If you don't have tangerines/mandarins then regular orange juice will do, as will triple sec (as per the original recipe) in place of mandarin liqueur...
I did work it out in short time but was a bit confused at first, thinking that I might be muddling the fresh mandarin. Perhaps the "How to make" would read more clearly as "[fruit] juice (freshly squeezed). A perfectly lovely light-hearted cocktail.
Okay, this is an absolute favourite of mine, only beaten by the Blooded Knees. I think I just adore the Bronx formula in general. The mandarin liqueur addition made it just that bit richer, the grenadine added some fruity sweetness, and the botanicals reined all that juiciness in. Fantastic.
Love the addition of the Mandarin Napoleon to this cocktail. Gives a different flavour of the Improved Bronx. The taste of the gin is not overpowered, but everything works perfectly together. Bursts of tastes which are very complex.
It's an OK cocktail in general, but the issue I have with it is it's volume. When you add it all up, you're basically at a volume of 2 1/4 oz. Doubling it is a bit much, and a 50% increase has a few tricky volumes, but this is the balance I came up with: 1.5 gin, 3/4 dry vermouth, 1/2 orange liq, 1/3 grenadine, 1.25 tangerine. It works, is measurable, and gives a volume that doesn't seem skimpy! :)
I hear you and agree Chef. Spec was on the skimpy side. I've upped by 30% and while doing so allowed for a touch of customisation to account for the sweet/sourness of the citrus.