Rusty Monk

There’s a cocktail in Mr. Boston called the Rusty Monk that has eight parts gin, four parts Dubonnet, two parts Yellow Chartreuse (we used Strega) and two dashes of orange bitters. It’s good.

Where Have You Gone, Audrey Fanning?

I don’t think “Audrey Fanning” actually refers to anyone in particular but it is a cocktail in Mr. Boston: five parts gin, two parts sweet vermouth, one part Cherry Heering and two dashes Peychaud’s bitters. It’s a good cocktail: someone online (just saw it on the Google result, and didn’t actually read the post itself — which happens like all the time, when you think about it) mentioned it’s like a modified Negroni, which is perceptive, in retrospect. It’s good; tastes like a cocktail. A few days later, I think it could even use a lemon twist.

Tonight, I substituted Dubonnet for the sweet vermouth; this tasted even better. Still think it could maybe use a lemon twist. Or an orange twist maybe.

On a somewhat related note, a drop of Peychaud’s landed on the counter and I thought to taste it on its own: it’s like an elderly man’s cheap cologne.

File Under: Stuff With Gin, Limes, Rum And Crème De Cassis

Latest cocktails tried . . .

Solomon Sling (Mr. Boston, page 95): six parts gin, three parts lemon juice, two parts simple syrup, two parts Kirschwasser, one part Cherry Heering, one dash Angostura bitters. Good.

Angel’s Share (Mr. Boston, page 171): six parts bourbon, two parts Amaro, one part crème de cassis, one dash orange bitters. Overlooked this recipe in the book for a while because I don’t know why. We used Amaro CioCiaro and this old cassis sort of forgotten in the liquor cabinet. This was good, too; worth returning to.

Junior (PDT, page 154): eight parts rye, three parts lime juice, two parts Benedictine, two dashes Angostura bitters. We had a bunch of limes in the fridge so I put them to use. Was OK, if memory serves.

Romeo y Julieta (PDT, page 228): eight parts rum, two parts sweet vermouth, two parts Campari. Like a Left Hand but with more rum. Definitely didn’t add the four spritzes of diluted Aftel Tobacco Essence, though, so who knows.

If You’re Bored Of Negronis, This Is Good

It diverges quite a bit from the 1-1-1 recipe, but the Continental cocktail herein is quite good: six parts gin, three parts Cynar, two parts dry vermouth, and some stuff with lemon zest.

(This was the alternative, had we gone in that direction: 1-1-1 Aperol, dry vermouth and gin; dry vermouth is the curve ball here.)

Invented By The Hair Of My Chinny Chin-Chin.

So after coming with this intensely Fernet-Brancatious cocktail, the next day I was tasked with something a little less Brancatious. My first thought was to go for something gin-based, mostly because I think I get really sidetracked by bitters in bourbon. Gin’s a little out of my comfort zone, so it becomes a fun challenge.

Mr. Boston has a lot of good gin cocktails. One I’m surprised I hadn’t already tried because it has a few ingredients I’d been trying to mix into stuff is the “Solomon Sling” (page 95), I guess a variation on a Singapore Sling. It’s six parts gin, three parts lemon juice, two parts simple syrup, two parts kirschwasser, one part Cherry Heering (or the knockoff I used) and one dash Angostura bitters.

It was really elegant, I don’t want to say “surprisingly” so but definitely elegant, like a cocktail you’d get at a cocktail bar.