New London Negronino

We celebrated the end of September by taking the train in to the city for a long weekend, enjoyed perfect weather and Midtown adventures (adventures that featured a great cast, including 'The Hotel Clerk Who Thinks That DP Is A Secret Service Agent' and 'The Woman Who Claimed To Have An OpenTable Reservation But Probably Did Not'), and returned to a gray and rainy Connecticut. One big bonus: the leaves are starting to turn, and the red and gold is already flaming outside our windows.

So it's definitely Autumn in our part of the world, but I'm not ready to let Summer go just yet. Mostly because I need to catch up on some of our Summer cocktails. 

Like our very first cocktail in New London, the Negronino!

Negronino (Maxence Traverse, Hong Kong)

Ingredients:

4 parts Amaro Nonino

2 parts Campari

5 parts Gin

5 parts Sweet Vermouth (go ahead, use the Carpano Antica, even if you have to go to New Haven to replenish your supply...  You can stop at Trader Joe's and LL Bean while you're in the neighborhood)

Directions:

Stir with ice and serve over an enormous ice cube in an Old Fashioned glass. Enjoy on your front porch while recovering from unpacking your newly arrived POD.

I know it's been less than three months, but it already feels like a million years ago.

Manhattan to New London

When our friends Snappy and Grey came to visit us, they came up from Manhattan (our first visitors by train! And it works really well! The industrial scene across the water in Groton looks positively magical in the summer twilight!), so it seemed only right and proper to stir up some Manhattans in honor of their appearance.

The cherry was the flaw in the plan, however. We used up the last of our Luxardo maraschino cherries before leaving Charleston, and even there in the midst of a foodie revolution we had trouble locating them locally.

Williams-Sonoma on King Street carried them at one time, but then dropped them from the inventory when they moved up to their smaller digs near Calhoun.

In New London we really were at a loss - we haven't gotten to know any liquor stores well, and the ones that we have been checking out are strong in lots of ways (great selections of amari!) but weak when it comes to cherries.

But! As we were exploring downtown New London with Snappy and Grey, we stumbled across Thames River Wine and Spirits on State Street.

Such a great place! The bottles of Jack Rudy Tonic that I saw when we came in the door (so nice to find some more Charleston in New London!) were just the first of many great finds - including jars of Luxardo cherries. Hurrah!

It was Manhattans all around before we headed back downtown to the Garde to see Snowpiercer (and some of us were leery beforehand - I'm looking at you, Grey - but the plot hurtled right past the logic and swept any disbelief away).

Ingredients: 

2 parts Old Overholt Rye

1 part Carpano Antica vermouth

2 dashes Angostura Bitters  

1 Luxardo maraschino cherry

Directions: 

Stir liquid ingredients with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Luxardo maraschino cherry.

Loved having our friends visit!

Loved our Manhattans in New London.