Bob Cook

I came across this recipe, and it's the same as my personal martini recipe, except that I use a different dry vermouth and I make a smaller 45 ml/22.5 ml cocktail. Grapefruit bitters make a huge difference in this drink. I've used orange bitters, of course, and I've tried lemon bitters, but grapefruit bitters provide a much smoother, more drinkable result.

I ran across this Negroni variation and decided to make it. I was surprised by the major impact of 2.5 ml of peated scotch on the taste of this drink, but it passed my test and I drank it down happily. (The test is that if I don't completely like something, I refuse to finish it because life is too short to drink something just because you don't have the guts to pour it out.)

I juiced a few oranges that were approaching the "use 'em or lose 'em" stage, and then I went to Difford's cocktail finder to look for something to do with them. Avoiding the usual suspects, I decided that the Old Flame looked worth a try. It's a very good drink, with about the same alcohol content as a daiquiri made with two ounces of rum, but far more complexity. This is a much better drink than most drinks that use orange juice.

I made this drink according to these directions, and it came out a little sweet but still very enjoyable. I think it made a difference that I used fresh pressed pineapple juice from a pineapple that I cut up immediately before I made the drink.