Longtime Club members might remember this one from the beta test month I ran back in August of 2020, wherein this drink was called The Tall Man from Havana. It has since become a Gigantic classic, where it began traveling under the name Havana Moon (named for the Chuck Berry song). The inspiration was the “Sloppy Joe’s,” the bar’s eponymous drink that combined brandy, port, pineapple, grenadine, and Curaçao. A very good example of the pre-tiki tropical genre.

I love the classic idea of having nuts, chocolate, and dried fruit with coffee and port after dinner. For this recipe, I leaned on the idea of Sangarees and Cobblers, layering flavors over a tannic base and drying the whole thing out with a half-ounce of rye. Pebble ice and a very Victorian garnish make this one quite festive indeed.

This one’s basically a sparkling sling with a little pop of acidity from the cordial. The combination of cherries and baking spices reminds me of eating cherry cobbler (or pie!) outside toward the end of a long summer’s evening.

The Sangaree is one of the oldest in the tavern drinks canon and its existence long predates the foundation of the United States. Ours makes the most of summer’s bounty and mimics the presentation of the Sangaree’s more famous offspring — the Spanish punch Sangria.

This is the second in my Improved Cocktail series in the spring of 2021. With deep, dark flavors, this Improved Brandy Cocktail - Iberian edition - emphasizes the importance of products from Portugal and Spain in the history of the American Cocktail and, before that, in Punch and early modern drinking history, generally.

This drink translates a famous hot port-and-claret classic into a pared-down single serving that’s stirred and chilled. The Bishop appeared in Oxford Nightcaps in 1827, by which time it was already an institution; Scrooge also mentions it to Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol.

A syrup that first appeared in my Yuletide class in December 2020. It also gives my Barnstable Punch its signature Christmasy flavor.