It’s Friday…Have a Drink

A nice, refreshing drink for both a hot day or just relaxing in a cocktail bar.

The Dark and Stormy is the national drink of Bermuda, and is therefore typically made with Gosling’s Black Seal rum, which hails from the island.

It’s always a surprise when big, herbal liqueurs like Green Chartreuse meld so well with citrus ingredients, but the Last Word is just a terrific cocktail.

The lesson to take from this drink is that you can basically mix gin with a small amount of any sweet or semi-sweet liqueur, and your odds of having a quality drink at the end of it are pretty good.

This variation is a salty dog married with a martini to add some complexity to an otherwise one-note drink.

The key is the orange peel: you need a hefty chunk of it, it needs to be as pith-free as possible, and you need to muddle the heck out of it to really get those essential oils out and into the drink.

The real key is the pastis/absinthe rinse, which brings depth and nuance to the cocktail.

Make sure not to leave out the bitters; they really make a huge difference in the final drink.

The Negroni is a near-perfect combination of spiritous, sweet, and bitter.