Very Old Fashioned

This isn't actually especially old - it's just the best name I could come up with on short notice.

1 1/2 oz Plantation 20th Anniversary Rum
1/2 oz Laird's Apple Brandy
1/4 oz mezcal (Vida)
1/4 oz pineapple syrup
3 dashes Bitter Truth Celery Bitters

Stir over a large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass.  FUCK GARNISH.  That's the kind of mood I'm in.  Booze in a glass, dammit, and fast!

Mocktail Week #3: Pineapple Fauxito

After my early break yesterday, I figured I'd probably be able to turn out another success, but nothing much stood above the rest.  Today was a much luckier day!  I didn't do much experimentation at all, really (for one thing, I'm running out of citrus) but I did manage to turn out multiple winners.  All of which is to say: you get two today.

Full disclosure, this one is fairly similar to a non-alcoholic beverage that was featured for years on my old restaurant's menu - similar mix of flavors, distinctly different construction.

1 1/2 oz pineapple-lime syrup
1/2 oz lime juice
8-10 mint leaves
3-4 dashes Bitter Truth celery bitters

Muddle the mint in the syrup, add the juice and bitters, then shake and strain over large ice cubes in a large tumbler.  Top with about 1 oz ginger beer (deviating from my usual Reed's here - I found instead a much spicier version called Regatta) and about 3 oz carbonated cucumber water, then stir gently to combine and top with a sprig of mint or a lime wheel.

Overall a very tropical feel - somewhere between a Mojito and a Mai Tai with none of the booze.  I'd go so far as to say that this exceeds the original (though to be fair, it could use a better name).

Mocktail Week #1: Clover Field

As it turns out, I can't drink old-fashioned cocktails forever - or, indeed, cocktails forever.  I think yesterday's Briny Deep put me over the edge.  My poor, overloaded liver needs a (brief) break, and so this week I'm beefing up my repertoire of non-alcoholic beverages and sharing the best of the evening here.

Even though in terms of ingredients this one doesn't share much with the Clover Club, but its pretty color and foamy cap reminded me so much of one that I wanted to capture that in the name.  Oddly enough, it achieves this without any egg white at all; it turns out that cryo-cucumber juice retains an exceptional foaming power.

2 oz cryo-cucumber juice
1 oz rhubarb syrup (accented with lemon peel and peppercorn; raspberry syrup would work too)
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
5 dashes celery bitters (Bitter Truth's version is the best I've found)
4-5 drops white balsamic vinegar

Shake and strain over large cubes in a Collins-style glass; top with 4-5 oz soda water, stir gently, and garnish with a small bunch of mint, slapped between your palms to express the oil.

That's a damn good way to start this mini-series!