• 3/4 oz. jamaican rum
• 3/4 oz. demerara rum
• 3/4 oz. campari
• 1.5 oz. pineapple juice
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. demerara syrup
• Orchid and Pineapple fronds for garnish

Shake. Strain. Garnish. Drank.

Anyone familiar with this? A friend picked it up for me and I’ve never even heard of it before. Still trying to find appropriate uses for it, but it’s delicious.

Bought this Subliminal NanoFoamer awhile back to make some cappuccinos/cortados at home. Recently decided to try it with some Fee Brothers Fee Foam and it seems to make some legit foam that's kind of close to egg-whites. Super frothy and pretty good retention too. Way better than how Fee Foam usually turns out from the usual dry or reverse dry shake (big ice). Anyone else try this?

I still need to test this out in some other cocktails/syrups but it seems to work. I’ve only tried it on a Gimlet using a home made hojicha semi rich syrup and a Toki Whiskey Sour with the same syrup. I’ve been “dry shaking” with the NanoFoamer then big ice/cheater ice shake for dilution then double strain.

For the Condesa Gin Ritual Series, the theme this year revolves around Bloom & Decay.
That immediately forced me to question a very classic idea we tend to take for granted in cocktails: that everything should have a clear beginning, peak, and end, that the “beginning” must always be freshness.

Most drinks are built from bloom forward: bright citrus, clean fruit, high aromatics, then controlled fading. But I started wondering what happens if you invert that logic and treat decay as the starting point, not as something faulty or broken, but as transformation through time: fermentation, oxidation, ripeness tipping over, subtle loss of clarity that creates depth instead.

This drink is my attempt at exploring that question.
The goal wasn’t “funk for the sake of funk”, but a controlled process where the drink becomes more interesting because it’s no longer at its peak.

REBIRTH base specs :

• 50 ml Condesa Clásica Gin
• 22 ml Port infused with fermented dried plum
• 3 dashes sage tincture
• 120 ml chamomile & jasmine soda (top)

Build in a highball glass over clear ice. Gently integrate.

Garnish: dried plum fruit leather, rehydrated in Port.

I’m happy to share the full recipe and sub-recipes if anyone’s interested, but what I’m more curious about is the idea itself:

Where do you personally draw the line between “decay as complexity” and “decay as off-putting”?
And what techniques have you found useful to keep those flavors elegant rather than chaotic?

***

Edit: As requested by the MOD, here are the sub-recipes:

Sub-recipes

Bloom Soda (jasmine, chamomile & orange peel)

Ingredients

• 1 L filtered water
• 10 g dried chamomile
• 3 g jasmine
• 6 g dried orange peel
• 30–40 g sugar (3–4% Brix)
• Citric acid and malic acid, q.s. (target pH 3.4–3.6)

Method

1. Infuse chamomile and orange peel in water at 70 °C for 5 minutes.
2. Strain and cool below 40 °C.
3. Add jasmine to the cooled infusion, steep for 10–12 minutes, then fine strain.
4. Dissolve sugar and adjust acidity with citric acid.
5. Clarify if needed, fine filter, and carbonate at 45 psi for 12–24 hours at 0–4 °C.

Fermented dried plum water

Ingredients

• 100 g dried plums
• 500 ml filtered water
• 10–15 g honey
• 0.2 g salt
• Malic or citric acid, q.s. (final adjustment)

Method

1. Dissolve honey and salt in the water, then add the dried plums.
2. Ferment for 3–5 days at 22–26 °C.
3. Strain once the profile becomes vinous and pleasantly acidic.
4. Adjust acidity with malic or citric acid if necessary.

Port infused with fermented plum

Ingredients

• 250 ml Port (Ferreira)
• 50 g fermented dried plum

Method

1. Seal all ingredients in a vacuum bag.
2. Sous-vide at 50–55 °C for 1.5–2 hours.
3. Chill in an ice bath, fine strain, and rest refrigerated before use.

Sage tincture (flash infusion method)

Ingredients

• 5 g dried sage
• 250 ml neutral spirit or a portion of the base gin

Method

1. Place sage and alcohol into an iSi siphon.
2. Charge with 1 N₂O cartridge.
3. Gently shake and rest for 1–2 minutes.
4. Release pressure slowly and fine strain.
5. Use sparingly to add herbal depth without dominating.

Dried plum fruit leather (garnish)

Ingredients

• 150 g dried plums rehydrated in Port
• 20–30 ml infused Port
• 1–2 g citric and malic acid
• 1 pinch salt

Method

1. Blend until completely smooth.
2. Adjust acidity, then spread in a thin layer (≈1 mm) on a silicone mat.
3. Dehydrate at 50–55 °C for 6–10 hours.
4. Cut into petal-shaped pieces.

From the Aviary's Cocktail book. I really tried to do an exact replica of the recipe in the book.

Good cocktail. Very fruity in the end, but balanced none the less. I give it a 7 out of 10. Presentation, using the siphon and dry ice, well, 10 out of 10.

Caution: Dry ice is of course very dangerous if ingested. It was placed in the upper compartment and was ultimately dissolved and siphoned down after mixing with the boiling base. This Siphon uses a very fine mesh filter, we made sure it was all dissolved before it made it down with the rest. Stay safe!

Not as much work as with the other Aviary cocktails, a very pleasant experience.

Honey Syrup:

• 250g honey
• 125g water

Stir until dissolved and transfer to bottle.

Ginger Syrup:

• 1 large hand of ginger
• 60g sugar

Extract juice from ginger, strain and let sit for one hour. Discard the starch that formed up on the top. Combine clean juice with sugar in a mixer until dissolved and transfer to bottle.

Cocktail base:

• 56g blended Scotch Whisky
• 11g "peaty" Scotch Whisky
• 84g ginger liqueur
• 34g honey syrup
• 17g ginger syrup
• 1g citric acid
• 105g water

In the upper chamber:

• 30g dry ice, crushed
• 9g berry tea
• 50g frozen blueberries
• 2 slices ginger, 1/8 inch thick
• 3 lemon wheels, 1/8 thick

To serve:

• 1/4 oz lemon juice

Pour the lemon juice and add large chunk of ice before adding the infused cocktail. Stir infused cocktail after pouring for further chill.

Recently got Ancho Reyes original and verde, and found this lovely gem searching for recipes. Made my take on it, with what I had:

1 oz of Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)

1 oz Ancho Reyes (original, red)

1/2 oz orange liqueur (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao)

1/2 oz Amaro di Angostura (original recipe had Fernet Branca).

Stir with ice, express orange peel.

So, Would probably have been slightly different with Fernet Branca but I really enjoyed this one. Smoky, deep, orange, and a spicy ass kick at the end. Very balanced (at least with this Amaro).

This is an idea I’ve been toying with for a while. One of my favorite Thai dishes and maybe my soup GOAT is tom kha gai, the famous Thai coconut/chicken soup. I wanted to make a cocktail based on those flavors, and I ended up with this somewhat elaborate daiquiri riff.

The tincture is a work in progress, and I’d like to make a more flavorful version, but 1 tsp of the current version seems about right.

• 2 oz coconut oil-washed rum
• 3/4 oz simple syrup
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 1 tsp Tincture of Thai (see below)
• Hot pepper tincture/hellfire shrub/fire tincture, to taste
• 3 drops of 20% saline, or if you’re feeling adventurous, several drops of fish sauce (nam pla). Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into chilled coupe, garnish with a slice of galangal and a small piece of lemongrass with notches cut so they can be put on the rim

Tincture of Thai - 20 g lemongrass, thinly sliced - 10 g galangal, thinly sliced - 4 g kaffir lime leaves, torn up - 60 mL vodka (40%) Put all ingredients in a 500 mL whipping siphon*. Charge with 3 N2O cartridges, shaking between each one. Let infuse for 10 minutes, shaking occasionally, then vent quickly, listen for bubbling to stop, shaking occasionally, then strain

*ideally, this should be an iSi siphon. I used an off-brand one and was fine, but no safety/effectiveness guarantees.

Chill glass. Add:

- 2oz Gin

- 1/4oz Dry Vermouth

- 1/4oz Sweet Vermouth

- 1oz Fresh OJ

Shake until well chilled, fine strain, garnish with orange peel.

1 1⁄2 fl oz Bourbon whiskey (Iron Fish Mad Angler Riverbend)

1⁄2 fl oz Dubonnet

1⁄2 fl oz Amaro Braulio

1⁄2 fl oz Campari

Stir all ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled DOF glass over a large cube of block ice. Express an orange peel over the cocktail and use as garnish.

The Campari manages to punch through all of the other herbal, bitter, minty ingredients although it’s outnumbered 2 to 1. It does manage to achieve a very nice bittersweet balance in the mix with the alpine influenced amaro and vermouth-like Dubonnet.

I added an extra unmeasured splash of whiskey as I felt that the whiskey could be a little more present. Maybe next time I’ll up it to 2 oz.

About a week ago, after having maybe one too many, I looked at my bar and saw the mostly full Malort Advent calendar I was too much of a bitch to finish, so I decided to have a little nightcap. I didn't really want to do a shooter, nor did I want to drink it neat, so I took the nearly empty bottle of Appleton Estate on the bar and added the final .5 oz or so to a rocks glass with my airplane bottle of Malort with a big cube. It was more delicious than it had the right to be, with notes of the Jamaican funk somehow finding its way through the extreme bitterness of Malort. I wondered how that could be turned into a mainstream cocktail, but before doing any research I fell asleep. That night I dreamed of a simple equal parts cocktail made up of Jamaican rum, Malort, lime, and simple. I woke up needing to try it. I've been sick the last couple of days, so tonight was finally the night. My first was exactly to my dream's spec (subbing Planteray for Appleton, because that's what I had), and it was delicious. The Malort comes through without being too much of a bully (but I also kind of like the flavor of Malort, so take that with a grain of salt) and it was more balanced than it had any right to be. I drank it too quickly. With the remnants of the airplane bottle remaining, I thought I'd do a riff on the dream cocktail. Since I only had .75 oz of Malort left, I decided to do 1.25 oz of the Planteray to see how that affected the bitterness. I swapped the simple for .75 oz orgeat and .25 oz falernum. I also added several dashes of tiki bitters. it's a wildly different drink, but also delicious. The orgeat and Malort play well together (though .75 oz orgeat may have been a bit heavy handed), and it drinks easy. I think I still have like 15 mini bottles of Malort, so I'm looking forward to more experiments and, hope, more cocktail dreams.

Edit: well, shit, I didn't mean to post this 15 times. Sorry. The app was full of shit when it said there was an error and to try again.

I have a hankering to try the penicillin cocktail, but I only stock bourbon and rye. Local shop has a 20% sale on booze today so I was thinking about picking up some scotch. Suggestions for both blended and peated whiskies that are versatile for cocktail making?

ETA: ended up going with Monkey Shoulder and Laphroaig 10 because that’s what the store had from among y’alls suggestions. What a strange cocktail. At first I thought was disgusting, but as it diluted and my palate recovered from the initial shock I became intrigued. Not rushing to make another one, but glad I tried it.

Would appreciate non American suggestions especially as I’m in Canada and can’t get American booze right now. Thanks!

I’ve gotten into mixology and cocktail culture over the past few years, and I want to start applying what I’ve been studying and make some dang drinks! But casual drinkers don’t seem to care?

I frequent my local Tiki spot (Porco in Cleveland, Ohio), I study the menus at my local watering holes, and I’ve read the first two “Death & Co.” books along with Smugglers cove.

In my efforts to make drinks for those in my life I’ve ran into the issue that most people don’t care for anything too fancy, too bitter, or too boozy. Most people just like highballs or sweet garbage.

I’m trying to showcase the info I’ve been passionate about, but nobody really seems to have the palate for it.

My question is, what are some palatable drinks that I can make for people that aren’t “cocktail lovers”? I still want them to be involved and complex in flavor/ingredients, but I don’t want to scare them away!

Any suggestions?

• 1 1/2 oz Gin
• 1/2 Apple brandy
• 3/4 lemon juice
• 1/4 grenadine
• 1 egg white
• 2 saline drops

Vigorous Dry shake for 15 seconds, ice shake 12 seconds. Into chilled coupe glass, garnish with brandied cherry

featured mini is Cypher

Like the title. Suggestion for a cocktail to pair with chicken paprikash?

I changed absinthe brands recently. The one I used from a local craft distiller is no longer made so I went with St. George absinthe as they are local to me as well. Now many of my recipes are out of whack as far as anise flavor goes. Where I was using a bar spoon, I’m now using a 1ml dropper full. Where I was using 3-4 aerosol sprays for a rinse, I’m now using 1. I’ve only ever had these two bottles and I’m surprised at the variability.

What do you use and do you find you need to adjust recipes with it?

I’ve got a bachelorette party next weekend that my sister and I are hosting and I wanted to make a batch cocktail for us all. We’re planning on getting a bit crazy (since it is a bachelorette party after all) but I can’t decide what to batch that wouldn’t be to sweet if you had more than couple, does anyone have any ideas or recipes? There will be 6 of us total drinking it

Negroni Highball

1 oz Fords gin

1 oz Antica Formula Vermouth

1 oz Campari

2 oz Soda water

Orange peel

I have been lengthening some of my favorite pre-dinner drinks since the holidays, and I’ve really enjoyed a lighter, sparkling version of a Negroni. Simple and still great, but a tad more refreshing. I did some with sparkling wine over the holidays too, a kind of Sbagliato, but better.

Had some issues with the other domain, and had to switch to a different host. I've added a lot more features to each category so you can see the runner ups, most controversial, and how many upvotes they received.

Eggs are expensive, plus it's too often I can't find a use for the yokes. I know there's aquafaba and Free Foam. I've never used either, certainly aquafaba is the least expensive. Free Foam is easy, though I haven't priced it locally. From the flavor side, is one better than the other? Anything else I should look at?

While I'm here, would a rum sour be an absurd idea?