Mike Gibb

Yep, best to look online. It is based on (apparently) the recipe for the very first vermouth ever, with Giuseppe Carpano apparently being the inventor of vermouth as a commercial category of aromatized wines. It kind of tastes like a mix of a typical (if a bit rich) sweet red vermouth, with the vanilla and dried fruit aspects reported of Carpano Antica, but not as intense. I also had Cocchi Torino and they end up being very similar in terms of taste.

I enjoyed a lot of head-to-head testing on vermouths and Negronis. I find the Cocchi Storico much more complex and use it in most cocktails that expose the vermouth. OTOH, the Carpano is my choice for a Negroni (my notes):
Excellent bitter(sweet) with the Cocchi Storico, layered, orange glints and notes. Even better with the Carpano Antica Formula, which gives a more harmonious drink.

I made this 5-6-7 times roundabouts... I don't know why I feel beholden to Big Celery to tell the truth about this cocktail, but this worked best for me: 60 ml white rum (brand dependent oh yeah), 15 ml celery juice, 15 ml bianco (cobbled), 5 ml sherry, 5 ml elderflower, 1 dash celery bitters (ties the drink together)... I don't know about you, but I can't stand cocktails where the ingredients want to work together, but their conflict is fraught with disagreements.

This variant I liked very much. Savoury, very well balanced, everything played its part. Celery and bianco married well. The fino and elderflower were just 5ml each, but punched above their weight to add interest. Bravo.

Regarding Cocktails author weighing in here. Noticed that the recipe specs are off for this drink. Three bar spoons of jam would make this drink entirely too sweet. Sasha's Cosmonaut (which I pulled from the original Milk & Honey spreadsheet of recipes and included in Regarding Cocktails), calls for "a heaping bar spoon of raspberry preserves. The book also calls out that the jam of choice for this drink was always Bonne Maman.

A jar of Bonne Maman Raspberry conserve holds 370g of jam, or 260g/260ml water. So, 20ml of jam weighs (20 x (260/370)) = 14g. Weigh directly into your shaker on your kitchen scales. No mess, no faff, consistent and repeatable.

When my current bottle of Rittenhouse American Rye whisky runs out, I'll be seeking out a bottle of Lot 40 cask strength Canadian Rye whisky to replace it. Anyone else thinking along similar lines?

I'm definitely interested in alternatives to US rye (and bourbon). When Trump put his first tariffs on Europe, we radically reduced our consumption of rye-based cocktails, but the Rittenhouse and Bulleit (and the WT101 )are now either empty or running on fumes.
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Did you try the Lot 40 Cask strength, and did you see that they also make a 43% ?

Question for the DD community: when preparing citrus juice for a cocktail, do you fine strain it before adding it to the shaker/ stirring glass to remove pulp? I use a reamer rather than a press, and I usually do fine strain, but this year's blood oranges are filling the conical strainer with a very fine pulp resembling a puree even after one orange.
To include, or not to include. That is my question.