There are many booze bloggers out there and I try to follow as many as I can to broaden my horizon on cocktail crafting, and then there is a small number of people that inspired me to start writing about my passion.
Two years ago, on a very dull night shift, I decided to waste some time looking up recipes on my mobile, when I stumbled upon something new to me (I always arrive late at parties): booze blogging. Since that night I have been spending at least half an hour everyday reading articles on anything spirit-related.
The very first blog I came across was coincidentally The Pegu Blog, a fantastic site managed by Doug Winship. Thanks to his passion I managed to find and then follow many other great blogger like Alcademics, A Mountain of Crushed Ice, Measure & Stir and many others. This is an example of how somebody’s passion can bring a whole movement forward. So thanks Doug!
The Pegu Blog disguised itself as The Tiki Blog for February, and after paying several visits this month I decided to create something of my own.
It’s been a long time since I last concocted a tiki drink, (the last one was my swizzle me not almost four months ago), but with the end of February, a.k.a. Tiki month, approaching, it seems only fair that I saluted this cold and bitter winter period with something refreshing and colorful.

MILAN COOLER

Ingredients:
1.5 oz. El Dorado 12 y.o. Rum
0.5 oz. Branca Menta
0.5 oz. Ron Y Miel
0.75 oz. Fresh lemon juice
0.25 oz. Rich Syrup
0.25 oz. Cynar

Garnish:
Mint sprig, Star Fruit and non-toxic flowers.

Prep:

Pour all the ingredients except Cynar over crushed ice and swizzle. Top with more ice and then add Cynar.

I’m going to attend a tiki seminar in Bologna in May, so I decided to create as many recipes I could before the event, just to arrive there prepared. I usually look for inspiration in the subject at Rated R Cocktails by Jfl but this one comes from a recipe I found at Cocktail virginslut, The Deep Six.
Artichokes and mint is a killer combo, and I wanted to try to mix a drink with something truly Italian in it. I went for Brancamenta (Fernet’s minty brother), which blends greatly with El Dorado and lemon. The drink originally was too sweet, as it started out with half an ounce more of rich syrup: way too much, given that Ron Y Miel is incredibly sugary. After I cut back on the sugar, flavors finally came out. The aroma is a mix between mint and digestive, whereas Cynar introduces itself on the sip, mixing up with mint and a vague honey sensation. It gives a very long aftertaste of mint and lemon, fairly sweet but definitely refreshing.
I’m quite happy with this result, tiki but absoutely Italian inspired.