Nice drinkies, cocktail buddie. And nice pic Dinny, and nice glass Peter. I let the pros at Heaven's Dog handle the duty tonight. First was a Biarritz Monk Buck, which was very tasty and refreshing. Then, I had a Vesper of the bartender's choice. For after dinner I had a Rum & Honey, which is essentially the HC rum old fashioned that Marc made except with honey instead of simple syrup or a muddled sugar cube, and a very cool hand-sawn chunk of ice. HD recipes below.
Biarritz Monk Buck
Recipe from Erik Adkins, Heaven's Dog
Makes 1 drink
Ice
2 ounces Armagnac
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
¾ ounce simple syrup (1 part sugar dissolved in 1 part simmering water)
½ ounce yellow Chartreuse
½ ounce ginger solution*
1 ounce soda water
Lemon wheel, for garnish
Fill a shaker with ice. Add the Armagnac, lemon juice, simple syrup, Chartreuse and ginger solution and shake for 10 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass and top with the soda water. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
*To make ginger solution, stir 1 part sugar into 1 part ginger juice made by squeezing freshly grated ginger through a paper towel.
Cap Haitian Rum & Honey
Barbancourt 15yr rhum, local organic honey, Angostura bitters on a hand cut ice cube
Now back from the ballet and having a dram of Parker's 27 to toast birthday boy Naaman again!