Alex Grieb

I really enjoyed this drink, althoug the rye spice is a bit overwhelmin gin my opinion. Since I used italian Punt e mes and an italian apricot liqueur, I substituted the rye with aged grappa the second time, and the result was sublime! Try it if you can!

I'm not sure this is a good use of arrack - I used By the Dutch batavia arrack, and most of the complexity coming from the mash bill of sugarcane, date palm and rice was lost in this drink. It's also quite dry with such a small amount of benedictine. I would recommend just making an arrack old fashioned if you want to put the spirit to good use.

Just to check I’m not missing something, but kirsch eaux-de-vie is spelt kirschwasser.

Correct! "Kirsche" means cherry and "Wasser" means water.

Great inspiration! Just a small correction, the description of the Santa Marta Daiquiri mentions the ingredient "Kirchwasser", which would directly translate to "church water". Kirschwasser is spelled a bit differently.

I did not enjoy the drink very much, the combination of frangelico and campari ended up tasting like burned hazelnuts. I made a version with aperol instead of campari and bourbon instead of gin and it was very sweet, but the aromas melded more readily. There is a good drink hidden somewhere here.

This has become one of my all-time favourite drinks. The coffee liquer brings out very pleasant nutty notes in the tequila and the sherry. The agave and the acidity of the fortified wine give the cocktail some much needed freshness to balance the floral honey notes and warm spice notes of the coffee liquer.

Interesting cocktail. Has a martini overtone, but with the whiskey and cherry notes. Find the Mandarine Napoleon gets a little overwhelmed with the other tastes.

Wow, this was exactly my first impression. I'll try upping the mandarine and reducing the vermouth.

I didn't like this variation very much. A lot of the flavours get lost, and it is quite dry. It felt like a slightly bitter daiquiri with a lot of extra steps. I used smith and cross overproof and havana club 3 years for the rums, cointreau and velvet falernum.

I recommend making two at a time to give the blender something to grip on

For individual servings, you can use an immersion blender. You will need to crish the ice more finely using a lewis bag or similar though.

Wondering will shaking with crushed ice and straining on fresh crushed ice will be as good as blending? I hate cleaning my blender :)

I use an immersion blender in a shaking tin, which gives me great results but a lot less cleanup and the ability to make individual servings.

Echoing some other comments, I feel that a classic cocktail such as this should be listed with the classic 1:1:1:1 ratio, even if you, as an expert, prefer as different ratio, which can be added to the review of to a seperate "(Diffords Version)" recipe. I do prefer your ratio though, thanks for improving this classic cocktail!

This has become my favourite drink over the last six months or so. I personally omit the simple syrup, as the punt e mes and curacao are plenty sweet already. The grassy freshness of the cachaca and the bitter notes compliment each other so well, I urge anyone to try this drink!

This is basically a Division Bell without the Lima juice and with wacky ratios. Not sure there's a good reason to make it.

While it is a nice cocktail, I feel like the tequila does not really come throug; the aroma reminds me of amaro veneziano, which is pleasant, but does not require me to mix a drink.

Quite nice, but I don't think it needs the additional simple syrup, it's well balanced with just the sweetness from the maraschino liquer and the port.

It is important to note that Bénédictine contains honey, which means that the liquer is not suitable for vegans.