Chingon

I am on a bit of a roll with the tequila cocktails lately. That's kind of how it goes - I tend to forget how much I like tequila, and then one really good drink reminds me and before I know it I've torn through the tequila section of all of my cocktail recipe books. I've been particularly impressed with the agave section of Death & Co's book, because I expected most of my favorite recipes from the book to be made with gin or whiskey, not tequila and mezcal. But I've found a ton of agave cocktails I love in there. The Almond Brother from two weeks ago was one; the Chingon is another.

It's funny how you actually don't see orange juice in craft cocktails very often. Orange peels, orange bitters, and orange liqueurs regularly find their way into my drinks, but the Mimosa and the Ward 8 are probably the only recipes I've posted with orange juice. The Chingon, however, uses it with pride, along with reposado tequila, Benedictine, lime, and orgeat. I'd say the orgeat is the best part of this drink. The tart and citrusy flavors are rounded out by its sweet nuttiness. The Benedictine is also a wonderful and unexpected touch.

History: Brian Miller created this drink at Death & Company in New York in honor of their barbacks. The name is Mexican slang meaning "badass."

Chingon

2 oz. reposado tequila
1/4 oz. Benedictine
1/2 oz. orange juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. orgeat

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe and garnish with an orange twist.

Recipe from Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails.

Almond Brother

Last week I mentioned a cocktail recipe from the Death & Co book that showed me how well tequila and amaretto can work together, so I figured this week I ought to share it! I give you the Almond Brother. I think amaretto is a seriously underestimated cocktail ingredient. Sure, it's crazy sweet, but it can add such great flavor to a cocktail in small quantities. This one ramps up the almond flavor with some sweet, nutty orgeat as well.

Apricot really compliments amaretto, and this isn't the first time I've used them together. Unfortunately I still don't have a bottle of apricot liqueur - I had plans to finally buy some on my last trip to the liquor store, but they didn't have any. Soon! But until then, my usual substitute of apricot preserves seems to work quite well.

This cocktail smells heavenly, like almonds and citrus with hints of vanilla. Kind of like a citrus pound cake. But the nutty angel's food flavor of the amaretto and orgeat is tempered by the tequila and lime for a perfect balance of sweet and sour. It's one of those cocktails where the ingredients really sing.

History: This recipe was created at Death & Co in new york by Jason Littrell in 2011. Though the Death & Co book doesn't specify, it's pretty clear that the name is a reference to the Allman Brothers band.

Almond Brother

2 oz. tequila reposado
1/4 oz. amaretto
1 tsp. apricot liqueur (or 1/2 tsp. apricot preserves)
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. orgeat
1/4 oz. maple syrup (I used Noble Chamomile & Vanilla)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe. No garnish.

Recipe from Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails.

Bitter Mai Tai

I've got another Tiki cocktail today! The Bitter Mai Tai is a twist on a very traditional Tiki beverage, the classic Mai Tai. This version replaces a good bit of the rum with bitter, citrusy Campari for an entirely different experience. Given the name, I was surprised when I took a sip and immediately thought it tasted exactly like Hawaiian Punch - sweet and fruity. The bitterness hits you a fraction of a second after that first taste. From its bright red hue to its intense flavor, this is a great cocktail for when you really want to make an impact.

History: This recipe comes from Jeremy Oertel of Dram in Brooklyn. He based the recipe on another Mai Tai variation that used Angostura bitters instead of rum (which I think I've got to try).

Bitter Mai Tai

1 1/2 oz. Campari
3/4 oz. Jamaican rum (substitute any aged rum)
1/2 oz. orange Curacao
1 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. orgeat

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Heap more crushed ice on top. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Recipe from Imbibe.

Trinidad Sour

One of my favorite new bars in Boston is Hojoko. The cocktails there are incredibly good, but the place doesn't take itself too seriously. They serve brightly-colored cocktails out of those square circulating juice tanks and have a wide selection of frozen drinks and sake bombs. These things aren't usually the mark of a craft cocktail bar, but these same cocktails have ingredients like shochu, absinthe, Fernet Branca, and coconut-infused Campari. The bartenders there have also always been incredibly friendly and informative, willing to discuss the cocktails and their unique ingredients.

The second time I went to Hojoko, I ordered the 1970 Sour. The ingredients were Angostura bitters, Wray & Nephew (a white overproof rum), passionfruit, almond, and sesame. The bartender paused a moment and said, "Ok, but just so you know, Angostura bitters are the base of the drink." I didn't even understand what he meant at first. Angostura bitters are added to drinks in dashes, not ounces. I wasn't sure if I would like it. I assumed an Angostura-based drink would be unbearably bitter. But the bartender assured me that it wasn't, and I figured I'd give it a go.

Wow. I can't remember the last time I was so blown away by a cocktail. Angostura bitters have an incredible rich, spiced flavor that allows them to stand out in drinks even when added in small amounts. When you throw an ounce of them in a cocktail, the result is amazingly flavorful. And it really gives you a sense of what the bitters taste like, and what they're adding to your cocktails in smaller quantities. I really didn't have a good handle on their flavor profile before I tried the 1970 Sour.

After that night at Hojoko, I began seeing Angostura-based cocktails popping up all over the place. So I decided to try and make one myself. It seemed only natural to try the Trinidad Sour, one of the first drinks to give this ingredient a starring role. Imbibe refers to it as a "paradigm shifter" and I think they might be right. This is definitely one of the most unusual things I've tried in a cocktail in a while. I quickly ran through my tiny bottle of Angostura and invested in the much larger 16 oz. size.

The Trindidad Sour is not an overwhelmingly bitter drink. It's rich and incredibly flavorful. It smells a bit like Christmas potpourri. The flavor is deep notes of cinnamon and allspice, with a subtly bitter finish. It's surprisingly bright. And that color! It's easily one of the most beautiful cocktails out there.

History: The Trinidad Sour was invented by Giuseppe Gonzalez at the Clover Club in Brooklyn in 2009. It is based on a slightly earlier cocktail called the Trinidad Especiale, which was invented by Italian bartender Valentino Bolognese for the Angostura European Cocktail Competition in 2008. It uses Pisco instead of rye. The names of both cocktails pay homage to the country where Angostura bitters are made.

Trinidad Sour

1 oz. Angostura bitters
1 oz. orgeat
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. rye whiskey (100 proof preferred)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Fill with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass.

Recipe from Imbibe.

Improved Japanese Cocktail

What qualifies as a Tiki drink? This article by Doug Winship I found today makes it clear that it's not a simple question. Apparently people have strong and differing opinions on this issue. I always thought anything vaguely tropical or beachy involving rum probably qualified, and Doug basically agrees with this. But he cites an article by Humuhumu that argues that a drink has to be created in a Tiki bar to really qualify - knocking out things like the Daiquiri, the Singapore Sling, the Pina Colada, all of which were created in actual foreign, tropical locations rather than under a plastic bamboo awning in Los Angeles. It's kind of funny to think that it's the inauthenticity that actually makes an authentic Tiki cocktail.

I'm not sure the Improved Japanese Cocktail would qualify as Tiki under most criteria. It was not created at a Tiki bar. It has no elaborate garnish, and it doesn't even contain rum. But it does contain orgeat, and lots of it, which made me think Tiki as soon as I took a sip. Orgeat is an almond syrup. It's used in the Mai Tai and a number of other Tiki drinks, and I think of it as a thoroughly Tiki ingredient. But it turns out that orgeat pre-dates Tiki by quite a lot. Jerry Thomas was serving up cocktails containing orgeat in the 1860's, most notably the Japanese Cocktail, which this cocktail is based on: Cognac, orgeat, and bitters. The "improvement" is the addition of lemon juice.

So if you want some of the flavor of Tiki in classic cocktail form, the Improved Japanese Cocktail might be for you.

History: This cocktail comes from Toby Cecchini at the Long Island Bar in Brooklyn. But, as I mentioned, its ancestor the Japanese Cocktail goes much further back. Jerry Thomas included it in his famous 1862 Bartender's Guide. As far as why he called it a Japanese cocktail when none of its ingredients are even remotely Japanese: he was tending bar at the Metropolitan Hotel when it housed the first Japanese delegation to the United States in 1860. It seems likely that he created it in their honor. Some accounts take the story a bit further, suggesting that the delegation's translator, Tateishi "Tommy" Onojirou Noriyuki, spent a good amount of time quaffing drinks with Thomas, and might have individually inspired the cocktail.

Improved Japanese Cocktail

2 oz. Cognac
1 oz. orgeat
1 oz. lemon juice
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail or coupe glass.

Recipe from The Barman Cometh.

Mai Tai

There are a few ingredients that pop up frequently enough in different cocktail recipes that they sound familiar, but not frequently enough that I even know what they are. Orgeat syrup is one such ingredient. But when I saw it at a liquor store for less than $20, I decided to try it out. I love when a small investment can greatly increase your cocktail repertoire.

As it turns out, orgeat syrup is made from almonds, sugar, and rose water or orange flower water. It is very sweet and a little almondy, which I absolutely love. There are several different brands out there; I bought this bottle by Fee Brothers.

The most well-known cocktail containing orgeat is the Mai Tai. Like many fruity, rum-based cocktails, this drink has been corrupted by many touristy bars into something that barely resembles the original recipe. The only fruit juice in a real Mai Tai is lime. The rest of its fruity flavor comes from orange curacao, and orgeat gives it its sweetness. It's quite simply delicious. Still tropical enough to be fit for the beach, but not so ridiculously tiki-themed that you don't feel like you can mix one up at home.

History: The Mai Tai falls under the category of "tiki drinks," fruity, usually rum-based cocktails that became popular in the 50's when Polynesian-themed tiki bars and restaurants were all the rage. The two fathers of tiki cocktails are Vic Bergeron ("Trader Vic") and Don the Beachcomber, who ran competing restaurants in Hollywood. Both take credit for the invention of the Mai Tai, but Vic's claim seems most valid. His 1947 bartender's guide tells the story of how it got its name: he served the first one to a Tahitian friend who exclaimed, "Maita'i roa ai!" ("Very good!").

You want to use an aged rum in this cocktail. In fact, Trader Vic was spurred to create it to complement a particularly flavorful bottle of 17-year-old Jamaican rum.

Mai Tai

2 oz. aged rum
3/4 oz. orange curacao
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. orgeat syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a mint leaf and a slice of lime (or edible orchids if you're lucky enough to have them).

Recipe from Vintage Cocktails.