Exhibit #108: Night Train

This week several of our drinks include fortified wine. Not Thunderbird or Night Train (we’re saving those for our special “’Tussin & Train” exhibit), rather vermouths and quinquina, including Byrrh, which until recently was only available in limited quantity in Europe. Passion fruit juice plays a role in a couple other drinks, and we have one that is simply out of this world. All of the drinks come from the British prohibition-era cocktail book from the Café Royal.

Barbican $7
Scotch whisky, passion fruit juice, and a little Drambuie, up.

Branksome Special $13
Dry gin, red vermouth and Campari in a 3:2:1 ratio with a dash of Grand Marnier, up. We’re going all top shelf on this one: Old Raj and Carpano, always magical.

Byrrh Cassis $6
Byrrh quinquina (a wine-based aperitif with quinine) and crème de cassis in a 3:1 ratio, with a splash of soda and lemon twist, on the rocks.

Byrrh Cocktail $8
Nearly equal parts spirit, Byrrh, and dry vermouth, up. This may be compounded with cognac, bourbon, rye or scotch – we’ll be pouring Martell VSOP, Woodford Reserve, Bulleit Rye, or Johnnie Walker black label.

Jinx Cocktail $7
Equal parts dry gin, calvados (apple brandy), and passion fruit juice, with a dash of Angostura, up.

One Way $8
Equal parts gin, Swedish punsch, peach flavored brandy, and lemon juice, up. Dangerously delicious.

Toothfull Cocktail $8
And last but not least, tonight’s dare… the Toothfull is essentially a pre-Prohibition perfect Martini with a couple key differences – the serving glass gets a Benedictine rinse, and no ice is employed in the mixing process. Tanqueray, Carpano, Dolin dry vermouth, Benedictine, barrel-aged orange bitters, neat.