i thought i might first try to make a good bloody mary. i started with a recipe in food and wine cocktails 2009.

1 1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz hendricks gin
4 cherry tomatoes
tiny blob of horseradish
1/8 of a lime
1/8 of a lemon
1 inch green onion
pinch salt
pinch pepper

this was ok. i’m not really a bloody mary guy so i’m not a great judge. next time i would use maybe a couple more tomatoes, and less onion, or maybe red onion. the original recipe calls for a jalepeno, i would normally like that but maybe not for this application. i might try adding tarragon. the salt level was good. might need more pepper.

my plan is to top it with a honey paprika foam (egg white, honey, paprika. foamed with ikea foamer). i will try that soon.

…

this is a pretty good manhattan variant.

2 oz rye/bourbon combination
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz ikea blackcurrant syrup
1 dash/4 drops angostura bitters