In my opinion, this is the best mojito (and may be the best cocktail) I’ve ever made… or consumed. It’s my own invention, the result of years of careful engineering and several lucky accidents. The turbinado sugar, mixture of mints, and Kraken rum are all critical to this drink’s unique taste. You can simplify the recipe by using spearmint only, simple syrup from white sugar, and almost any type of rum. It’ll still be great but may fall short of life-altering.

Ingredients for two drinks:

• Juice from 3 limes and a wedge of pink grapefruit (say 1/8 of the fruit)
• 4-6 stalks of fresh mint, ideally a mix of spearmint and peppermint
• Simple syrup made with turbinado sugar, to taste – somewhere around 4 oz
• 4 oz. seltzer or club soda (not tonic)
• 1½ oz. Kraken black spiced rum
• 1½ oz. white rum

Directions:

• Roughly chop the mint (including stems), then muddle it with some (but not all) of the juice and sugar.
• Add the rest of ingredients, putting simple syrup in last so you can taste as you go and thus get the right level of sweetness. The mixture should be tart, with the sugar taking off just enough of the edge – per your personal preference.  Resist the urge to put in more booze; it’s all about balance.
• Add a lot of ice, like 10 or 12 cubes, and stir.
• Strain into a pair of highball glasses with fresh ice, and garnish with peel from the lime

I discovered the original version at Bistro 5, a wonderful restaurant in West Medford, MA.  The drink is terrific but includes a bunch of exotic or involved ingredients (greylock gin infused with papaya, basil must, genmaicha, lime, thai chile & peanut oils).

My version is an analog that uses ordinary ingredients.  It’s not the same, but it captures a good bit of the spirit and thrill of the original, and is terrific in its own right.

Muddle:

• Juice of ½ lime, ¼ grapefruit, ½ lemon
• Several basil leaves and bits of tender green stems

Strain, then stir with:

• 1 oz of something like Lillet, Vermouth, Cocci Americano…
• 2¼ oz gin
• Turbinado simple syrup to taste (at least 2 oz and probably more)

Assemble the drink:

• Stir with ice
• Strain into (two) chilled martini glasses (straight up)
• Pinch grapefruit peel to get its oil onto the surface of the drink
• With a small spoon, place 5 or 6 drops of peanut oil onto the surface of the drink.

Serves 2

After you’ve made the original, you might experiment with a little dark rum or Scotch to add depth.

A superb drink that I reverse-engineered from Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco (which I highly recommend).

Shake or stir with lots of ice:

• 1¼ – 1½ oz. Hendricks gin (which has some cucumber taste to it)
• ¾ oz. lime juice
• ½ – ¾ oz. elderflower liquor (St. Germain or Fiorente, which I think I like better)
• ¼ oz. simple syrup
• 1 dash Orange bitters

You’ll want to adjust the amount of elderflower and/or simple syrup to your taste.

Strain into a martini glass and add a float of Champagne or Prosecco (about 1 oz.). ¾ oz of Lillet or Miraval rose work nicely, too.  This recipe makes a single cocktail.

Garnish with one or two very thin slices of a mini cucumber (or a half-slice of a regular cucumber).

I invented this drink in the winter of 2017. It was cold and nasty. I felt like a cocktail, but I sure didn’t want it to make me MORE cold. A combination of bourbon and ginger felt promising. Once I figured out that lemon needed to be supplemented with orange, it all came together. It should be very smooth and balanced, soothing, and slightly warming (due to the bite of fresh ginger) even though it’s served really cold.

Shake:         

• 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 2 oz. fresh orange juice (a blood orange can be excellent, in which case, cut down the lemon a bit and maybe add a bit of simple syrup)
• 1 oz. honey-ginger syrup (see below)
• 1¼ – 1½ oz. bourbon (Bulleit is nice; and Bulleit Rye is just terrific – it’s smoother. Adding just a touch of scotch adds a nice smokiness, too.)
• Dash orange bitters (I use Angostura)

(Adjust proportions to your taste; the trick is to maintain overall balance and smoothness.)

Strain into a chilled martini glass with a twist of orange peel.

Regarding the syrup: To make it, bring equal parts water and honey to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes with plenty of minced ginger in it.  Let it cool, then add and muddle more fresh ginger.  That gives you the depth of the mellow cooked ginger and the sharpness of the fresh stuff.

If you don’t have syrup handy, use simple syrup (turbinado, if you can), and then muddle in some fresh ginger.  It’s still delicious, but it lacks the depth of the cocktail when it’s made with syrup prepared as described above.

When I was living in California in 2019, I created this drink for my housemates, Dan and Lauralee, to complement the salsa I also (frequently) made. It’s complex, a bit spicy, fresh and totally delicious.

Mix together:

• 1 oz Tequila
• ½ oz light rum
• ¼ oz Grand Marnier, Cointreau or Creole Shrubb
• ½ oz Elderflower liquer

Muddle in:

• 2 raspberries
• 2 or 3 thin cucumber slices
• 2 or 3 stems of cilantro, chopped

Add in (do NOT muddle):

• 2 or 3 thin cross-sectional slices of Jalapeno or Fresno pepper

Let this mixture stand, refrigerated, for at least 15 minutes and no more than 45.

Then add:

• Juice from 1 lime
• Juice from ¼ grapefruit
• 1 oz tonic
• ¼ oz simple syrup (or to taste)

(To simplify, you can just dump in and muddle everything – but DON’T muddle the peppers – and let it sit for 15 minutes.  I just tend to squeeze my citrus at the last possible moment.)

Stir with plenty of ice then strain into a salted glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a slice of lime.

This recipe is for a single drink, but you can make a whole bunch at the same time!

Once you’ve made the basic drink, you can try variations like…

• Add ¼ oz of bourbon (Johnny Walker black is SUPERB, too!)
• Muddle in a chopped slice of fresh ginger
• Muddle in different fruit – mango is great, alone or with ginger

It turns out that it’s easy to make a Gin & Tonic that’s way better than you’ve ever had.  This is how they serve G&Ts at the Pickerings distillery in Edinburgh:

• Start with a thin slice of grapefruit.  Not lemon.  Not lime.  Squeeze it into the glass.  You might also peel of a bit of the rind and spread the oil around the rim for its aroma.
• Now add a shot of Pickerings gin.  Okay, it’s basically impossible to find in the US, so use something at hand that you like.  I’ve been enjoying Dingle, as of late.  Resist the urge to put in extra gin unless you really like it that way.
• Add plenty of ice and then gently pour in 4 oz. of tonic (or a bit more – or less – if you prefer). It’s best to use a good tonic like Fever Tree; it actually makes a difference.
• Stir.
• That’s it.  Simple and SO good!

While I think the simple version above is basically perfect, here’s a second approach. If you want to liven it up a bit, you can approximate the magnificent “London Dry Gin and Tonic” from Jaleo in Washington, DC by muddling together, then straining the juice from perhaps 1/8 or 1/4 of a red grapefruit, some fresh mint, and a few white peppercorns. Use Hendrick’s gin and good tonic.  Taste the resulting drink and consider adding just a bit of simple syrup.  Rub the rim with oil from the grapefruit peel, and garnish with mint.

And here’s a third approach that I call the “Costa Rican Spicy Gin and Tonic” because it was inspired by reports about a drink a friend had in Costa Rica. Start by infusing gin (maybe something floral like St. George Botanivore) as follows: Chop a handful of cilantro and briefly muddle it into your gin. Then add a few slices of cucumber and jalapeno (2 or 3 thin slices of each per cocktail; don’t muddle them). Let it sit in the fridge for 10-30 minutes, then strain out all the greens. Now make your G&Ts using 1.5 oz. of the infused gin, 4-5 oz of tonic to taste (use something good), and the juice from ¼ to ½ lime, again to your taste. Finally, add simple syrup as needed (maybe ¼ or ½ oz) and garnish with a gin-soaked slice of cucumber or jalapeno. It’s an incredibly refreshing drink.

Despite its simplicity, getting a Caipirinha right turns out to be trickier than one might imagine. As with the Gin and Tonic, it’s easy to make superb drinks quickly, easily and consistently once you get the hang of it.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 lime (I like ones with thin, smooth skin. They tend to be softer and juicier.)
• 1½ Tablespoons, give or take, granular sugar (not confectioners, not simple syrup)
• 1½ oz Cachaça

Here’s the technique:

• Cut the lime into 8 pieces with the pith removed as follows: Cut it in half the long way. Then cut each of the halves approximately in half, also the long way, cutting just to one side of the line of white pith down the middle. Now, cut the pith away from the two pieces that have it. (Thankyou, Carol, for this tip.) That’ll give you four long quarters with all the white pith from the middle removed. Cut the four long quarters in half so you have 8 short pieces.
• Place the lime pieces in a bowl (or better yet, a 2-cup measuring cup), add the sugar, and muddle everything together well.
• Add the cachaça and one ice cube. Stir for a minute and let the cube melt a bit.
• Then add 2 or 3 more cubes and stir.
• Pour everything – the liquid, ice and lime bits – into an appropriate glass.

This yields one drink. It’s best  it’s easy to down the entire drink, but it’s best savored and consumed slowly, which allows the ice to melt slowly and the drink to last longer.

If you happen to have some really tasty pineapple, try muddling in a few pieces.  The odds are pretty good that you’ll like this variation.  Strawberries probably would be good, too.

The traditional pisco sour doesn’t have St. Germain, Campari or rose water.  While they are optional, adding them makes for a far more nuanced and sophisticated drink. All three are now standard for me when I make this cocktail.

Combine in a shaker:

• 3 oz Pisco
• ¾ oz simple syrup (or to taste)
• 2 oz lime juice (or perhaps one juicy lime)
• 1 egg white
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• ½ oz St-Germain (optional)
• ¼ oz Campari (optional)
• ½ tsp rose water (optional)

Dry shake all ingredients, then add ice, shake again and strain.

Serve straight up.

Makes 2 cocktails.

The original was invented when visiting friends and faced with a limited set of ingredients (Gin, Benedictine, Scotch and Lemon).  It was good then, and now that it has been refined, it’s even better.

• 1½ – 2 oz. gin (more/less according to your taste; I like a really floral gin like St. George Botanivore for this drink)
• ¾-1 oz. Benedictine
• ½ oz. Elderflower Liquer
• 1-1½ oz. fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• ¼ oz. Rye or Scotch (optional but good; and it stays true to the original)
• Bitters (optional, worth trying)
• MAYBE… a little simple syrup

Obviously, everything is measured to taste.  Stir or shake, whichever makes you happy, then strain and serve straight up with a twist of lemon peel.

Remember, you can simplify things and make this drink without the elderflower, bitters, even the Scotch. Benedictine is essential, though; without it, it might be tasty, but it’s a totally different drink.  You might consider muddling in some blueberries (then straining) which makes for a spectacular color.