Oaxacan Lady

Yet another drop down into the equal proportions cocktail rabbit hole. I present the Oaxacan Lady:

• 3/4 ounce mezcal
• 3/4 ounce Bénédictine
• 3/4 ounce Amaro Montenegro
• 3/4 ounce lime juice
• 2 dashes Bitterman’s Xoxolatl Mole bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain into a coupe.

Back when Twitter had a non-zero signal-to-noise ratio, I used to love chatting and following other cocktail nerds like Ted Haigh, David Wondrich, Brother Cleve (who, unfortunately, is no longer with us but once sent me to a dive bar in Pittsburgh where I got wanded with a metal detector and stinky drunk on amazing cocktails), and others. They were so free with advice to a newbie like me and I learned a lot from them.

The Final Ward

Another riff on the Last Word, I present the Final Ward:

• 3/4 ounce straight rye whiskey (100 proof)
• 3/4 ounce green chartreuse
• 3/4 ounce Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• 3/4 ounce lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain into a coupe. Express a lemon zest twist over the top and discard. Garnish with brandied cherries.

When I was first introduced to this cocktail, I thought it was called the Final Word, which would be a progression on the Last Word (followed, I assume, by the Penultimate Word and the Ultimate Word, and no I haven’t looked those up but they probably exist). Instead it is the Final Ward, named after its inventor, Phil Ward, and I appreciate the pun.

Naked and Famous

As a fan of equal proportion cocktails such as the Last Word, I’m surprised it has taken me so long to try the Naked and Famous.

• 3/4 ounce mezcal
• 3/4 ounce yellow chartreuse
• 3/4 ounce Aperol
• 3/4 ounce lime juice

Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain into a coupe. No garnish.

Invented by Joaquín Simó when he was at Death & Co., it is described as “the bastard child born out of an illicit Oaxacan love affair between the classic Last Word and the Paper Plane”, the latter being another drink I haven’t tried, mainly through an inability to source Nonino Quintessentia amaro.

The Mosquito

I am a big fan of cocktails made with equal proportions of ingredients, such as the Golden Dawn and my signature Last Word, so I was really excited when I learned that Sam Ross had created a series of cocktails with equal proportions. His most famous is probably the Paper Plane, but he also created a group of four, all containing sweetened ginger juice, that became known as the “bug cocktails”. The first is the Mosquito.

Eagle's Dream

Presenting the Eagle’s Dream:

• 1 egg white
• 2 ounces London dry gin
• 1 ounce Creme Yvette or Creme de Violette
• 1 teaspoon simple syrup
• Juice of 1/4 Lemon

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, strain and serve in a cocktail glass with a brandied cocktail cherry

This recipe comes from the 1927 cocktail book Barflies & Cocktails and through the magic of the Internet you can read it.

Twelve Miles Out

When I started making cocktails I was limited by the ingredients I had on hand. Now that I have one of the best stocked liquor cabinets between Atlanta and DC I can make a lot of things.

This drink out of the Prohibition Centennial Edition of Dr. Cocktail’s book is another equal portions drink, so I decided to give it a try.

Eve's Apple

The first cocktail I’ve made out of the Prohibition Centennial Edition is Eve’s Apple.

• 1.5 ounces Applejack
• 1.5 ounces Swedish Punsch
• 1.5 ounce fresh grapefruit juice

Combine equal parts of the ingredients in an iced cocktail shaker, strain, and serve in a cocktail glass.

In the new edition of the book there are a number of additional cocktail recipes, but many don’t have much back story, including this one. When I did a search on “Eve’s Apple Cocktail” I found a lot of references to a drink called the Eve’s Apple Daiquiri and even one from my friends over at Fair Game Beverage Co. but this one was from a 1929 book by Judge Jr.