stardust (bar lunette)

2 oz Bacardi White Rum infused with Butterfly Pea Blossoms (*)
1 oz Marie Brizard Parfait Amour
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice (*)

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with edible glitter (*).
(*) See the Green Street and Eastern Standard recipes below for something closer to the original. For a second drink, I asked bartender Corey Campbell at Bar Lunette in Coolidge Corner for their version of the Stardust that has ties to the Paris Creperie next door. The late, great Brother Cleve created the Stardust at the B-Side in Cambridge over 25 years ago, and later he consulted with the Paris Creperie right before the Pandemic in 2019 to start up their cocktail program in the now closed Seaport location. While the original is white rum, parfait amour liqueur, and lemon, Bar Lunette gussied this one up a bit, and it is very possible that Cleve crafted this version 2.0 at the Seaport Paris Creperie. Here is the recipe from both the Green Street A to Z recipe book and Eastern Standard bar bible:

Stardust
• 1 1⁄2 oz White Rum (Green Street called for Cruzan 2 Year Light Rum)
• 3⁄4 oz Parfait Amour
• 3⁄4 oz Lemon Juice
Shake, strain into a Martini glass, and garnish with an orange wedge.

Blogger and professional food critic MC Slim JB wrote, "[The Stardust]: a drink which Boston hospitality legend Brother Cleve created for the opening specialty cocktail menu of the late, lamented B-Side Lounge in Cambridge, MA. (Cleve in turn describes his cocktail as a variation on Don the Beachcomber's Royal Daiquiri, a Tiki drink of early 1940s vintage.)" The Royal Daiquiri is a lime-driven drink whereas the original Stardust is a lemon one, so the Bar Lunette one splits the difference (besides adding in additional color from the butterfly pea blossoms and changing the garnish from something simple to something fabulous. In the glass, this newer rendition of the Starlite offered up lemon, floral, and vanilla aromas. Next, lemon and lime notes on the sip twinkled into rum, grapefruit, and bubblegum vanilla notes on the swallow. It is also worth mentioning that Trina's Starlite Lounge (name perhaps unrelated) pays tribute to Cleve's creation by doing a French 75-esque version with the addition of sparkling wine.

day for night

1 oz Barr Hill Gin
1 oz Avèze Gentian Liqueur
3/4 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/4 oz St. Elder Elderflower Liqueur
1 dash Bitter Truth Cucumber Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass, and garnish with a cucumber slice on a pick. Two Mondays ago, I ventured down to Coolidge Corner to visit Corey Campbell who was bartending at Bar Lunette. For a first drink, I requested the Day for Night that Corey described as a White Negroni variation created by Nick Mallia, one of the owners of Paris Creperie and Bar Lunette. In the glass, the Day for Night offered up cucumber, gentian herbal, and floral aromas to the nose. Next, white grape and grapefruit notes on the sip transformed into juniper and cucumber herbal flavors on the swallow. Indeed, cucumber and gentian liqueur flavors paired rather elegantly here as they did in the Little Oaxacan.

bid farewell

2 oz Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
1/4 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's)
1/2 oz Vanilla Syrup
2 dash Walnut Bitters (4 dash Strongwater Mountain Elixirs)

No instructions were given but I interpretted this as an Old Fashioned so I stirred with ice and strained into a rocks glass with a large ice cube. A citrus twist such as lemon or orange would not be out of place here and would probably round out the bouquet. Two Sundays ago, I returned to my notes from a set of online recipe flashcards for the Boise, Idaho, location of Tavolata where I previously found the Golden Eagle. There, I selected the Bid Farewell from their current menu as a Toronto accented with Donn's Spices #2. Moreover, Fernet has been been paired with allspice dram in a few drinks including the Colonial Bastard and The Aftermath, so I was curious to see how it would be mollified with vanilla syrup. In the glass, the Bid Farewell gave forth a vanilla, Bourbon, and allspice bouquet. Next, light caramel notes on the sip flowed into Bourbon, vanilla, allspice, and bitter minty-menthol flavors on the swallow.

tropicale

3/4 oz Jamaican Dark Rum (Coruba)
3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Giacomo Speroni)
3/8 oz Oloroso Sherry (Lustau Amontillado)
1 tsp Giffard Crème de Banane (Tempus Fugit)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garish with an orange wedge (orange twist). Two Saturdays ago, I returned to The Madrusan Cocktail Companion and opted for the Tropicale by Lorenzo Antinori at Bar Leone in Hong Kong from the Negroni section. It was a different drink from the similarly named Negroni Tropicale that took things in a passion fruit and citrus direction. As a Kingston Negroni with sherry and banana accents, the Tropicale began with orange oil, caramel, nutty sherry, and dried fruit aromas. Next, caramel and grape notes on the sip ripened into funky rum, nutty, bitter orange, and tropical flavors on the swallow.

black metal sleigh

1 1/2 oz Vodka (Goral)
3/4 oz Jägermeister
3/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
3/4 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Grapefruit Bitters (Bittermens)

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Julep or Swizzle tin (Tiki mug), fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig. Two Fridays ago, I delved into a collection of Sippin' Santa recipes that was recently shared on Reddit. The one I selected as a starting point was the Black Metal Sleigh from the 2015 event that had the same vodka lengthening and fortifying a bitter liqueur technique that I first observed in the Sputnik. Moreover, it had a similar structure to the Jägermeister tropical recipe, the Escape Hatch, so I was sold. With the penultimate use of this season's mint as garnish, the Black Metal Sleigh greeted the nose with a mint bouquet. Next, lime and caramel on the sip slid into star anise, herbal, cinnamon, and ginger flavors on the swallow.

overtime

3/4 oz Mezcal (Peloton de la Muerte)
3/4 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Ginger Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a lime wedge (omit). Two Thursdays ago, I reached for my copy of the The Madrusan Cocktail Companion and honed in on the Overtime by Anthony Jayasekera at Bar Tobalá in Melborne circa 2023. It reminded me of the Mosquito and Dragonfly but with another bitter liqueur and lime instead of lemon. With Ramazzotti, I realized that it had the Maserati (mezcal-Ramazzotti duo) as its base, and that pairing has worked great in other recipes such as The Great Satan, There is no Spoon, and El Nacional. In the glass, the Overtime racked up a root beer, vegetal, and smoke aroma. Next, lime and caramel on the sip opened up into smoky vegetal, root beer, and ginger flavors on the swallow.

ghost rider

3/4 oz Fernet Branca
3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz Maraschino (Luxardo)
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with candied ginger. Two Wednesdays ago, I became inspired by the Maraschino, ginger, and lime trio in the Hitman from Dutch Kills and I mashed it up with the Ferrari (Fernet-Campari duo). Previously, I did a similar Ferrari mashup in the Blank Hand Society using the Gilda as the other inspiration point. For a name, I dubbed this one the Ghost Rider after a 1977 song from the synth-punk band Suicide that was a nod to a Marvel Comics character. In the glass, the Ghost Rider screamed the truth with a menthol, ginger, and nutty cherry aroma. Next, lime and caramel notes on the sip rode off towards caramel, minty, menthol, and bitter nutty cherry-orange flavors on the swallow.

voorhees

1 oz Bonded Apple Brandy (Laird's)
1 oz Genever (Bols Barrel-Aged)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with cayenne pepper powder. Two Tuesdays prior, I reached for The Madrusan Cocktail Companion book and honed in on the Voorhees by D. Skinner. Overall, it appeared like a variation on the Holland Razor Blade with the Genever split with apple brandy and the simple syrup split with cinnamon. In the glass, the Voorhees donated an apple, cinnamon, and malty aroma. Next, a lemon-driven sip blossomed into apple, malty, cinnamon, and herbal flavors on the swallow that gained an increasing amount of hot pepper spice over time.

gnarly proposition

1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Peloton de la Muerte)
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice

This is a doubled recipe. Shake with ice and strain into a single old fashioned glass or perhaps a coupe, or to be closer to the original, strain into two shot glasses. Two Mondays ago, I uncovered a set of online recipe flashcards for Navy Strength in Seattle and landed on the Gnarly Proposition. The drink is normally served as a shot, so I doubled the amounts to make it cocktail sized. A problem with the recipe was that it called for a batched mezcal-Cynar pour that I assessed to be 3:1 instead of 1:1 through the hue in a Yelp drink photo from 2022. Moreover, I ended up making the 1:1 version as well that was more opaquely brown than the photo as well as more quirky as opposed to more pleasing like a shot should be. Since the trio of mezcal, Cynar, and passion fruit worked well in the Bairdley Legal an Yvonne's, I was definitely excited about trying this one. In the glass, the Gnarly Proposition opened up with caramel, vegetal, tropical, and smoke aromas. Next, lime and passion fruit notes on the sip revealed smoky mezcal, tropical, and bitter herbal flavors on the swallow.