All In

It's been a big month for Garnish! After a year and a half of quietly blogging, a lot of things seemed to happen at once. I was pretty amazed to hit 2000 Instagram followers this week - if you're one of them, thank you! I'm so flattered that people enjoy my photos and my drinks. I got to attend my first cocktail competition, the Boston qualifier for the Diplomático World Tournament (which I sort of live-tweeted, if you want to take a look at the nine entries). I met a bunch of my fellow Boston bloggers in person, including Mr. Muddle and Boston Bar Hopper, which was really fun. And I had some great collaborations with Hooch, Drizly, and Cocktail Builder.

On top of all that, I've just started a new collaboration that I'm particularly excited about. Garnish is now officially partnered with Muddle & Stir, a fantastic site that sells bar tools, glassware, and mixers such as bitters, shrubs, and syrups. I'm going to do a post soon featuring a few of their products to give them a proper introduction, but I definitely wanted to let you guys know as soon as possible that Garnish readers can get 10% off and free shipping on everything at Muddle & Stir with the discount code MS10GB. This is a great deal, as their prices are already quite good. So go check out their products and buy something new for your bar! And stay turned for more about our partnership and details on some of my favorite products on the site.

Let's celebrate with a cocktail, shall we?

I've come a long way from the days when I thought that the only good use for crème de cacao was in a chocolate martini or a Brandy Alexander. The Flushing - Main Street and the 20th Century both convinced me that this can be a much more versatile spirit than I realized. So when I saw this recipe pairing it with Campari, I was, well, all in. This cocktail is a riff on the Old Pal, which is made with equal parts rye, Campari, and dry vermouth. The All In changes up the proportions a bit and makes the critical addition of crème de cacao. The hint of chocolate plays beautifully with the bitter, citrusy flavor of the Campari and the rich, spicy rye.

History: The All In comes from Natasha David at Nitecap in New York City.

All In

1 1/2 oz. rye
3/4 oz. dry vermouth
3/4 oz. Campari
1/4 oz. creme de cacao

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into a coupe and garnish with a lemon twist.

Recipe from Punch.