A Few Random... Martines?

I'm not quite sure what to call these. They're sort-of Martini variants, in that they consist of a gin stirred together with an aromatized wine, but in each case it's a sweeter aromatic than dry vermouth. Yet they're missing the additional sweetening that would make them a Martinez, leaving them in a weird grey area.

Oh, and... yeah, I made all three of these at once. And I poured all three at once. And then I drank all three in quick succession. It's fucking amazing that I managed to collect these recipes.

#1 (middle above)
1 1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire East gin
3/4 oz Cocchi Americano
2 dashes Bitter Truth Tonic Bitters
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass; garnish with a thin lime wheel.

Drink first as preparation.

#2 (left above)
1 1/2 oz Norseman Strawberry Rhubarb gin
3/4 oz Byrrh
2 dashes Bitter Truth Tonic Bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter Bitters

Stir and strain into a slightly fancier cocktail glass; garnish with a strip of lemon peel.

Drink second to steady yourself.

#3 (right above)
1 1/2 oz J. Carver Barrel gin
3/4 oz Bonal
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter Bitters

Stir and strain into your fanciest cocktail glass; garnish with a brandied cherry.

Drink third to forget.

Wise Man

Hey look, another lapse! It's another season where I just haven't been mixing much original stuff - largely gin & tonics and daiquiris, for some reason. Just to keep the suspense from building too much, here's a backlog item for you.

I started screwing around with this concept a little while ago after purchasing a bottle of Bombay Sapphire East, which was an unusual purchase for me. I'm not a fan (at all) of standard Bombay Sapphire, but a bar-master friend had me try a competition drink of his once using this as the base, and I got hooked. This version adds lemongrass and black pepper to the normal Sapphire botanicals, which I think adds some depth and spice to what is otherwise a fairly bland gin. I got to thinking one morning (don't judge me) how the "eastern" concept might get along nicely with tea, so I assembled this the moment I got home from work. It's still a work in process (I don't think the balance is quite there) but let's record it anyway.

1 oz Bombay Sapphire East
1 oz cognac (any decent VS or better brandy ought to do)
1 oz Bonal (honestly, I might try straight-up sweet vermouth next time)
1 oz chilled oolong tea (can't remember exactly what kind)
1/4 oz Licor 43 (to balance the astringency of the tea)

Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass. A lemon twist garnish is a good idea here, but don't tell anybody I said so.

The mix here was based on the Ampersand, which I think is something of an unfairly obscure lost cocktail. Again, I don't think this exact recipe quite nailed the balance, but I find the concept intriguing, and the drink's light body quite fit for summer. Some further renditions might pop up here soon.

Interrobang

Holy crap kids, I've got multiple cocktails to share with you tonight. This on a night with minimal mixing, mostly football and beer; go figure. You could say I'm clearing out my backlog from the weekend.

First up, even though it's the most recent, is again simply a riff on a classic. I'm telling you, it's all about the remix.  This comes first because it reminds me of our most recent cocktail, but where that was a Negroni variant, this one is based on a less-common classic known as the Ampersand. I made this because I didn't have cognac, which made me sad. I'll need to grab a bottle soon - I've had a hankering for a good Stinger lately too.

1 oz reposado tequila
1 oz Tanqueray Malacca (Old Tom would be a reasonable approximation)
1 oz Bonal Gentiane Quina (I'm using its full name from now on; that's a great set of words)
1 dash rhubarb bitters (yes, homemade, and add an extra dash if using Old Tom gin)

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist, maybe, if you feel like it.

The name is of course a reference to my favorite bizarro punctuation symbol that hardly anyone knows about.  Who cares?  It's got a great name!

Captain Gin & Cousin It

This really is a silly bartender's name for this drink, but I love it all the same.  Really, it's a simple take on the very old-school Gin & It, supposedly a predecessor to the Martini - and given the formula, just 2 parts gin to 1 part sweet vermouth, a pretty safe assumption.  Yet while trying to find a good reference recipe, I was surprised by the number that included a dash or two of bitters, and even more surprised by the number that recommended no ice at all.

I tried this stirred at first, but I have to say, this Scaffa-style approach is on to something.  Built without ice, this is a full-flavored drink, with alternating layers of sweetness, nuttiness, and herbs - kind of like neat Chartreuse, which I can't argue with at all.  With ice, it's stuck halfway between Negroni and Martinez territory.  Not a bad thing, but less is more in this case.

1 1/4 oz navy-strength gin (Hayman's for me)
3/4 oz Bonal (which I've become addicted to)
1 dash Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters (I found a new source!)

Place a maraschino cherry in a chilled old-fashioned glass (unlike most of my garnishes, this one's actually required) then pour in the remaining ingredients (I kept the Bonal chilled) and stir to combine.

As an optional exercise, repeat the above, but stir the gin, Bonal, and bitters, then strain.  Sip and contemplate what a difference dilution makes.

Right Hook

Remember that Red Hook variation?  It turned out well...

2 oz rye whiskey
1/2 oz Bonal
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)
1 dash Fee Brothers Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter Bitters

Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a brandied cherry.

Yes!  Absolutely delicious.

Manhattan Boulevard

Have you tried this Bonal stuff?  I chanced upon a bottle down at our local wine shop a couple days ago, and as I'm liable to do I brought it home knowing almost nothing about it.  Turns out, it's right up my alley!  It's generally similar to other "Kinas" like Cocchi Americano, with a robust bittersweet flavor.  It's also infused with a bunch of mountain herbs, and as a result it's got a complex flavor similar to good vermouth.  The closest comparison I can make is to Punt e Mes, but I think it's a bit more subtle.

In any case, Bonal is damned tasty, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to me to work it into a Manhattan variation.  This wound up being a superb idea - more punchy than a Manhattan, more subtle than a Boulevardier, this one nestles perfectly in-between.

1 oz bourbon (Booker's - I kept the amount low since this is fairly high-proof, you might want to bump it up if you're using something closer to 80-90 proof)
3/4 oz Bonal
3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Dolin)

Stir over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a brandied cherry.

I think my next stop is going to be a Red Hook variation...