Aviation

Finally found the right recipe! Thank you Gary Regan. Every recipe
omits creme de violette because it was esentially unavailable for
years. It is now imported by Haus Alpenz and a semi-proper Aviation
is now possible. I say semi because the original recipe called for
quite a bit less of the liqueurs. I prefer to be able to taste them
and think the older recipe is too tart.
1 1/2 gin
1/2 lemon juice
1/2 maraschino
1/2 creme de violette
Shake and double strain.

California Sherry Wine Cobbler

I finally opened up the bottle of Tio Pepe I purchased at Howe's going
out of business sale. This drink seemed like the best use of it. We
also tried an Adonis. (essentially a sherry manhattan). Both were
excellent, the cobbler was not quite sweet enough though so I added
more pineapple syrup.
The sherry cocktail is nice when you want something slightly less
alcoholic. Maybe at the end of the evening after a strong one.

Serving vessel: a pint glass.
1/4 oz sugar
1 oz pineapple syrup
Fill with ice.
6 oz sherry
Stir with a spoon.
Ornament with an orange, pineapple and berry.
Top with Port, a little.
Serve with a straw.

Ginger Peartini

Is it a "tini" if it has gin? I've been wanting to make things with
my pear brandy from Clear Creek. Here's experiment #1

1/2 oz Clear Creek Pear Eau de Vie
1/2 oz Ginger Liqueur
1 1/2 oz gin
Stir with ice and strain.

I enjoyed it. Next time I will mix it in favor of more gin. It's a
little sweet.

Metropole

Anvil 100 provided the inspiration. Looka! provided the recipe. Nicely balanced and not as sweet as some of the vermouth drinks I've been having lately.

1-1/2 ounces cognac.
3/4 ounce dry vermouth.
1/2 teaspoon simple syrup.
2 dashes Peychaud's Bitters.
1 dash orange bitters

Soak it in Cider #2

TDN (Thursday Drink Night) is a group of cocktail bloggers and enthusiasts who get together in the Mixoloseum chat room to share recipes based on a theme. This last week the theme was "Bubbles". Any cocktail with a bubbly ingredient was fair game. Tonic, champagne, ginger beer, and club soda was used. I brought some sparkling sake and hard apple cider. The sake didn't get opened this time but we used the cider in a variation of another cocktail that was posted here last fall. It turned out pretty good after some tweaking of the ratios.

2 oz gin

1/2 oz Dolin Blanc

1/4 oz maple syrup (use the grade B stuff)

2 dashes whiskey barrel bitters

barspoon pimento dram.

Stir and strain over ice. Add 2 oz hard apple cider.

"Spicy Colada"

Inspired by Bacardi's new True Originals video, The Hummingbird"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFJuL6nt6_M&feature=youtube_gdata

I mixed a Pina Colada using a close approximation of the ingredients
in the video.

4 cubes of pineapple
2 heaping barspoons raw sugar
2 oz fresh coconut water
2 oz spiced rum (it should probably be Bacardi white but all I had was
spiced. It works well)
Squeeze of lime

Muddle pineapple and sugar then add coconut water and rum. Shake and
double strain into glass. Add crushed ice, pineapple spear, and a
squeeze of lime.

The True Originals videos are great. Cocktail Porn! "The Samurai"
was better than this one however. Mostly because I can't find a Pina
Colada recipe that uses coconut water instead of Coco Lopez or cream.
I don't know if this is better but it's really good and utilizes a bit
of drama in the preparation. I'll be firing it up this summer.

Ameretto Siciliano

This is from Thursday Drink Night. I didn't have Averna so I used a mix of Campari and simple syrup and it was delicious. I can't wait to give it a try with Averna!

1 1/2 Rye
3/4 Amaretto
1/2 Averna
1/2 Lemon
1/4 Maple syrup
1 dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel bitters
Shake/strain