lemon verbena sprigs

¾ ounce / 22 ml strained Meyer lemon juice
1½ ounce / 45 ml genever
¾ ounce / 22 ml Honey Syrup (here)
Garnish: Expressed Meyer lemon peel, lemon verbena sprig
Set up the glass with the ice. Combine the verbena and lemon juice in a
Boston shaker and vigorously muddle. Add the genever, syrup, and ice
and vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass
and top with Champagne. Express the lemon peel over the surface of the
drink, rub it around the rim, and drop it in the cocktail. Garnish with a
sprig of lemon verbena and serve.
BOTTLE ROCKET
MAKES ABOUT 6 COCKTAILS
GLASS: 9 OUNCE/27 ML SWING-TOP BOTTLE X 6 | ICE: NONE
Like the Solera Negroni (here), the Bottle Rocket is a batched cocktail. This
recipe yields half a dozen drinks that you blend in a pitcher, bottle in advance,
and chill before serving, which makes it perfect for entertaining. Instead of gin,
this 75 uses Bourbon fortified with apple butter, which also fills in as the
sweetener for the usual Simple Syrup and lends the drink an early autumn vibe.
The Bottle Rockets will hold their bubble for about an hour in the bottles. If you
want to make them further in advance, leave the Champagne out, and add it
right before serving.
1 cup / 236 ml Bourbon

¼ cup / 60 ml apple butter
3¾ ounces / 111 ml strained lemon juice
4 ounces / 118 ml cold water
Chilled Champagne to top, about 3 cups / 710 ml
Garnish: Metal straw x 6
Set up the bottles. Combine the Bourbon and apple butter in a pitcher
and vigorously stir to incorporate. When the butter is completely melted
into the Bourbon, add the lemon and water, and stir to combine. Using a
funnel, evenly divide the mixture between the bottles, about 2 ounces/60
ml each. Evenly top with Champagne. Close the bottles and chill for at
least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Before serving, gently turn each bottle
upside down to break up any settling. Open the bottles, garnish each with
a metal straw, and serve.
Brit 75, Summer 75, Bottle Rocket
THE COGNAC QUESTION
Some experts, like the folks at Arnaud’s French 75 Bar in New Orleans,
insist a proper French 75 is made with Cognac, not gin. While this is a
20th-century phenomenon, there is some evidence of French brandy
appearing in the early, grenadine-blushed 75 formulas, like the ones in
1922’s Cocktails—How to Mix Them and the 1923 edition of Harry’s
ABCs of Mixing Cocktails, both of which call for a blend of gin and
Calvados. Speaking to Punch in 2018, Joaquín Simó of Alchemy
Consulting and New York’s Pouring Ribbons, offered a compromise: “It’s
a seasonal drink. In the spring and summer, I want it with gin. In the fall
and winter, I want it with Cognac.” To make the modern brandy version:
Replace all the gin with Cognac. To make the 1920s version: Replace ⅔
ounce/20 ml of the gin with Calvados and replace the Simple Syrup with
grenadine.
WORKSHOP:
SMOKED GLASSWARE
Smoking glasses became a trendy bar trick in the 2010s, but when used
properly, the technique can truly complement a cocktail’s flavor—and there’s
no denying the razzle-dazzle factor of glasses aswirl in fragrant, billowing
plumes. While there are handheld culinary smoking guns on the market
expressly designed for this purpose, you don’t need ’em. To smoke your
glasses, all you need is a small torch, like the kind you’d use to caramelize
sugar on crème brûlée, wood chips, and a fireproof surface. Hickory and oak
are good all-purpose suggestions—they go with everything and are widely
available in chip form—but you can also experiment with other woods like
cherry, birch, cedar, and apple or apply this method to a branch of rosemary to
introduce an herbal note to the smokiness.
HARRY’S SMOKED 75
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: SMOKED CHAMPAGNE FLUTE | ICE: NONE
The French 75 is such a celebratory cocktail, and a smoked flute really levels
up the presentation. We particularly like applying the technique to the drink’s
circa-1923 Calvados-and-gin formula from Harry’s ABCs of Mixing
Cocktails. The oak-smoked glass makes a nice callback to the French apple
brandy, which is aged in oak barrels.
⅔ ounce / 20 ml Calvados
⅓ ounce / 10 ml London Dry gin
2 dashes absinthe
1 teaspoon grenadine
Garnish: Luxardo or Bourbon Cherry (here)
Combine the Calvados, gin, absinthe, and grenadine in a Boston

shaker with ice and vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Drop the cherry
into the bottom of the prepared glass. Strain the cocktail into the glass,
top with Champagne, and serve.
OTHER COCKTAILS TO SERVE IN SMOKED GLASSES:
MARGARITA (here)
NAKED AND FAMOUS (here)
WHISKEY SOUR (here)
MAI TAI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL

½ ounce / 15 ml orgeat
Garnish: Lime wheel, spearmint sprig

shake for 20 seconds. Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail over
the ice and mound more ice on top. Garnish with a lime wheel and a mint
sprig and serve.
A
“ nyone who says I didn’t create this drink is a dirty stinker,” tiki impresario
Victor J. Bergeron wrote in his 1972 Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide. In his
origin story of the Mai Tai, he presented the shaken mix of rum, lime, orange
liqueur, orgeat, and Simple Syrup to some Tahitian friends, who declared the
frothy cocktail “Maita’i roa a’e!” or “Out of this world! The best!”
The “dirty stinker” challenging Bergeron’s claim was Donn “the
Beachcomber” Beach. There’s no argument that Beach’s tiki bar, Don the
Beachcomber, arrived on the scene first, opening in Hollywood in 1933.
(Bergeron’s first Trader Vic’s, originally called Hinky Dinks, opened in San
Francisco the following year.) Beach argued Bergeron cribbed the Mai Tai
formula from his Q.B. Cooler, another rum drink involving several syrups and
juices, and while Bergeron won the legal rights to the name Mai Tai, the
entrepreneurs remained good-natured rivals as their respective restaurants
appropriated Polynesian culture and shipped it from the South Pacific to the US
mainland throughout the 1940s and beyond.
Time and greed were unkind to the Mai Tai, as they have been to many other
tropical cocktails. Like the Piña Colada (here), Margarita (here), and Daiquiri
(here), the Mai Tai devolved into a sweet, fruity confection, a bottled mix, and a
punch line, only to be rescued, stripped to the studs, and restored to status in the
early 2000s. When made the classic way, the Mai Tai is magic, the rum
swooning through waves of citrus and sweet almonds.
Speaking of almonds, orgeat is a common almond-based elixir in tiki
cocktails. You pronounce it “OR-zhat” and can either make your own—see the
workshop at the end of this chapter—or use a high-quality bottled version from
brands like BG Reynolds.
WHITE LIE
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Turning the Mai Tai into the White Lie requires two quick substitutions. The
bright Brazilian sugarcane spirit cachaça (most commonly used in the
Caipirinha cocktail that rode the Mojito’s coattails to popularity in the United
States) replaces rum, and almond milk replaces the orgeat, creating a drier
cocktail with the acidic thwack of a Daiquiri (here) or Gimlet (here). The
expressed basil leaf garnish reaches up and drags you into this drink by the
nose.
1½ ounces / 45 ml cachaça
½ ounce / 15 ml unsweetened almond milk
Garnish: Expressed basil leaf
vigorously shake for 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Float
the expressed basil on the drink and serve.
MANGO MAI TAI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: PINT | ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE
Did you ever have a traumatizing encounter with Captain Morgan in college?
Same. But don’t be nervous about this spiced rum–based Mai Tai. High-quality
bottles with nuanced spice profiles, like Bumbu and Sailor Jerry, are helping to
redeem the black sheep of the rum family, and this is a perfect cocktail for a
reintroduction. The Mango Mai Tai’s main twist on the classic is its infusion of
the titular fruit into the spiced rum. That functions as the base of the recipe,
which proceeds in usual Mai Tai format with Curaçao, orgeat, and lime.
1½ ounces / 45 ml Spiced Mango Rum

½ ounce / 15 ml orgeat
Garnish: Spearmint sprig, mango spear
Combine ingredients in a Boston shaker with ice and vigorously shake for
20 seconds. Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail over the ice
and mound more ice on top. Garnish with the mint and mango and serve.
SPICED MANGO RUM
1½ cups / 350 ml spiced rum

1 cup / 160 g dried mango, roughly chopped
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container and vigorously shake for

5 seconds. Allow to infuse in a cool, dark place for 3 days, vigorously
shaking once a day. Taste the infusion after 3 days. If the mango flavor
isn’t very pronounced—this will depend on the quality of the dried mango
—continue to infuse and taste once a day until desired flavor is achieved.
HORCHATAI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: 8 OUNCE/236 ML MILK BOTTLE | ICE: CRUSHED OR
PEBBLE
Perfumed with cinnamon, sweet, and creamy, horchata is a rice-milk beverage

popular in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Our recipe uses almonds as
well as rice, allowing horchata to fill the orgeat role in this Mai Tai riff. The
Horchatai is an ideal recipe for batching into bottles like the Solera Negroni
(here) and Bottle Rocket (here), so consider scaling up. You can also drink the
extra horchata on its own, though note that this recipe makes a drier version
than normal since it’s being used in a cocktail rather than consumed solo. To
make horchata for stand-alone drinking, add 1 cup/200 g granulated sugar to
the mixture.
2 ounces / 60 ml chilled Horchata

1½ ounces / 45 ml rhum agricole
Garnish: Grated cinnamon, Cinnamon Incense (here), metal straw
Fill the bottle with ice. Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker with
ice and vigorously shake for 20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the bottle
and dust the surface with Cinnamon Incense. Lay Cinnamon Incense
across the rim of the bottle and serve.
White Lie, Mango Mai Tai, Horchatai
HORCHATA
2 cups / 370 g long-grain white rice

5 cups / 1.2 L water
7 ounces (½ can) sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup / 72 g almonds, toasted
2 cinnamon sticks, lightly toasted
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine all the ingredients in a large airtight container, ceramic pot, or

mixing bowl, cover, and allow to soak for at least 8 hours at room
temperature. Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until very
smooth. Filter the mixture through a strainer lined with cheesecloth.
Transfer the horchata to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator,
where it will keep for 10 days.
WORKSHOP:
ORGEAT
Orgeat syrup became a popular cocktail ingredient during the tiki era of the
1930s and ’40s, but its existence far predates that time. It’s thought that orgeat
was first based not on nuts, but rather grains; orge is French for barley, and
the original drink would have been something akin to a nondairy milk. To
improve its bland flavor, people began adding sugar, orange blossom or rose
water, and bitter almond, which has a lovely marzipan aroma and potentially
toxic levels of cyanide. Contemporary historians have speculated that orgeat
even played a role in the assassination of Napoleon.
Don’t worry; nobody is making orgeat with bitter almonds now. If you see
“bitter almond” on an ingredient list, it’s just the industry sobriquet for bitter
almond oil, which is extracted from the pits of stone fruits like apricots,
cherries, and peaches. But why even bother with the confusion, especially
when homemade orgeat is extremely easy to put together? The process
consists of grinding almonds into a fine powder, making Simple Syrup,
boiling those things together, and stirring in orange blossom water for flavor
and brandy for preservation. It’s supersimple.
Once you have a bottle of orgeat at the ready in your fridge, don’t limit
yourself to just using it in Mai Tais and other cocktails, like the Elba Fizz
(below). Around the world, people mix it with seltzer and citrus for a
refreshing nonalcoholic drink. It turns lemonade cloudy and nutty-sweet, can
punch up ice cream and sorbet bases, and is delicious drizzled over Greek
yogurt.
1½ cups / 214 g raw almonds

1 ounce / 30 ml brandy
¼ teaspoon orange blossom water
Equipment: Food processor, saucepot, 1 quart/1 L airtight
container
Grind the almonds to a fine consistency in a food processor or blender

and set aside. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepot on the
stove. Add the sugar and stir to completely dissolve. When the mixture
returns to a boil, stir in the ground almonds. Let the mixture boil again,
then reduce the heat and allow to cook at a low boil for 5 minutes.
Carefully remove the pot from the heat, stir in the brandy and orange
blossom water, and allow to completely cool. Transfer the finished
orgeat to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, where it will
keep for 1 month.
ELBA FIZZ
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: COLLINS
ICE: STANDARD CUBES

1 ounce / 30 ml orgeat
San Pellegrino Limonata to top, about 3 ounces / 90 ml
Garnish: Lemon wheel
Fill the glass with the ice. Add all the rum and orgeat to a Boston
shaker with ice and vigorously shake for 15 seconds. Strain the
cocktail into the glass, top with the Limonata, and gently stir with a
barspoon to combine. Garnish with the lemon and serve.
OTHER ORGEAT COMBINATIONS TO TRY:
Cashew + coconut flavoring
Hazelnut + vanilla extract
Pistachio + rose water
BRANDY ALEXANDER
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
1 ounce / 30 ml Cognac
1 ounce / 30 ml crème dark de cacao
Garnish: Grated nutmeg
vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Grate
the nutmeg over the surface and serve.
In the fall of 1915, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox faced off
in the World Series with Triple Crown–winning pitcher (and future Hall of
Famer) Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander on the mound for the Phillies in
Game 1. The week prior to the start of the championship, the Philadelphia
Inquirer had run a story about the hubbub percolating in the city, noting, “The
head bartender” at the Philadelphia Racquet Club “has even gone so far as to
invent an Alexander cocktail, which he is reserving to be served during the
World Series.” It’s widely assumed the drink was named for the right-handed
ace, who would go on to win that Game 1, allowing just one earned run.
From that World Series—the Phillies lost—and through the repeal of
Prohibition, it seems the Alexander came to represent a family of cocktails in
which the primary spirit could be swapped in based on the drinker’s preference.
Both gin and brandy versions appear in 1937 cocktail guides, New Orleans
Drinks and How to Mix ’em and Café Royal Cocktail Book, respectively, but the
latter version would come to dominate in the United States in subsequent
decades, eventually becoming tightly associated with Midwest supper clubs,
particularly in Wisconsin, where it’s often made with vanilla ice cream like its
after-dinner partner, the Grasshopper (here).
BRANDY LEBOWSKI
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: HIGHBALL | ICE: LARGE CUBE X 5
This easy tweak on the Brandy Alexander reformats the drink in the proportions
of a White Russian, where brandy steps in for the usual vodka. (If you don’t get
the name, go rent The Big Lebowski.) Kahlua is the most readily available
coffee liqueur, but you can also substitute an equal measurement of our
homemade version from the Cold Brew Old Fashioned (here).
2 ounces / 60 ml American brandy

1 ounce / 30 ml Kahlua or Coffee Liqueur (here)
1½ ounce / 45 ml heavy cream
Garnish: Grated nutmeg
glass and add ice if necessary. Grate the nutmeg over the surface and
serve.
ARMIE ALEXANDER
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Like its better-known cousin, Cognac, Armagnac is a French fruit brandy aged
in oak barrels, but there are a couple differences, namely that Armagnac is
made from a blend of grapes and column-distilled once before aging, whereas
Cognac is primarily Ugni Blanc and pot-distilled twice. This makes Armagnac
the more rambunctious of the two brandies, and though there are lots of lovely
bottles for sipping, it’s also a more economical mixer that can stand in a busy
cocktail like this spiked chocolate-cream fizz.
¾ ounce / 22 ml Armagnac
¾ ounce / 22 ml dark crème de cacao
1 ounce / 30 ml half-and-half
Splash vanilla extract
Seltzer to top, about 1 to 2 ounces / 30–60 ml
Garnish: 2 skewered Luxardo or Brandied Cherries (here), metal
straw
Fill the glass with the ice. Combine the Armagnac, crème de cacao,
cream, and vanilla in a Boston shaker with ice and vigorously shake for
20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass, add ice if necessary, and
top with the seltzer. Lay the skewered cherries across the rim, garnish
with the straw, and serve.
BRANDY ALEXANDER FLIP
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: SNIFTER | ICE: NONE
The key to well executed whole-egg cocktails like Flips and Nogs is thorough
shaking, even more so than in egg-white cocktails. It takes a full minute of
iceless agitation to completely incorporate the white and yolk into the brandy,
rye, oat milk, and maple syrup. The effort is worth it, producing a Flip so silky
and rich it drinks like an adult milkshake.
1 ounce / 30 ml Cognac
1 ounce / 30 ml Cacao Rye
1 ounce / 30 ml oat milk
¾ ounce / 22 ml maple syrup
1 egg
Garnish: Grated nutmeg, grated cinnamon
Combine ingredients in a Boston shaker and vigorously dry-shake for 1

minute. Add ice and shake for 20 seconds to chill. Strain the cocktail into
the glass, grate the nutmeg and cinnamon over the surface, and serve.
Brandy Lebowski, Armie Alexander, Brandy Alexander Flip
CACAO RYE
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

5 ounces / 148 ml rye
Combine ingredients in an airtight container and allow to infuse for 24

hours in a cool, dark place. Strain off and discard the cacao nibs and
return the infused rye to the container. This will keep indefinitely, but the
cacao flavor will begin to degrade after 1 month.
WORKSHOP:
POUSSE CAFÉ
In the cocktail world, pousse café (French for “coffee pusher”) can refer to a
specific drink, a specific glass in which said drink is served, or a serving
technique of layering a drink’s ingredients so they appear stacked in color-
blocked bands. Pousse café goes way back, at least to the mid-1800s; three
versions appear in Jerry Thomas’s How to Mix Drinks, though the recipes are
not the layered cocktails we’re discussing here but perhaps the category’s
original meaning of a short after-dinner sipper served with coffee.
These days, layered cocktail sightings in the wild are rare—you’ve most
likely encountered them in 1990s party shot form (B-52, Buttery Nipple)—
and few bartenders are pushing (pousse-ing) to bring the trick back into
vogue. But mixing drinks, especially at home, doesn’t have to be so self-
serious, and there’s something undeniably snazzy about a pousse café–style
stratified cocktail.
Pousse cafés are neither shaken nor stirred, so it’s key to have all your
ingredients well chilled before pouring. As when adding a finishing Float
(here) to a cocktail, you want to slowly pour each layer over the convex back
of a barspoon. You work heaviest (most dissolved sugar) to lightest (least
dissolved sugar). This also typically means least alcohol to most, which is
why overproof spirits like 151 rum are often used as floaters.
CHOCOLATE CHERRY ALEXANDER
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
½ ounce grenadine, chilled

1 ounce / 30 ml white crème de cacao, chilled
1 ounce / 30 ml heavy cream, chilled
1 ounce /30 ml brandy, chilled
Equipment: Pousse café glass (a Champagne flute or larger
cordial glass will also work), barspoon
Chill the glass. Pour the grenadine in the bottom. Place a barspoon
upside down as close as possible to the surface of the grenadine.
Gently pour the crème de cacao so it floats on top. Repeat the process
with the cream, then the brandy, and serve.
MARGARITA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: DOUBLE OLD FASHIONED
ICE: STANDARD CUBES
2 ounces / 60 ml blanco tequila

1 ounce / 30 ml strained lime juice
Garnish: Kosher salt rim, lime wedge
Rim a glass with the salt and fill it with the ice. Combine the ingredients in
a Boston shaker with ice and vigorously shake for 15 seconds. Strain the
cocktail into the glass, garnish with a lime wedge, and serve.
In the realm of classic cocktails, where origin stories can turn as murky as a
misplaced Mojito, having the drink you claimed to invent appear in your
obituary in the paper of record makes for pretty compelling evidence. But in the
case of the Margarita, Carlos (Danny) Herrera’s alleged on-the-fly creation in
the Tijuana restaurant Rancho La Gloria, there are more counterclaims than can
be counted.
Among the most straightforward is that the Margarita evolved from the
Daisy, a pre-Prohibition family of cocktails featuring a drinker’s choice of spirit
—similar to the Mule/Buck, Smash, and Fizz—with orange liqueur, lemon, and
seltzer. The Brandy Daisy was the most popular style of Daisy since the late
1800s. Swap the brandy for tequila, lemon for lime, and lose the seltzer, and
you’ve got a Margarita, which, OK, maybe sounds like too many modifications
to prove parentage—until you translate margarita from Spanish. Surprise: It
means “daisy.” And there are references to Tequila Daisies dating back to 1936,
when the Syracuse Herald called it the city’s “newest and refreshing drink.” By
1939, the Albuquerque Journal was describing the cocktail as “ubiquitous.”
Whatever the true story of the Margarita—whether its roots lie north or south
of the border, whether it was named for a flower, a picky showgirl, a German
ambassador’s daughter (another tale), or Margarita Cansino aka Rita Hayworth
(yet another)—the cocktail’s simple, three-ingredient construction and brisk,
invigorating nature make it one of the most enduring and beloved from the
heady days following the repeal of Prohibition. While other drinks became relics
of the era, the Margarita has thrived through wars and walls and remains one of
the greats.
AMARORITA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Mexico meets Italy in this bitter-forward Margarita. With aged tequila and
Nonino, a Friulian amaro heavy on the bitter oranges, standing in for blanco
and Cointreau, the approach is to shift the usual Marg—in both flavor and
appearance—from something bright, brisk, and clear to something dark,
complex, and moody. Cutting the lime juice with orange juice reinforces the
orange notes and adds just enough sweet to balance the bitter.
2 ounces / 60 ml añejo tequila

1 ounce / 30 ml Nonino amaro
½ ounce / 15 ml strained orange juice
Garnish: Kosher salt rim, lime wedge
Chill the glass and rim it with the salt. Combine the ingredients with ice in
a mixing glass and stir with a barspoon for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail
into the glass, garnish with a lime wedge, and serve.
MARGARITA RASPADO
MAKES 2 COCKTAILS
GLASS: PAPER SNOW CONE CUP X 2 | ICE: SHAVED
In Mexico, a raspado is what we would call a snow cone in the States, from the
Spanish raspar, “to scrape.” But unlike the frosty American treat soaked in
artificial syrups, the Latin version features fresh fruits, spices, and chamoy, the
intensely sweet and sour condiment made from chiles and fruit (usually mango
or plums). Here, the Margarita is remixed as a raspado with a dose of tart,
floral passion fruit juice.
Now, here are too many words on passion fruit: If you live in a citrus-
growing region, you can probably find fresh juice in season at a farmers’
market. The next best option is ordering from Twisted Alchemy, an Illinois-based
company that makes cold-pressed juices with cocktails in mind and ships
nationwide. Ceres, a larger natural-foods brand, sells boxed passion fruit juice
—albeit cut with pear juice—that is very good and widely available. Avoid
anything labeled cocktail or nectar, which will be sweetened, likely with high-
fructose corn syrup.

1 ounce / 30 ml strained passion fruit juice
1 ounce / 30 ml strained lime juice
½ ounce / 15 ml Cointreau
Garnish: Chamoy drizzle, sea salt
Pack the cups with ice so they have rounded domes on top. Combine the
ingredients in a Boston shaker with ice and vigorously shake for 20
seconds. Slowly strain the cocktail into the cups, drizzle chamoy over top,
garnish with salt, and serve.
TEQUILA 101
BLANCO: Clear agave distillate typically characterized by bright citrus
and pepper notes
REPOSADO: Gently aged tequila with honeyed and dried fruit flavors
from time in a barrel
AÑEJO: Thoroughly matured tequila with deep vanilla and smoke
notes from significant oak influence
80-PROOF AND SUNNY
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: DOUBLE OLD FASHIONED | ICE: STANDARD CUBES
Like a vacation on a faraway island, the 80-Proof and Sunny takes some effort to
arrive at. You’ve got to juice a cantaloupe, make a saffron salt for rimming, and
steep more saffron into tequila for a 24-hour tincture. It’s worth it. The honeyed
and floral flavors of the precious spice and ripe melon harmonize beautifully
with reposado tequila. This recipe will make more cantaloupe juice then you
need, so try freezing the extra in an ice cube tray and using them to make a
cantaloupe version of the watermelon-based Home Stretch (here).
2 ounces / 60 m reposado tequila

1 ounce 30 ml strained Cantaloupe Juice
¾ ounce / 22 ml lime juice
½ ounce / 15 ml light agave syrup
4 drops Saffron Tincture
Garnish: Saffron Salt rim
Rim the glass with the Saffron Salt and fill it with the ice. Combine the
seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass and serve.
Amarorita, Margarita Raspado, 80-Proof and Sunny
CANTALOUPE JUICE
1 ripe cantaloupe
Slice the cantaloupe in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the melon into
long spears, remove the rind, and process the flesh in an electric juicer.
Alternatively, puree the flesh in a blender and transfer the puree to a fine-
mesh strainer set over a mixing bowl. Allow the juice to strain off for
about 1 hour.
SAFFRON TINCTURE
2 saffron threads
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container and allow them to infuse

at room temperature for 24 hours. Remove the saffron threads from the
tincture and transfer it to a small eyedropper bottle. Store in a cool, dark
place. This will keep indefinitely, but the saffron flavor will begin to
degrade after 2 months.
SAFFRON SALT
MAKES ENOUGH FOR 4 COCKTAILS
2¼ tablespoons / 40 grams Morton’s kosher salt

10 saffron threads
1 teaspoon water
Pulse the ingredients in a spice grinder until the mixture achieves a rich
golden color. Transfer the saffron salt to a small tray, spread it out
evenly, and allow it to air-dry before use. Store in an airtight container
until ready to use.
They now come in strawberry, blueberry and wine flavors, some with
shaved ice and some without. But, for Carlos (Danny) Herrera, there was
only one way—the original way—to make a margarita. Herrera, the
creator of the margarita, died this week… of natural causes. He was 90. It
was in the late 1940s, in a Tijuana roadside restaurant, that he first poured
the famed drink. As Herrera told it, the margarita began as an experiment
when he tried to concoct something that would quench the thirst of a
beautiful young showgirl named Marjorie King. “She was allergic to
everything except tequila,” Herrera said in a 1991 Times interview. “But
she couldn’t take it straight, or even with the lemon and the salt. But she
liked it. So I started experimenting.”
—OBITUARY OF CARLOS “DANNY” HERRERA, LA TIMES,

MAY 1992
WORKSHOP:
KOMBUCHA
At the turn of the new millennium, if you asked a supermarket clerk in any
US city where you could find the kombucha, you’d likely have been met with
an expression of confusion. Today, you’d be directed to a shelf of a dozen
brands ranging from boutique startups to lines owned by soda giants eager for
a foothold in the quasi-wellness-beverage space. The history of kombucha in
America is short, swift, and upward, like the incline of a launched roller
coaster, but the fermented tea is an ancient drink that dates to B.C. China and
traveled to Europe via Russia many centuries later during WWI.
Effervescent, sour-and-sweet kombucha has surprising utility in mixed
drinks. In a Margarita, it mimics the acidity of lime juice, with the added
benefit of subtle bubbles. To make kombucha at home, you need a SCOBY
(symbiotic culture of bacterial and yeast), the jellyfish-looking blob that
converts sweetened tea into fizzy kombucha—the same function as yeast in
Yeast-Carbonated Soda (here). Thanks to the rise of booch home-brew
hobbyists, living SCOBYs are easy to purchase online, but in a pinch you can
use the dregs from the bottle of store-bought raw kombucha, much as you
would use a bit of old yogurt to kick-start the culturing of a fresh batch.
(Using both, as our recipe does, is the best way to ensure lively fermentation.)
In this workshop, we’re making a straight-up plain kombucha from black tea,
but you can experiment with different teas and add spices and other
flavorings.
On safety: Avoiding contamination is extra important when brewing
kombucha at home. Make sure all equipment is completely clean and sterile
before using. That includes your hands, which should be thoroughly washed
before handling the SCOBY.
ACTIVE TIME: 45 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 1 WEEK
MAKES ABOUT 1 GALLON / 3.8 L
3½ quarts / 3.3 L water

2 tablespoons loose leaf black tea
2 cups / 400 g granulated sugar
2 cups / 470 ml starter liquid, such as store-bought plain
unpasteurized kombucha
1 SCOBY
Equipment: Large lidded pot, 1 gallon/3.8 L glass brewing jar,
paper towels, rubber bands, funnel, spoons, bowl, 1 quart/1 L
glass jar, 16 ounce/470 ml glass bottles with caps x 8
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot on the stove and remove it from
heat. Add the tea and sugar, stirring to completely dissolve. Cover the
pot and allow the tea to cool to room temperature.
Strain out and discard the leaves and transfer the tea to the
brewing jar. Stir in the starter liquid. Transfer the SCOBY to the jar with
clean hands. Cover the jar with a paper towel and secure it with one or
multiple rubber bands; it should be very secure. Store the mixture in a
cool, dark place for 1 week. A white film on the surface of the liquid or
SCOBY, sediment, and bubbles will eventually appear, which means
the fermentation is happening. If fuzzy and/or colored (black, green,
blue) mold appears, discard the batch and start over.
After 1 week, carefully remove the paper towel and rubber band(s)
and test the kombucha with a freshly cleaned spoon. Do this every day
until it reaches the desired balance of sweetness and acidity, using a
new paper towel between tastings. Once the ideal balance of flavor is
reached, remove the SCOBY with clean hands and place it in a clean
bowl. (At this step you can start the process over or store the SCOBY
in the glass jar and refrigerate it for later use.) Funnel the liquid into
glass bottles, seal tightly, and allow to rest at room temperature
overnight. Fermentation is still happening in the liquid, so this step will
allow the gas that is being produced to build up, therefore carbonating
the bottles. Store in the refrigerator to stop fermentation.
KOMBUCHA MARGARITA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: DOUBLE OLD FASHIONED
ICE: STANDARD CUBES

¾ ounce / 22 ml kombucha
Garnish: Kosher salt rim, expressed lime peel
Rim the glass with the salt and fill it with the ice. Combine the
seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Express the lime peel over
the surface of the drink, rub it around the rim, drop it in the cocktail,
and serve.
PIÑA COLADA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: TIKI PINT
ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE

1½ ounces / 45 ml cream of coconut
1½ ounces / 45 ml strained pineapple juice
Garnish: Pineapple wedge, Luxardo or Bourbon Cherry (here)
Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker and vigorously dry-shake for

30 seconds. Add ice to the shaker and shake for 15 seconds. Pack the
glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Top with more
crushed ice if needed. Pin the cherry to the rind of the pineapple with a
plastic sword or toothpick and secure the pineapple to the rim of the
glass. Serve.
In the 1950s, Puerto Rico was the place to be. Movie stars and jet-setters
flocked to San Juan, where the glitzy Condado Beach strip sparkled with
jangling casinos and luxury hotels. It was here the Piña Colada was invented in
the midst of the 1954 coconut-cutters strike. When a bartender at the Caribe
Hilton couldn’t serve his rum-and-coconut milk cocktail in its usual coconut
shell, he improvised with a hollowed-out pineapple.
That’s one story, anyway. Others include pirates. Still others credit the
agricultural professor who invented shelf-stable canned cream of coconut. And
none other than the New York Times actually attributes the Piña Colada to Cuba,
writing in the April 16, 1950, edition, “Drinks in the West Indies range from
Martinique’s famous rum punch to Cuba’s Piña colada (rum, pineapple and
coconut milk).” While the island of origin might be up for debate, the Piña
Colada is a drink the entire Caribbean can be proud of. When made with fresh
ingredients (instead of the sugary premade mixes that dominated in the 1970s
and ’80s), it’s a lovely and balanced cocktail that, like mid-century San Juan,
embodies tropical sophistication.
The classic recipe benefits from the dry-shake technique, in which
ingredients are shaken together without ice to really combine them. Typically,
you see this with cocktails that include eggs, but the thick, viscous cream of
coconut in the Piña Colada needs that same vigorous agitation to break down
and meld with the rum and fruit juices. Clean, basic white rum is traditional, but
if you want a more complex profile, you can swap out or split it with aged rum
or rhum agricole, which are featured in the Piña Colada riffs that follow.
PIÑA ARRIBA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Clear, canary-yellow, and served up (or arriba in Spanish) in a coupe, you’d

never guess the Piña Colada as this cocktail’s parent. It’s like a Piña Colada
dressed up for dinner—smart and velvety, with a more complex rum profile
thanks to the addition of rhum agricole, a lighter body from coconut water, and
absolutely ripping acidity. Sip it like you would a Gimlet (here).

1 ounce / 30 ml rhum agricole
1 ounce / 30 ml strained pineapple juice
1 ounce / 30 ml coconut water
6 drops El Guapo Polynesian Kiss tiki bitters
Garnish: Pared lime peel
barspoon for 30 seconds. Strain into the coupe glass. Place the lime peel
on the rim and serve.
RUM 101
WHITE: Unaged molasses distillate with light, bright, fruity esters and
subtly sweet flavor profile
AÑEJO: Aged molasses distillate with more oak influence—think
vanilla, toasted coconut, cinnamon, toffee—from time in a barrel
AGRICOLE: Rum made from sugarcane juice instead of molasses,
resulting in an even lighter, herbaceous, grassy, citrus flavor
GINGER LIME COLADA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: PINT | ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE
Ginger juice and lime curd evolve the pineapple-coconut profile of the classic
Piña, making this take delightfully sharp and light on its feet. You can juice your
own ginger and make your own lime curd, but high-quality versions from your
local juice bar and grocery will work well.

1 ounce / 30 ml strained pineapple juice
1 ounce / 30 ml cream of coconut
1½ teaspoons lime curd
½ ounce / 15 ml cold-pressed ginger juice
Garnish: Candied ginger
Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker and vigorously dry-shake for

30 seconds. Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail into the glass.
Top with more crushed ice if needed. Garnish with candied ginger and
serve.
PIÑA COQUITO
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: SNIFTER | ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE
The Piña Coquito is a mash-up of two Caribbean classics, the Piña Colada and
Coquito, the spiced Puerto Rican eggnog made with rum and coconut milk. The
latter is a fixture at holiday gatherings, and like eggnog, it’s as thick and
comforting as a plush robe on Christmas morning. The introduction of pineapple
juice and a good shake with plenty of ice helps dilute the richness, so you can
have more than a cup without needing a nap. This recipe is easy to scale up for a
crowd. You can bottle it or serve it in a punch bowl. Just be sure to add the
nutmeg and orange to each cup right before serving; they take the drink to
another level.

1¾ / 52 ml coconut milk
¾ ounce / 22 ml condensed milk
½ ounce / 15 ml strained pineapple juice
½ egg yolk
2 drops vanilla extract
Garnish: Grated nutmeg, grated orange zest
Combine the ingredients with ice in a Boston shaker and vigorously dry-
shake for 30 seconds. Add ice to the shaker and shake for 15 seconds.
Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Grate the
nutmeg and orange zest over the surface of the drink and serve.
Piña Arriba, Ginger Lime Colada, Piña Coquito
WORKSHOP:
TEPACHE
In Mexico, where there’s pineapple, there’s tepache. Mexicans take all peels
and core of the fruit and ferment them in water sweetened with unrefined
sugar (piloncillo) into this golden-brown beverage. Tepache is sweet, tart, and
slightly funky, like a mild kombucha with a big pineapple bouquet. It’s
fantastic and refreshing on its own, but adds something really special to a Piña
Colada, introducing an almost savory element to the cocktail.
This tepache recipe uses brown sugar, which is easier to find than and a
fair substitution for piloncillo, but it’s worth seeking out Mexican cinnamon
(canela) for its distinct perfume and flavor. Whole chopped fruit, as opposed
to using just peels and core, speeds up the fermentation process. It takes at
least 24 hours and up to three days to make tepache, depending on variables
like ambient temperature and existing sugar content in the fruit. It’s a living
thing, and you need to keep checking it.
ACTIVE TIME: 15 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 1 TO 3 DAYS
1 medium pineapple
1 quart / 1 L water
2 cups / 400 g dark brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican, lightly toasted
Juice of 1 lime
Pinch kosher salt
Equipment: Large Dutch oven, strainer, 2 quart/1.9 L airtight
container
Cut off and discard the crown of the pineapple. Leaving the peel intact,
roughly chop the rest of the fruit, including the core, which should be
about 1 pound/453, or about 4 cups. Reserve at room temperature.
Bring the water to boil in a large, clean Dutch oven or other enamel-
coated pot with a lid. Remove the pot from the heat and add the sugar
to the water, stirring to completely dissolve. Add the chopped
pineapple and cinnamon. Cover the pot and move it to a cool, dark
place. Allow the mixture to ferment, stirring and tasting twice a day. At
first, the tepache will only taste sweet. As it ferments, you’ll notice a
subtly yeasty, slightly funky flavor in the background. Once that flavor
appears, the tepache is ready. (It may or may not become
effervescent, depending on the activity of the fermentation, but it will be
delicious regardless.) Strain out the solids and add the lime juice and
salt. Store the finished tepache in an airtight container in the
refrigerator, where it will keep 2 weeks.
FERMENTATION FAILS
Anytime you’re fermenting food, there’s a risk of spoilage. Don’t
worry, though! With the three-days-max timeline, it’s extremely
unlikely this tepache will go awry. That said, if it does, you’ll know.
Millennia of evolution have programmed the human body to
understand when food has gone bad. If this happens, throw it out
and start over.
TEPACHE COLADA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: PINT
ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE

1 ounce / 30 ml cream of coconut
½ ounce / 15 ml tepache
Scant ½ ounce / 13 ml strained lime juice
Garnish: Grated cinnamon
Combine the ingredients with ice in a Boston shaker and vigorously

shake for 20 seconds. Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail
into the glass. Top with more crushed ice if needed. Garnish with
grated cinnamon and serve.
TRY TEPACHE IN THESE OTHER COCKTAILS:

GIMLET (here): Replace half the lime juice with tepache.
RUNNING MATES (here): Replace the orange and lime juices with
tepache.
WHISKEY SOUR (here): Remove the sugar and replace half the
lemon juice with tepache.
BATANGA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
1 lime
1½ ounces / 45 ml blanco tequila
Mexican Coca-Cola to top, about 4 ounces / 120 ml
Garnish: Kosher salt rim
Cut the lime in half with a medium kitchen knife (do not rinse the knife).
Juice and strain the lime, then measure out and reserve ½ ounce/15 ml.
Rim the glass with the salt and fill it with the ice. Add the reserved lime
juice and the tequila. Top with Mexican Coke, stir the cocktail with the
knife, and serve.
If you’ve been reading any of these introductions, it should be pretty obvious by
now that cocktail history is cloudy, competitive, prone to mythmaking, and
dependent on sometimes century-old receipts very few folks have kept. But there
are some absolute people and places—like Harry’s Bar in Venice, where the
Bellini was invented, and the bar at Raffles in Singapore, birthplace of the
Singapore Sling—that create something of a globe-crossing map for cocktail
pilgrims.
Tequila (the town) is the ancestral seat of tequila (the spirit) in the Mexican
state of Jalisco, 45 minutes outside Guadalajara. It boasts one of these essential
stops, El Capilla, a humble cantina with lazily turning ceiling fans and walls
decked with trophies and photos of the bar’s capo, Don Javier Delgado Corona,
creator of a simple but beloved cocktail called the Batanga sometime in the
1950s or ’60s. (The most oft-mentioned date is 1961.) The drink is greater than
the sum of its parts: blanco tequila, lime, salt, and Mexican Coca-Cola. It’s a
speedy and effective thirst-buster, the cane-sugar Coke fizzing and snapping like
Pop Rocks in a tall glass, but some say the X factor is in the long, wood-handled
knife Delgado Corona uses to stir the Batanga together. A magic wand for a
magic cocktail.
BATANGA EXPRESS
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
In the mid-1990s, Pepsi released the coffee-soda experiment Pepsi Kona upon
an unsuspecting Philadelphia test market. Maybe it was the taste, maybe it was
the “Spank your senses” TV-spot tagline, but the drink bombed in less than a
year, disappearing into bottled-beverage lore. There is something appealing
about combining coffee and cola, though, and not just the double kick of
caffeine. The bitterness of the former downplays the sweetness of the latter in a
way that, in a cocktail, really works. That’s what happens in the Batanga
Express, basically a classic Batanga with a shot of espresso, lemon instead of
lime, and a couple dashes of bitters.
1 lemon
1½ ounces / 45 ml blanco tequila
1 ounce / 30 ml brewed espresso, cooled
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Mexican Coca-Cola to top, about 3 ounces / 90 ml
Garnish: Kosher salt rim, expressed lemon peel
Cut the lemon in half with a medium kitchen knife (do not rinse the knife).
Juice and strain the lemon, then measure out and reserve ½ ounce/15
ml. Rim the glass with the salt and fill it with the ice. Add the reserved
lemon juice, the tequila, the espresso, and the bitters. Top with Mexican
Coke and stir the cocktail with the knife. Garnish with the expressed
lemon peel and serve.
EL CAPILLA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
Named for Batanga padre Don Javier Delgado Corona’s bar in Tequila, Jalisco,
El Capilla uses silky homemade Lime Cordial in lieu of fresh lime juice. It’s the
first step in turning a snappy, kinetic crusher into a suave, cerebral sipper. Aged
tequila builds in a backbone of oak, while the bittersweetness and rich spices of
Bénédictine and Averna conjure a thinking person’s cola. We like El Capilla
shaken, but it would taste great as a stirred cocktail as well.
2 ounces / 60 ml reposado tequila

¾ ounce / 22 ml Averna amaro
½ ounce / 15 ml Bénédictine
½ ounce / 15 ml Lime Cordial
Garnish: Kosher salt rim, expressed lime peel
Rim one side of the glass with the salt and add the ice. Combine the
ingredients in a Boston shaker and vigorously shake for 15 seconds.
Strain the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with the expressed lime peel
and serve.
LIME CORDIAL
3 ounces / 90 ml strained lime juice
3 ounces / 90 ml Simple Syrup (here)
Combine the ingredients in an airtight container, vigorously shake, and

store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 1 month.
BATANGA TROPICA
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: MEXICAN CLAY MUG | ICE: CRUSHED OR PEBBLE
Roughly 1,900 miles of indigo sea stretch between the Caribbean coast of the
Yucatán Peninsula and the western shore of Barbados. This Batanga cuts the
distance to zero by mixing tequila and Velvet Falernum, a Barbadian rum-based
liqueur flavored with almond, cloves, and lime. (Other bottles labeled as only
“falernum” are nonalcoholic syrups; John D. Taylor’s, which contains booze, is
the quintessential brand and the stuff you want here.) With pineapple and lime
juices, cola syrup steeped with fresh mint, and plenty of crushed ice to round out
the case, this is the Batanga squarely in tiki territory.
2 ounces / 60 ml añejo tequila

1½ ounces / 45 ml strained pineapple juice
1 ounce / 30 ml John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
¾ ounce / 22 ml Mint-Cola Syrup
Garnish: Spearmint sprig x 3, pineapple wedge
Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker and vigorously shake for 20

seconds. Pack the mug with the ice. Strain the cocktail over the ice,
garnish with the mint and pineapple, and serve.
Batanga Express, El Capilla, Batanga Tropica
MINT-COLA SYRUP
1½ cups / 350 ml cola

Combine the ingredients in a saucepot and simmer over medium heat,

stirring to dissolve the sugar. Allow the mixture to cool to room
temperature and strain off the mint. Transfer to an airtight container and
store in the fridge, where it will keep for 2 weeks.
WORKSHOP:
YEAST-CARBONATED SODA
At restaurants and bars, blending syrup with carbonated water is typically

how soda gets its bubbles. The low-fi version is to simply stir the still and
sparkling components together by hand, while high-volume joints are more
likely to rely on a soda gun or fountain, in which cola, lemon-lime, and other
concentrates travel through a network of tubes and unite with seltzer in a
pressurized gush, mixing as it fills your glass. Either way is dependent on
carbonated water, something that wasn’t commercially available before the
mid-1700s. So how did people make bubbling beverages that didn’t come
from some freshwater forest spring back in the day?
Yeast. Yeast eats sugar. This produces alcohol and carbon dioxide
(bubbles) that build up inside a contained environment (bottle). While sodas
as we know them didn’t exist in ancient times, people were certainly mixing
water with fruit, honey, and vinegar syrups, and it’s reasonable to assume
strains of airborne wild yeast spawning natural carbonation was a fairly
common phenomenon. Purposely yeasted sodas, however, are a mostly
modern trend, often attributed to the home-brewing community.
The process is very easy: Just combine homemade syrup—kola for this
workshop, to go with the Batanga—with water and a bit of Champagne yeast
in a plastic soda bottle and wait. When the bottle feels rock-solid, enough
carbon dioxide has built up, and the soda is carbonated. You won’t get the
explosive fizz of a force-carbonated soft drink, but more of a leisurely
effervescence akin to sparkling water. This recipe works with any syrup you
like, including the ones in this book like Makrut Lime Leaf (here), Apricot
(here), and Chamomile Syrups (here), just make sure to add lemon or lime
juice to balance the sweetness with acidity to taste.
ACTIVE TIME: 30 MINUTES | TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 1 TO 2 DAYS
MAKES 1 QUART / 1 L
½ batch Oleo-Saccharum (here) made from 2 lemons, 2 limes, 1

orange, and 2 lbs. / 0.9 kg demerara sugar
1 quart / 1 L water
4 tablespoons kola nut
3 cinnamon sticks, cracked
2 tablespoons dried bitter orange peel
2 teaspoons coriander seed
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3½ cups / 830 ml spring or distilled water
¼ teaspoon Champagne yeast
Equipment: Vegetable peeler, medium pot, fine-mesh strainer,
saucepot, 1 quart/1 L airtight container, 1 quart/ 1 L plastic soda
bottle
Prepare the oleo-saccharum, being sure to reserve the citrus juices for
later in the recipe. Then make the spice extract. Bring the water to a
boil in a medium pot, add the kola nut, cinnamon, bitter orange peel,
coriander, nutmeg, and vanilla and continue to boil for 10 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture for 30 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool for 30 minutes, then
strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer and add it back to the
saucepot. Bring the spice extract to a low boil and add the oleo-
saccharum, gently stirring to completely dissolve. Remove the pot from
the heat and allow it to cool for 30 minutes, then stir in the reserved
citrus juices. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer and
measure out and reserve 4 ounces/ 120 ml. Transfer the remaining
syrup to an airtight container, where it will keep in the refrigerator for 2
weeks.
Fill the bottle with the reserved syrup and water and top with the
yeast. Screw on the cap and shake to mix the ingredients. Set the
bottle in a cool, dark place for 24 to 48 hours. As the yeast carbonates
the liquid, the pressure will build against the bottle. When the bottle
feels very hard, move it to the fridge to pause the carbonation. Chill for
at least 2 hours before serving and open carefully.
NAKED AND FAMOUS
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
¾ ounce / 22 ml joven mezcal

¾ ounce / 22 ml Aperol
¾ ounce / 22 ml yellow Chartreuse
Garnish: Lime slice
vigorously shake for 30 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass,
garnish with the lime, and serve.
Not all classic cocktails are 100 years old. In the case of the Naked and
Famous, well, it’s not even old enough to legally drink. A bartender named
Joaquín Simó created the Naked and Famous in 2011 while working at the
influential New York bar Death & Co. and has famously described the cocktail
as “the bastard love child of a classic Last Word and a Paper Plane, conceived in
the mountains of Oaxaca.” In the ensuing years, it’s become a respected addition
to contemporary bartending canon, and one of the few that put mezcal in a
starring role.
Before getting to know the Naked and Famous, you should know its parents.
There’s a real age difference between them. The Last Word (gin, absinthe, green
Chartreuse, Maraschino, lime) dates all the way back to Prohibition, while the
Paper Plane (Bourbon, Aperol, Nonino, lemon) is considered another modern
classic from post-2000 NYC bartending circles. Simó took the Chartreuse and
lime from the former, the Aperol from the latter, and subbed in mezcal as the
base spirit. The resulting cocktail is smoky, tart, botanical, and refreshing. This
recipe calls for a joven (“young”) mezcal, which is the mezcal analogue to
blanco tequila. Brands we like include Ilegal, Vicio, and Montelobos.
MEZCAL AND TEQUILA—WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

While both spirits are made from the piñas of the agave plant, tequila is made
exclusively from the blue agave. Mezcal, meanwhile, can be made from
many, many other species. Another point of differentiation lies in the
production: When making tequila, the piñas get steamed in an oven, while
mezcal’s piñas are roasted in an earthen pit, creating the common top-note of
smokiness often associated with mezcal.
BODY ELECTRIC
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
This easy evolution of the Naked and Famous spins the cocktail into a Spritz
(here) format. The measure of mezcal remains the same as in the classic, while
the Aperol, Chartreuse, and lime make room for a festive cascade of sparkling
wine.
¾ ounce / 22 ml joven mezcal

½ ounce / 15 ml Aperol
½ ounce / 15 ml yellow Chartreuse
4 ounces / 120 ml prosecco or cava
Garnish: Lime wheel x 3
Set up the glass with the ice. Add the mezcal, Aperol, Chartreuse, and
lime juice in the glass and briskly stir with a barspoon to incorporate. Top
with the wine and stir for 5 seconds. Tuck the limes into the glass and
serve.
BARE ESSENTIALS
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
In the Bare Essentials, the Naked and Famous quartet loses one member,
Aperol. Luxardo Bitter, an amaro with strong flavors of bitter orange and woody
herbs, steps in to join the usual mezcal, Chartreuse, and citrus juice. Meanwhile,
homemade chamomile syrup adds sweetness and a musky, honeyed-floral
character that is absolutely dynamite with agave-based spirits. Try a dose in a
Margarita (here).
1 ounce / 30 ml joven mezcal

½ ounce / 15 ml Luxardo Bitter Bianco
½ ounce / 15 ml Chamomile Syrup
Garnish: Lemon slice

shake for 20 seconds. Pack the glass with the ice. Strain the cocktail over
the ice and mound more ice on top. Garnish with the lemon and serve.
CHAMOMILE SYRUP

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon / 10 g dried chamomile, or 8-10 chamomile
tea bags
In a small saucepot on the stove, bring the water to a boil and add the
chamomile. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it steep for 5 minutes.
Strain out and discard the blossoms and return the tea to the saucepot
over medium-low heat. Add the sugar, stirring to completely dissolve.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to completely cool. Transfer
the finished chamomile syrup to an airtight container and store in the
SKIN CONTACT
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
GLASS: ROCKS | ICE: SPHERE
The Skin Contact alters and amplifies the citrus component of the Naked and
Famous by infusing mezcal with Buddha’s hand, the claw-shaped fruit whose
spindly fingers have a sweet lemon-blossom perfume. If you can’t find Buddha’s
hand, this recipe will also work with regular or Meyer lemons, tangerines, and
oranges. Try a mix to achieve an interesting citrus profile.
¾ ounce / 22 ml Buddha’s Hand-Infused Reposado Mezcal

¾ ounce / 22 ml Select aperitivo
Set up the glass with the ice. Combine ingredients in a Boston shaker
glass and serve.
Body Electric, Bare Essentials, Skin Contact
BUDDHA’S HAND-INFUSED REPOSADO MEZCAL
1½ cups / 350 ml reposado mezcal

1 cup diced Buddha’s-hand citron
Dice the citron and measure off one cup. Combine the ingredients in an
airtight container and allow to infuse for 2 days. Strain out the citron,
pressing as much liquid out of it as possible. Add any pressed liquid back
to the mezcal. Strain the mezcal into a clean airtight container to remove
any leftover debris. This will keep indefinitely, but the citron flavor will
begin to degrade after 1 month.
WORKSHOP:
FLAMING GARNISHES
Torched and scorched flora, flaming floats, alight oils—no doubt about it,
pyrotechnics make cocktails look cool. But as much as these service
techniques are about visual drama, they also make drinks more
multidimensional by profoundly engaging your sense of smell. (Just imagine
the aroma of smoldering cinnamon smoke twisting over a slug of whiskey.) In
this workshop, a burst of burnt orange gives a savory citrus edge to the Naked
and Famous, but the method can be applied to many different drinks. We’ve
included a few other fiery tricks as well. Whichever you choose, just be sure
to exercise caution and have a fire extinguisher nearby.
Equipment: Butane lighter; matches; fire extinguisher (Just in
case!)
FLAMED ORANGE PEEL
Naked and Famous or desired cocktail
1 orange
Cut a rectangular peel about 1 inch by 2 inches/2.5 cm by 5 cm. Hold

the peel between your index finger and thumb with the skin side down,
over the surface of your cocktail. With your other hand, ignite a lighter
or match and position the flame between the orange peel and the
drink. Quickly pinch the peel, so the expressed oils hit the flame and
the resulting sparks land on top of the drink. Run the peel around the
rim of the glass, drop it into the drink, and serve.
WORKS WELL WITH:
STIFF COCKTAILS
CORPSE REVIVER NO. 1 (here)
MANHATTAN (here)
NEGRONI (here)
FLOAT
Desired cocktail
Overproof spirit or liqueur, such as Bacardi 151 rum
Place a barspoon upside down as close as possible to the surface of

the drink. Gently pour a small amount of the spirit or liqueur down the
back curve of the spoon; it will “float” on the surface of the drink. Using
the lighter, carefully light the float on fire. Blow out before drinking.
WORKS WELL WITH:
TIKI AND TROPICAL COCKTAILS
MANGO MAI TAI (here)
PIÑA COLADA (here)
RUNNING MATES (here)
CINNAMON IGNITION
Desired cocktail
Ground cinnamon
Follow the instructions for the Float. Once the surface of the cocktail is
alight, sprinkle the cinnamon into the flames for a sparkle effect. This
works with other ground spices, too.
WORKS WELL WITH:

SPICED COCKTAILS
BRANDY ALEXANDER FLIP (here)
PIÑA COQUITO (here),
SANDERSON SISTER (here)
ROSEMARY/CINNAMON INCENSE
Desired cocktail
1 rosemary sprig or 1 cinnamon stick
Place the “incense” in the cocktail as you would a straw and using the
lighter, carefully light the exposed end on fire. Alternately, lay it across
the rim of the glass and light the top of the rosemary or either side of
the cinnamon. It will begin to smolder and smoke. Blow out before
drinking.
WORKS WELL WITH:

WHISKEY COCKTAILS
BREAKFAST MANHATTAN, REVERSED (here)
OLD FASHIONED (here)
WHISKEY SOUR (here)
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WORKS CITED
AQUAFABA
Goldberg, Elyssa. “Everything You Need to Know About Aquafaba, the Vegan
Wonder Ingredient.” Bon Appetit. Condé Nast. May 10, 2016.
https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/aquafaba-health-
benefits.
BRANDY ALEXANDER
Difford, Simon. “Alexander cocktail.” Difford’s Guide. Odd Firm of Sin Ltd.
https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/1072/cocktails/alexander-
cocktail.
CORPSE REVIVER
Author unknown. Punch, Or the London Charivari. December 21, 1861.
https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/punch1861a/0259/.
EL PRESIDENTE
Allan, M. Carrie. “This influential Cuban bartender wants to preserve the elegant
tradition of the island’s cantineros.” Washington Post. May 24, 2019.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/this-influential-cuban-
bartender-wants-to-preserve-the-elegant-tradition-of-the-islands-
cantineros/2019/05/23/4ce24dec-7cb1-11e9-8ede-f4abf521ef17_story.html.
Wondrich, David. “History Lesson: El Presidente Cocktail.” Imbibe. November
6, 2012.
Yoon, Basil. When It’s Cocktail Time in Cuba. New York: Horace Liveright,
1928.
FRENCH 75
Craddock, Harry. The Savoy Cocktail Book. London: Constable & Company,
Ltd., 1930. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1930-The-Savoy-
Cocktail-Book/72/.
Judge Jr. Here’s How! New York: Leslie-Judge Company, 1927. https://euvs-
vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1927-Here-s-How-2nd-impression/28.
Simonson, Robert. “In Search of the Ultimate French 75.” Punch. Penguin
Random House. December 13, 2018. https://punchdrink.com/articles/ultimate-
best-french-75-cocktail-recipe/.
Wondrich, David. “Behind the Drink: The French 75.” Liquor.com. Dotdash.
Date unknown. https://www.liquor.com/articles/behind-the-drink-the-french-
75/.
GIMLET
Baker, Charles H. The Gentleman’s Companion—Vol. II Exotic Drinking Book.
New York: The Derrydale Press, 1939.
GRASSHOPPER
DeJesus, Erin. “It’s Not Easy Being Green: The Weird History of The
Grasshopper.” Eater. Vox. October 23, 2014.
https://www.eater.com/2014/10/23/7036159/a-brief-history-of-the-
grasshopper https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1862-The-bar-tenders-
guide-1862-2-50/142.
JULEP
Bullock, Tom. The Ideal Bartender. Self-published: 1917. https://euvs-vintage-
cocktail-books.cld.bz/1917-The-Ideal-Bartender-by-Tom-Bullock/42/.
Davis, John. Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America.
Library of Congress. https://cdn.loc.gov/service/gdc/lhbtn/24800/24800.pdf.
Moskowitz, Brett. “Mint Condition: What you never knew about the mint julep.”
Tasting Table. May 5, 2017.
https://www.tastingtable.com/drinks/national/mint-julep-history-derby-day.
MANHATTAN
Wondrich, David. “The Strangely Cool Origin Story of the Manhattan.” The
Daily Beast. IAC. July 13, 2017. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-
strangely-cool-origin-story-of-the-manhattan.
MARGARITA
Difford, Simon. “Margarita cocktail.” Difford’s Guide. Odd Firm of Sin, Ltd.
https://www.diffordsguide.com/g/1138/margarita-cocktail/origins-and-history.
MAI TAI
Bergeron, Victor J. Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide. New York: Doubleday &
Company, Inc., 1972.
MARTINI
Wondrich, David. “The Coming of the Martini: An Annotated Timeline.” The
Daily Beast. IAC. March 30, 2018. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-
coming-of-the-martini-an-annotated-timeline.
OLD FASHIONED
Difford, Simon, and Robert Simonson. “Old Fashioned cocktail.” Difford’s
Guide. Odd Firm of Sin Ltd.
https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/500/cocktails/old-fashioned-
cocktail.
PIÑA COLADA
Candee, Marjorie Dent. “Gourmet’s Guide Along the Old Spanish Main: At the
Bar.” New York Times. April 16, 1950.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/04/16/132813902.html?
pageNumber=271.
OLEO
Jones, Carey, and John McCarthy. “Up the Citrus in Your Cocktails with Oleo
Saccharum.” Saveur. February 16, 2016. https://www.saveur.com/how-to-
make-oleo-saccharum/.
SPRITZ
Baiocchi, Talia, and Leslie Pariseau. Spritz. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2016.
https://www.amazon.com/Spritz-Italys-Aperitivo-Cocktail-
Recipes/dp/1607748851.

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Copyright © 2021 by Steven Grasse and Adam Erace

Interior and cover photographs copyright © 2021 by Quaker City Mercantile

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a

First Edition: October 2021

Published by Running Press, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of

Library of Congress Control Number:2021938081

ISBNs: 978-0-7624-7297-0 (hardcover), 978-0-7624-7298-7 (ebook)

STOCKING THE HOME BAR

Base Spirits and Modifiers

Sweeteners and Syrups

Fresh Produce and Dairy

Spices and Flavorings

Equipment and Techniques

Glassware and Ice

Mint Julep (1803)

Corpse Reviver No. 1 (1861)

Old Fashioned (1862)

Whiskey Sour (1870)

Pisco Sour (1903)

Mai Tai (1934)

Brandy Alexander (1937)

Piña Colada (1950)

Naked and Famous (2011)

Tap here to learn more.

THE BASIC ARSENAL

RIFFS AND WORKSHOPS

SWEETENERS AND SYRUPS

Agave Syrup, light

½ cup / 118 ml water

FRESH PRODUCE AND DAIRY

Apples, Granny Smith

SPICES AND FLAVORINGS

Almond milk, unsweetened

• BARSPOON, for stirring

2. Fill the small shaker tin with ice.

3. Pour the ice into the large shaker.

7. Strain into the glass with a fine-mesh strainer.

6. Briefly shake to chill.

Examples: Brandy Alexander Flip (here), Whiskey Sour (here)

2. Fill the mixing glass two-thirds to three-quarters full with ice.

3. Stir briskly for the prescribed time with a barspoon.

Examples: Martini (here), Negroni (here)

3. Stir briskly for the prescribed time with a barspoon.

The process of muddling is an efficient (and therapeutic) way to extract

Examples: Garden Gimlet (here), Virgil’s Grasshopper (here)

Because some drinks are just better in a blender.

2. Measure out the ice.

3. Combine them in the pitcher of the blender.

Examples: Running Mates (here), Sesamint Daiquiri (here)

FOR COCKTAILS SERVED ON THE ROCKS (WITH ICE)

BEER TULIP, whose curves emphasize foam in Sour cocktails

SNIFTER, which can also be used for up drinks

FOR COCKTAILS SERVED UP (WITHOUT ICE)

COUPE, also known as a Champagne saucer and an elegant vessel

MUG, for toddies and other drink served warm

Occasionally in The Cocktail Workshop, we call for nonstandard

CRUSHED, not as coarse as pebble ice but can be used

JUMBO CUBE, the striking, slow-melting, 2 inch/5 cm cube often seen

LARGE CUBE, measuring 1¼ inches/3 cm square, typically from a 15-

STANDARD CUBES, essentially what comes out of a plastic tray or