Craig E

Did you really mean "1/8 Tbsp" as the measure for the maraschino? How did you measure that? I guess that would be like a fat quarter-teaspoon?

Enjoying a pre-dinner Uffizi: Bonal, Cocchi Americano, and grapefruit juice, with a salted rim. Subbed red juice for white because that's what I had; subbed smoked salt for salt because I recently got it and wanted to try it out. This was tasty and light, a real winner (and no doubt will be even better if I undo my silly substitutions next time). My drink-mixing life is accompanied by low-level but constant fretting about using up my perishable wines before they go bad. So this is additionally a double winner for helping me work down two fridge bottles, deliciously.

Is that you, or your spell-checker, that keeps misspelling Michter's? (This is coming from someone who would have sworn it was "Señor Curacao of Curacao" before he was corrected.)

That escalated quickly!

Tried this out. Tastes like a Creamsicle crossed with a watermelon Jolly Rancher!

Friends coming over for cocktails insisted on bringing a bottle of something, so I told them I'd be happy to try something new from local (Minnesota) distiller Tattersall, and they showed up with this sour cherry liqueur. Here's my tasting notes side-by-side with Cherry Heering: Tattersall is 30% ABV (vs. Heering's 24%) Its color is clearer and brighter red than Heering's old-blood red. There's a big difference to the nose: Tattersall is mostly alcohol fumes, where Heering has a yummy sweet cherry aroma. The taste is certainly similar enough that substitution in cocktail recipes will work splendidly. But Tattersall does taste markedly more sour, which you get throughout the sip and finish. That sharpness consequentially prevents the sweet cough-syrup cherry flavor that is more prominent in Heering. My guests loved the cocktails I made for them with the new liqueur (Trainspotter and Blood & Sand). Tattersall now has a huge line of spirits and liqueurs. As I've said before, their gin is terrific. I've also had a small taste of their fernet, which lacks the menthol strength of Fernet Branca but despite that (or rather because of that) seems really promising for mixing.

Wife's friend just dropped off some of her homemade bitters, so I used them in this To Hell with Spain. Wow! Interesting drink. Started with grape juice flavors, finished with bitterness akin to high-cacao chocolate. In between I swear I got a little peanut butter but I'm not sure what could've accounted for that!

Some recipes call for the citrus twist to be discarded, and others to be dropped in. When you're crafting a drink, what guides you in deciding which way to go?

A nice conversation among bartenders about Sasha Petraske has been posted at Punch.

There are dozens of browsable vintage cocktail books at this EUVS Vintage Cocktail Books Library I just found out about. Not necessarily a great trove of useful recipes, but charming to look through and useful for historical sleuthing.

Ooh, I do like that Rope Burn. Certainly syrupy sweet up front, but the tingly bitter caramel finish keeps the candy flavors in check for me.

My entry for January's Mixology Monday challenge, Brace Yourself. The idea of this month's theme is a cocktail that helps brace yourself to face the wintry weather. One of my first reactions to my recently acquired bottle of Bonal Gentiane Quina was that it reminded me, in its acidic sweetness, a bit of a nice apple cider, so this seemed like a good foundation for a wintry cocktail. If I wasn't going to do a hot, toddy-like cocktail, I knew I'd need the warming effects of something high-proof, so I pulled out my bottle of Hamilton 151 rum to pair with it. After a few trials I found its alcohol and molasses flavors overrode my yummy Bonal, so I needed something a little more neutral to rebalance the drink, and since apple cider was my starting point, calvados seemed like a natural fit. The cinnamon notes of Berechkova seemed like an obvious complement to the apple idea, so I added that as a rinse. After a few rounds of rebalancing, I wound up with: WINTER CAP 2 oz. Bonal 1 oz. calvados 1/2 oz. Hamilton 151 rum Becherovka rinse orange twist

Inaugurated my first batch of cinnamon syrup by making a Heart-Shaped Box. Muddled strawberry, Hine cognac (Maison Rouge), St. Germain, lemon juice, cinnamon syrup, balsamic vinegar, Angostura bitters. Sweet and well spiced, very accessible.

Quin Quina Crusta Lovely and excellent. Joins Tango Til They're Sore as a fave Peychaud's-heavy tipple.

I didn't eat the sage but I guess that's up to the drinker. I was once dumbstruck when I served a drink to a guest and she ate the lemon twist. Would never occur to me to consider that edible.

I received it as a gift a while back. It worked well in this but I'm not a big fan actually. It has an intriguing but not very gin-like vanilla/hogo aroma, and a pretty unremarkable, almost vodka-ish flavor. I wouldn't buy it again. I think the bottle is gorgeous though! Have you had Tattersall? They're making fantastic stuff IMO.

A few drops of saline in the shaker. (A couple of sage leaves go in too, then get strained out.)

Marquee Cocktail Martin Miller's gin (Far North Solveig gin), Aperol, lemon juice, simple syrup, salt, sage. The salt and sage add a pleasant savory twist to a familiar sweet, sour, and fruity combination.

I appreciate the meniscus brinksmanship!

An Eclipse (Leo Robitschek): 2 oz El Tesoro Añejo (Cazadoras reposado, because that's what I had) 3⁄4 oz Aperol 3⁄4 oz Cherry Heering 3⁄4 oz lemon juice Vida rinse, lemon twist. Joins the Gilroy as a favorite use of Cherry Heering. Both of those avoid the medicinal-cough-drop effect that sometimes accompanies cherry liqueur drinks in my experience. The mezcal rinse gets a little lost in this but this is an accessible and tasty one.

I was happy with how it all turned out. (Here are the recipes for the falafel and tzatziki.)

@Rafa's Madininha, made with cucumber juice left over from my homemade tzatziki!

I love it! It has lived up to my high anticipation. So far I have enjoyed it most on its own, and with Dolin Sweet, Campari, and cognac in @Rafa's Flâneur.

Tried FrogPrincesse's own You Only Live Twice and enjoyed it. It's inspired by the Corpse Reviver #2, but really tastes more like a tweaked whiskey sour. I might try it again with the lemon scaled back a bit, as the sour overrode some of the more subtle flavors to my taste.

Spent my Christmas money restocking Rittenhouse, Cynar, and Aperol, and obtaining my first bottle of Cocchi Vermouth di Torino. Thanks, mother-in-law!