John CARR

My ordered raspberries failed to arrive, so changed course and made a Baltic-inspired House of Hansa instead, referencing the Hanseatic League. 45 gin, 20 Campari, 20 Gustav lingonberry liqueur (Finland) and 15 Moe Handsa sour rowanberry vodka (Estonia). Read as a berry-infused, dry leaning, easy drinking negroni. Orange twist. Campari could be bumped back up to keep it more traditional negroni style.

Revisiting with actual raspberries (!). Absolutely delicious and love how the acid from the berries cuts the richness of the Campari and sloe gin. Could easily Chuck in several more to taste. I created a little pyramid of raspberry goodness on my Cube. Tanq 10 made this extra special and quite boozy. Could easily add 5-10ml lemon juice and convert this to a shaken version as well.

I struggled a bit with the first few sips trying to decide too sweet, not enough bitterness, etc. Rereading Difford's description and recipe thinking about how I might modify, I realized I had forgotten to express oils from an orange garnish. Doing so for the rest of the drink was a revelation. This drink requires this and definitely elevates it. Having said that, I'm not sure I will add it to my "Favourite Collection" until I contrast this with the more bitter Old Pal version.

Agreed, I was wavering over adding a dash of angostura, but left well alone in the end and added an extra zesty spray instead. I think vermouth di Torino and high abv rye are key here for those of us who are used to and appreciate a heavy duty Manhattan etc.

Just made this with Cappelletti, did not disappoint. The bitter-sweet was well balanced, negroni like. Look forward to trying this with a proper orange-red aperitivo, perhaps Luxardo if I can find it. As Tuber and Simon suggest, do express the orange zest onto the drink albeit it's not in the recipe per se.

Yes agreed re the oil spray bring essential here (fell off the instructions seemingly, Simon). Even lighter and fruitier this evening with. Melbourne-based Gospel solera rye and Dolin rouge. Distinct vinous notes also.
Calvin, having tried Luxardo apperitivo against Aperol, I definitely favour the original. Bumps it up the extra, all important half star which the Discerning such as ourselves appreciate 😉😝🤣

Agreed summertime Manhattan it is. VERY easy drinking; deceptively not boozy. My cupboard was unaccountably batter of rye, so created a Frankstein combination Vulson unaged rye, wild Turkey 101 and Canadian club, which was pleasantly not completely offensive. Will revisit with actual rye.

Uncle Monty quote of the day: There is, you'll agree, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' oh so very special about a firm, young carrot. - Withnail and I. See: Camberwell Carrot, also available on this website😉

Second version slightly less zingy but I may have over poured the bourbon slightly. Would def make again.

Uncle Monty quote of the day: There is, you'll agree, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' oh so very special about a firm, young carrot. - Withnail and I. See: Camberwell Carrot, also available on this website😉

Carrot colour certainly, but my first making of this and what stood out for me was that it’s almost spritz like, in a very good way, which may have been a particularly fresh lemon? Really fizzing on the tongue. In this style I’d be tempted to serve up in a coupe. I wasn’t sure about the PX but it blended seamlessly, provided rich nutty back notes to support the bourbon.

Uncle Monty quote of the day: There is, you'll agree, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' oh so very special about a firm, young carrot. - Withnail and I. See: Camberwell Carrot, also available on this website😉

You're almost certainly correct, thank you for the response, it's always a good day when I get to learn some interesting cocktail lore!

Same! Love the history and cultural part!

It kind of did, but not in the way you think! I unfortunately couldn't find Carpano Antica, but I do have Carpano Classico and I think it is the best overall sweet red vermouth. It does all jobs perfectly and makes for a delightful Manhattan.

I’ve never actually seen that for sale in Australia! Haven’t looked online tho..

I thought it was "Per aspira ad astra"

Per aspera is also used as a saying, but not by the Air Forces, which I would assume is the intended reference point here.

Classy and sophisticated. Ran short on the sloe gin, topped up with lingonberry liqueur and a dash of Luxardo; look forward to retrying when restocked. Giffard mente pastille. Delicious and could happily increase serve by 50% for me. If you like the vintage flavour bombs (Last Word, Aviation, Corpse reviver no.2 etc) you should like this.

Like a Manhattan bit much lighter and brighter. Wonderfully flavourful and I’m surprised at the lack of traffic here. In the absence of Canadian Whisky split the basebetween Jameson black barrel and Elijah Craig bourbon. One for the album, Gromit

Revisiting with Canadian club - albeit local import version at diluted abv - which I consequently bumped up to 50ml. Lovely barley sugar, vanilla, spice and rye offering the groundwork for the fruit and floral of the wines. Excellent!

Interesting. The image looks almost identical to the bottle in front of me, other than the word ‘oaky’ has been replaced with ‘refreshing’ and 37% abv.

And it’s a plastic screw cap rather than metal. Rear label says bottled in USA, includes Au and NZ import details.

Which version of Canadian Club is this? I have never ever seen this bottle even in internet searches!

Interesting. The image looks almost identical to the bottle in front of me, other than the word ‘oaky’ has been replaced with ‘refreshing’ and 37% abv.

Disappointingly diluted to 37% abv in Australia, but very pleasant in itself.

Tried a Byrrh version this evening (a Baba, perhaps?), with more Gin and It proportions of 52.5 fords, 30 Byrrh, no bitters. Very pleasant aperitif style drink. Could easily chuck in 5ml Luxardo to make it later in the evening.

Very Christmassy! Seemed liked the perfect opportunity for Four Pillars Shiraz Gin, especially as lacked an open bottle of red wine.
Sweet and spicy and definitely less bitter than usual, but still definitely a negroni.

Made with actual red on this occasion: Blackstone Paddock Barossa Shiraz (full bodied, fruit led, good tannins). Again very much a negroni, with some very pleasant wine notes. Really delicious.

I find fernet broadly reminiscent of cough syrup (not in a good way - someone back me up here pls!), so was pleasantly surprised to find this the best (least offensive?!?) use I’ve found so far, although I admit to tempering the full measure with some Strega. Some genuinely delicious flavours going on here. The orange is notably present and balancing to the fernet. Byrrh in this instance provided some nice vinous back notes. Will definitely be having again 🧡.

I can here a voice over and a certain kind of music when I read this. Laughing out loud!

Missed career opportunity in marketing 🤣

One of those subtle, cunning cocktails that you can have a lot of fun with asking guests to guess the ingredients. Another testament to how Luxardo can disappear amongst other glassmates whilst remaining the driver of the whole cocktail.
The contrasting qualities of sweetness and depth with light, fresh herbal notes were really excellent.

I assume the title is intended as a faint echo of the Cole Porter song Night and Day.