u/Currer__Bachman

I mean… I personally drink them all year round but I feel like I’ve been neglecting the changing of the seasons so I decided to embrace it last night and make a Jack Rose, followed by a local dry hard cider.

My preferred Jack Rose:

2oz/60ml Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy

.5oz/15ml Fresh lemon juice

.5oz/15ml Homemade pomegranate grenadine (1.5:1)

Combine all ingredients in a shaking tin. Add ice and shake until chilled and diluted (~10-15 seconds depending on your ice). Double strain into a chilled coupe. Reminisce about autumns past.

My spec is a bit more spirit forward than most, but if you give it a good hard shake it balances out real well. I want the applejack flavor to be the star of the show, with the grenadine and lemon as accents.

The Pegu Club is a hard drink to balance and it’s a hard drink to learn about. It is the offspring of one of the worst catastrophes of human history, The British Empire. However, I think learning about it helps put our nostalgia for a simpler time into perspective and I think the Pegu Club is an amazing Daisy-style cocktail if you use the good ingredients and the right specs. In this article, I cover the history of the cocktail, and the tragic history of the club it’s named after, and explain how I think you can best make the Pegu Club right now. Read the article, get mad, then center yourself by enjoying a Pegu Club.

Know Your Cocktail No. 8: The Pegu Club

I really enjoy hearing from readers! Feel free to leave a comment regarding any questions, concerns, commendations, or any cocktails you'd like me to cover in the future. If I can afford the ingredients. Thank you!

Previous Essay: Know Your Cocktail No. 7: The Martini

Check out my Substack, where you can read, for free, all my essays in which I find myself eyeball deep in old cocktail books and get to call drinking a Martini “primary research". There's also lewd humor and a touch of pessimism.

Generative Al or Al-assisted technologies were not used in any way to write, edit, or research this essay. I am the sole author and take full responsibility for my words, mistakes, and eccentricities.

I've had this drink in the "want to make" section of my Rolodex for a while due to David Wondrich’s glowing remarks on the drink in both Imbibe! and the Comic Book History of the Cocktail.

And... fuck, he was right. I loved this cocktail. It's fantastic. The malty Genever gives it a bready, hefty body that's doing a ballroom waltz with the maraschino. The absinthe accents those guys and plays into the botanical periphery of the bitter and juniper. The Demerara keeps it a touch sweet and adds that molasses/caramel loveliness. Something in the combo reminds me of brioche, licorice, and cherry liqueur filled Bon Bons. The lemon is an absolute must. I mean all aromatic garnishes are but this one is everything. It gives the drink some levity and prevents it from being too bottom heavy. Better than the Improved Whiskey Cocktail, imo.

A friend of mine who I made it for described it as tasting different from every other cocktail he’s ever drank, and I agree. It’s like trying a recipe from Apicius (Roman Empire) or the Forme of Cury (medieval England), people of the past used flavors in ways that are completely novel to the modern palate.

2oz/60ml Quincy St. Distillery Oude Genever

1tsp/5ml Rich Demerara Syrup

1tsp/5ml Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

3 dash Fee Bros' Boker's Bitters

1 dash of St. George Absinthe Verte

Combine the ingredients in a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir until chilled and diluted (~30 seconds depending on your ice). Strain the drink into a chilled N&N. Express a lemon peel and lay it atop

In anticipation of the Martini Expo next month, my latest article attempts to explore the history of the Martini in a semi-coherent manner.

The King of Cocktails is a beast of a drink to research but I highly recommend you check out the article if you have a very fixed idea of what a Martini should or should not be. This was probably the most difficult one I’ve written thus far but it was made easier by cocktail historians David Wondrich, Robert Simonson, and Simon Difford, who did most of the leg work here. I still went a little kooky by the end of it tho. Please enjoy!

Know Your Cocktail No. 7: The Martini

I’ve really dig hearing from readers! Feel free to leave a comment regarding any questions, concerns, commendations, or any cocktails you’d like me to cover in the future. Assuming I don’t die first. Thank you!

Previous Essay: Know Your Cocktail No. 6: The Queen’s Park Hotel Super Cocktail.

Check out my Substack, where you can read, for free, all my essays in which I find myself eyeball deep in old cocktail books and get to call drinking a Daiquiri “primary research”. There’s also sex jokes and anguish.

Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were not used in any way to write, edit, or research this essay. I am the sole author and take full responsibility for my words, mistakes, and eccentricities. 

My significant other and I wanted to throw a housewarming party after we moved into a new apartment in July. Naturally, because it’s summer and I’m insane, I wanted to do tiki/tropical drinks.

So I spent a while making this menu which had a couple stipulations, keep the syrup and juice list small. So no coconut, grapefruit juice, Falernum, etc but it turned out pretty well. Our friends really seemed to enjoy them and I had fun making them.

Was it stressful? Yes. Do I like that stress? A little bit also yes. It’s fun to put a lot of effort into making excellent cocktails for my friends. There’s always a few folks watching my process and chatting. I also got to juice a pineapple which is occasionally fun. I’m just happy I picked out a perfectly ripe one. All the rest of the juices were fresh.

Lmk what you think of my menu and if there’s any recipes I can share. I’ll put one in the comments but I’m not gonna type out everything at once.

Pic. 1: The Halekulani

Menu

Pic. 2: Scorpion Reef

Pic. 3: Jungle Bird

Pic. 4: Mary Pickford

Pic. 5: Bronze Peacock

After reading a fair bit about the history of the Presidente and Comoz Blanc Vermouth de Chambéry, I decided to see how the 1:1 ratio of some Presidente recipes was in practice. I've always done it 2:1 rum to vermouth and love it that way so it would've taken a lot to change my mind.

Fortunately, the Comoz is less sweet than other Blanc vermouths so l don't have to rebalance a ton. The 1:1 was delicious, delicate (as is so often described), and complex. However I tried my previous recipe as well and it just nudged out the historic one. I dig the rum being center stage with those flavors bringing the complexity and the vermouth accenting it. The Comoz is an amazing vermouth though.

Lastly, I did not use a Cuban rum. I ran out of HC3 earlier this year. Sue me, Probitas is notably similar is a bit more pungent.

Historic (fig. 1):

1.5oz/45ml Probitas/Veritas White Blended Rum

1.5oz/45ml Comoz Blanc Vermouth de Chambéry

1tsp/5ml Ferrand Dry Curaçao

.5tsp/2.5ml Pomegranate Grenadine (homemade, 1.5:1)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Stir until chilled and diluted. Strain into a chilled N&N. Garnish with an expressed orange peel.

Modern (fig. 2):

1.5oz/45ml Probitas/Veritas White Blended Rum

.75oz/22.5ml Comoz Blanc Vermouth de Chambéry

.25oz/7.5ml Ferrand Dry Curaçao

1tsp/5ml Pomegranate Grenadine (homemade, 1.5:1)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Stir until chilled and diluted. Strain into a chilled N&N. Garnish with an expressed orange peel.

Hey peeps, here’s my latest article in which I cover the Queen’s Park Hotel Super Cocktail. It’s a Daiquiri-esque cocktail that dates back to the early 1930s. It’s a lesser known drink and its history can be generously described as vague but it’s really fantastic if you make it right.

I’ve really enjoyed reading the feedback to this series. Please lmk if you have any questions, concerns, props, or requests for future articles. I’d love to hear whatever you have to say. Many thanks!

Know Your Cocktail No. 6: The Queen’s Park Hotel Super Cocktail

Previous Article: The Penicillin

Check out my Substack where you can read for free, forever all my essays in which I comb through old cocktail manuals and massive mounds of horseshit to bring to you something resembling an accurate history of classic and modern cocktails. There’s also neuroticism and dry wit, but no hookers nor blow.

Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were not used in any way to write, edit, or research this essay. I am the sole author and take full responsibility for my words, mistakes, and eccentricities.

Here’s my version of Donn Beach’s recipe, partially inspired by Martin Cate’s:

2oz/60ml Worthy Park 109 Jamaica Rum

.25oz/7.5ml Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum

.25oz/7.5ml St. George Absinthe Verte

.5oz/15ml Fresh lemon juice

.25oz/7.5ml Fresh lime juice

.33oz/10ml Grenadine (1.5:1, homemade)

1tsp Rich Demerara syrup

1oz/30ml Seltzer/club soda/anxious water

Add everything but the seltzer to the shaker. Shake with 4 small ice cubes until chilled and diluted (~8-10 seconds). Add seltzer into a chilled rocks glass. Open pour the cocktail into the glass. Top with ice. Garnish with a sprig of abused mint.

This is one of my favorite tiki/tropical cocktails. At its core, it’s overripe banana, strawberry, and anise. Absinthe don’t play around. But they all come together to create an almost layered fruity experience, overripe, fresh, and candied. The latter comes from the absinthe and grenadine combo which is really complimentary to the rums. And, it’s all balanced out with a mostly clean acidity that has some of that lime chutzpah as well. Lastly, I tried a bit of the holdback from the tin and the seltzer really helps this cocktail out. Without it the flavors are really concentrated and hard to parse out. With the seltzer, everybody is a star.

Also featured is the wee man. He doesn’t get cocktails but he does get .5 can of wet food everyday. If he doesn’t he’ll cut you.

Here’s my latest cynical exploration of cocktail history! This time focusing on a well known modern classic, Sam Ross’ Penicillin (2005).

I highly recommend you give this essay of mine a gander. There’s also a bit of romantic rambling about the beauty of creation. Check out the story or the link in the bio. Thanks a million!

Know Your Cocktail No. 5: The Penicillin

Previous Essay: The Toronto

Check out my Substack where you can read for free, forever all my essays in which I comb through old cocktail manuals and massive mounds of horseshit to bring to you something resembling an accurate history of classic and modern cocktails. I also don’t keep my opinions to myself.

Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were not used in any way to write, edit, or research this essay. Hayden Bidinger is the sole author and takes full responsibility for his words, mistakes, and eccentricities.

To be transparent, I made before seeing u/kevinfarber and u/PCPrincipal2016’s posts. We recently moved into an apartment with a porch and I’ve been craving a good Mai Tai for weeks. This is my favorite recipe after trying many, many variations and this particular drink is maybe one of the best cocktails I’ve ever enjoyed. Idk what I did because it made it the same way I always do but it came out beyond perfect. Funky, aged rum with nutty Orgeat. Subtle orange marmalade flavor and bright lime tartness. Highly recommend you try out these specs if you dig Jamaican rum.

2oz/60ml Kevin Crossman’s Ultimate Jamaican Mai Tai Blend*

.5oz/15ml Ferrand Dry Curaçao

.75oz/22.5ml Fresh lime juice

.5oz/15ml Liber & Co. Orgeat**

1tsp/5ml Rich Demerara Syrup (2:1)

Combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake with 4 small ice cubes. Quick shake until chilled and diluted (~5-8 seconds depending on your ice). Strain a chilled double rocks glass and top with pebble ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint and half a spent lime.

*Premixed blend that’s 2 parts Appleton 12 Year Jamaica Rum, 2 parts Smith & Cross, and 1 part Worthy Park 109.

**To a 750ml bottle of Liber & Co. Orgeat I added .75tsp of rose water.

Hey peeps, since I got a lot of comments on the announcement of the series, I decided to post my new piece here. Just in case you don’t have/don’t want to have a Substack account.

This time I’m digging into the Toronto. One of my favorite digestifs that fronts a lotta spice, bitter, herbal, and bold flavors. The history… can be politely described as “an unclear boondoggle”. I hope you give it a read. Let me know what you thought, any feedback is welcome, or any cocktails you think I should research in the future. Enjoy!

Know Your Cocktail No. 4: The Toronto

Hello! Some of you may recognize my username from comments, posts, and one incident involving an ambitious menu on this sub. Well, beyond Reddit, I’m a Sociocultural Anthropologist who got my Master’s from the University of Chicago in 2024. Part of that experience for me was becoming a better researcher, not only in an ethnographic sense, but I did a lot of reading, source hunting, and academic scrutinizing.

Another part of that was I got into cocktails. Draw your own conclusions there. First it was just what I could make and proper technique. Then I realized the history is absolutely bananas. I heard a lot of tall tales and bullshit about how some cocktails came into the world.

I eventually found myself trying to get something resembling the truth about my favorite drinks and started hunting down old cocktail books, scouring newspaper archives, and dedicating a significant chunk of my attention towards making drinks and knowing their history. So I’ve decided to do something with all this rather convoluted historical nonsense in my skull and I formally introduce to you all:

Know Your Cocktail

An essay series where each installment will focus on a single cocktail’s ingredients, history, and my preferred way to make them. However, while I live for research and hold myself to academic rigor, I am electing to use my own sardonic and occasionally profane voice.

I intend this series to one that appeals to both the cocktail nerds and novices, or really anyone who just wants to learn. You can find the first three essays I’ve released using the hyperlinks below. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

No. 1: The Negroni

No. 2: The Daiquiri

No. 3: The Division Bell

Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were not used in any way to write, edit, or research these essays. I am the sole author and take full responsibility for my words, mistakes, and eccentricities.