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Inspiration for art comes from everywhere. The craft of the cocktail has hit the main stream again and bar tenders are considered artists in many ways. If this site does not make it clear, cocktails and bartending are a large part of my artistic expression.

A good amount of me is creatively put into 2 minute taste experiences for people and I love it.

This cocktail, inspired by my two favourite subjects, history and seasonal flavour. The story started to unfold around the name “Antilles”. What are the Antilles?

The Antilles are the islands that most people consider “Latin America” or the “Carribean”. To most of us it is that warm place where we vacation. For me it is where much of my historical interest lies. The colonial times. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater Antilles, which includes the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola (subdivided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and the Cayman Islands; and the Lesser Antilles, which contains the northerly Leeward Islands, the southeasterly Windward Islands, and the Leeward Antilles just north of Venezuela. The Lucayan Archipelago (consisting of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands). [Wikipedia]

The French, the Dutch, the Spanish and the Portuguese all fought for rights within the archipelago. The history of the “new world” largely unfolded within these islands. Still to this day they are confused as to where they truly lie in the world. Technically in North America. But not considered so by many locals. It is safe to say that the Antilles was important to Rum (rhum), Tobacco (Cigars), latin cuisine, cigar culture, sugar, modern piracy, and the list goes on.

If you are a bon vivant (in reality or in mind), you know and love the many bounties that the Antilles offer.

The Antilles Cocktail comes to me via Herbert Jenkins A lifetime collection of 688 recipes for drinks  1934 Reprint.  I am not sure of its origins, but it seems to date back to the early 1900′s. The original cocktail calls for equal parts French Vermouth, Italian Vermouth and Cognac, with a dash of orange flower water.

1.5 oz Remy Martin VSOP

.7 oz Maidenii Sweet Vemouth

.5 oz Maidenii Dry Vermouth

1/2 Barspoon Orange Flower Water

1/4 Ripe White Peach, Cubed

4 dashes Dandelion & Burdock Dr Elmegirab Bitters

Add ingredients to shaker and add ice, shake hard and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Add ingredients

The Antilles is a delicious cocktail that can easily be “punched”, and even without the seasonal variations would stand up to any classic.

Dandelion and White Peach Antilles, an archipelago of inspiration