Apples, whiskey, and cinnamon.  Any of those flavors can evoke the autumn season.  Combine them into a drink, and you'll fall (pun intended) for the result. You don't hear the phrase "how about them apples" much anymore (to my non-American readers -- the expression means "what do you think about that?"), but as Matt Damon shows in this scene from Good Will Hunting, sometimes it really hits the right note.

The American Apple is my variation on a recipe I saw on the barnonedrinks.com website.

1.5 ounces bourbon
.75 ounces apple brandy or applejack
Juice from 1/8 lemon
.5 ounces super simple syrup
2 dashes cinnamon

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with Will's swagger, and strain into a chilled glass. Apple slice and/or nutmeg garnish optional.

Apple brandy is similar to, but not the same as, applejack. All you have to do is compare apples to apples.  Like a Diamondback, you can use either spirit in an American Apple. If you prefer apple brandy try a cocktail such as a Pan Am Clipper, and if you prefer applejack try a cocktail such as a Jersey Girl. Bourbon is legally an American spirit, but if you don't have any, rye works well.

So how about them apples?

Eva Peron, better known as Evita, was and still is a controversial figure in Argentina's history.  She ascended the social ladder to become the wife of Juan Peron, the President of Argentina in the late 1940s and early 1950s.  In addition, she's the subject of the eponymous Broadway musical (there's also a surprisingly good film adaptation starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas).  I did not discover this cocktail in Argentina, but on the Kindred Cocktails and Imbibe magazine sites.

1 ounce Fernet Branca
1 ounce Barrow's Intense ginger liqueur (see below)
1 ounce sweet vermouth
Juice from 1/8 lime

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with the passion of dancing the tango, and strain into a chilled glass.

Argentines love Fernet Branca, perhaps because so many of them have Italian heritage.  In my opinion no Argentina related cocktail would be complete without it. I've had the good fortune to travel to Buenos Aires, and I had many great experiences there, e.g. dancing the tango with Ms. Cocktail Den in a milonga (tango hall).  If you're interested in Evita related sites, the Museo Evita is informative, and you can see her family's mausoleum in the fascinating Recoleta Cemetery.

The original Eva Peron recipe calls for adding a couple of ounces of ginger beer.  There's nothing wrong with that.  I simply wanted a cocktail that, like most other cocktails in the Den, is alcohol forward and contains no carbonation.  Also, the original recipe doesn't specify Barrow's Intense (full disclosure -- I am a small investor), but I prefer it because it has a cleaner and stronger ginger taste that anything else on the market.

Don't cry for me Wulf Den drinkers -- just have an Eva Peron.

"Sweet science" refers to boxing, a sport of brutal elegance.  Although the genesis of the term is unclear, it pays homage to the simultaneous focus on objective "science" (e.g. physics, leverage, power) and subjective "sweet" art (e.g. timing, finesse, drama).  The closest I get to boxing is going a couple of rounds on the heavy bag at the gym.  I do this with all the grace and ferocity of the Tasmanian Devil (the cartoon character, not the animal) having a seizure.

Fortunately I'm much better at making cocktails and liqueurs.  "Pugile" is the Italian word for boxer.  Pugilecello is a combination of moracello (blackberry liqueur) and mirtillocello (blueberry liqueur).  Here was my thought process in naming it: "black and blue" --"bruiser" -- "boxer."  Making it is a lot easier than going a round with iconic American boxers such as Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Floyd Mayweather.

Round One -- Combine 12 ounces of blackberries (preferably organic), 12 ounces of blueberries (preferably organic), and one liter of 190 proof grain alcohol, e.g. Everclear, in a container.  Wait one week. 

Round Two -- Make super simple syrup with four cups of water and three cups of sugar.  Wait until it cools to room temperature.  Strain the berries from the Round One mixture and combine with the super simple syrup.   Store in a cool, dark place for four weeks.

Round Three -- Savor this sweet science while watching a boxing match, clips of classic fights such as the Thrilla in Manila, or a movie such as Rocky (the first one is a great film, and like any good sports movie, it's only about the sport on its most superficial level).

Before you step into the ring with pugilecello, here's some advice -- it may float like a butterfly, but it can sting like a bee.

Remember the hilarious scene in Mel Brooks' History of the World Part 1 when God gives the Commandments to Moses ("The Lord Jehovah has given unto you these 15 (crash) .......  oy, 10, 10 Commandments for all to obey!").  This post has nothing to do with that.

If you're reading this you've been spent time in bars, and you'll probably spend more time in them in the future.  This good article from Shayla Love (click here to read it) provides a short and sweet summary of what to and do ...... and just as importantly, what not to do.  Despite what some of you might think, unlike Love, I am not an industry professional.  Nonetheless, I would like to add my own commandment -- remember that bartenders are more than mixologists.

Think of this as a Golden Rule for bars.  It's not the version of the rule that declares he or she who has the gold rules (that just makes them a pretentious insecure jerk).  I mean the traditional version of the rule -- Do unto bartenders as you would have them do unto you.

What makes a Manhattan Sicilian?  It's not The Godfather, my favorite movie, a good novel, and a tasty cocktail. The answer is Averna. This Sicilian amaro replaces the sweet vermouth in a traditional Manhattan. It is the reason I simply renamed the Black Manhattan cocktail, which Todd Smith created in 2005.

2 ounces rye
1 ounce Averna
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Combine in a shaker with ice, stir, and strain into a glass as cold as Michael Corleone's glare when he finds out in the second Godfather movie that his wife did not have a miscarriage.

The Sicilian Manhattan is an easy to make and modern variation of its cocktail ancestor. Averna is more potent and complex than sweet vermouth, but it is sweet enough to balance out the inherent spiciness of rye.  Trying to figure out how else you can use Averna?  You have a lot of options such as the Peligroso, the Shade Thrower, and my Scales of Justice.

So are you going to have a Sicilian Manhattan? It's an offer you can't refuse. Cin cin!

The late Frank Sinatra was a great American artist and icon.  Among other things, he was a wonderful singer with a gifted voice, an ear for the nuance of language, and a captivating stage presence.  He also was a pretty good actor (watch the first Manchurian Candidate movie).  Thanks to Scott Deitche and his book Cocktail Noir for introducing me to the original cocktail, which I adapted.  In honor of Ol' Blue Eyes, and his son (a performer who I had the privilege of seeing) who recently died, drink this.

2.5 ounces vodka
.5 ounces blue curacao
Juice from 1/4 lemon
.25 ounces super simple syrup

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake as if you were swinging on stage like the Chairman Of The Board, and strain into a chilled glass.  Lemon garnish optional.

Sinatra promoted Jack Daniel's whiskey, his alcohol of choice.   While I would have liked to incorporate it into this cocktail, it's impossible to have a vibrant blue cocktail using Jack Daniel's as the base.  Ol' Blue Eyes drank plenty of martinis over the course of his life, although I doubt he drank one that looked like this.

Just as Sinatra covered songs that other people made popular, I did the same with this cocktail.  I substituted vodka, lemon juice, and super simple syrup for the gin and sour mix in the original. 

When I perfected my version of the Frank Sinatra cocktail I put on some of his tunes and sang along.  Fortunately I'm much better at making drinks than I am at singing. Making and drinking cocktails with another person can be a special form of dancing. As Sinatra sang in Come Dance With Me -- for what is dancing, making love set to music, playin'.

Robert Burns was an 18th century Scottish poet and a big deal in the Romantic movement.  Even if you're like me and don't know much about poetry, you probably have heard his most famous poem -- Auld Lang Syne.  It's the song everyone massacres on New Year's Eve because they don't know the  words and/or have had too many cocktails (the title roughly translates as "days gone by" or "old times"). 

2 ounces scotch (I used Monkey Shoulder)
1 ounce sweet vermouth (I love Carpano Antica)
.5 ounces Benedictine

Combine in a shaker with ice, stir with the grace and passion of creating your own liquid poetry, and strain into a chilled glass.

Combining these ingredients may look odd, but they complement each other nicely.  You can adjust the ratios depending on the taste of the scotch you use, or how sweet you want the drink to be.  I suggest scotch constitute at least half of the Bobby Burns.

The Bobby Burns is one of many Scottish things and/or people that I like.  Others include the actor Sean Connery and bagpipe music.  Yes, bagpipe music.   If hearing a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace (click on the above link) doesn't move you, you have no soul.

Whether your cultural tastes run towards Robert Burns from Scotland or Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons, you'll like the Bobby Burns.  But unless you have Scottish blood in you, please don't start singing Auld Lang Syne.

The Left Hand honors Lefty Ruggiero, a key character in the underrated crime movie Donnie Brasco.  Johnny Depp stars as an undercover FBI agent who, known as the movie's titular character, infiltrates a New York City mob family.  Al Pacino plays Ruggiero, a mobster who unwittingly acts as a conduit for Brasco.  I discovered this drink in Scott Deitche's book Cocktail Noir.

2 ounces bourbon
.75 ounces sweet vermouth (I recommend Carpano Antica)
.75 ounces Campari
2 dashes chocolate or molé bitters

Combine in a shaker with ice, stir with the coolness of being among made men without being made as a rat, and strain into a chilled glass.

The Left Hand is a Boulevardier with chocolate or molé bitters.  The original uses mole bitters.  I know chocolate and mole are not exactly the same thing, but you're not going to go wrong with either one.

Donnie Brasco is very good at the depicting the tension and strain of operating as an undercover agent.  This scene is an example.   For movies with a similar theme, I highly recommend The Departed and Infernal Affairs, the Hong Kong movie upon which The Departed is based.

So what does the word "southpaw" have to do with this cocktail?  Southpaw is slang for a left hand.  The etymological origin of the word is hazy.  A prevailing theory is that the term originated in the 19th century.  At the time some baseball diamonds were laid out so home plate was on the west side (this kept the sun out of the batter's eyes), so a left handed pitcher's arm would hang south.  This means a left handed pitcher would use his "south paw."  For an entertaining cinematic soliloquy, watch Rocky Balboa explain it to Adrian (click here).

Even if you don't care about southpaws or mobsters, the Left Hand is a fine cocktail.  Capisce?

I have many dragons. The only emerald one is liquid.

As we're on the verge of Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year), the Emerald Dragon is a timely cocktail.   It has nothing to do with the iconic Bruce Lee movie to which the subject title refers.  However, like the late martial artist and actor, the Emerald Dragon is deceptively powerful.  Thanks to The Intoxicologist for introducing me to it.

2 ounces vodka
.5 ounces Chambord
.5 ounces blue curacao

Combine in a shaker with ice, stir with Bruce Lee's grace, speed, and ferocity, and strain into a chilled glass.

The Emerald Dragon is sweeter than many other libations in the Wulf Cocktail Den.  This arguably makes it more dangerous, as it's easier to knock a couple of these back compared to other vodka based cocktails such as a vodka Martini.  If you want an Asian themed vodka cocktail that isn't quite as sweet, try the Jade Vesper. When I made the Emerald Dragon the color really wasn't emerald (I know because Ms. Cocktail Den has a few pieces of emerald jewelry).  Maybe one of my Asian dragon sculptures distracted me.

So regardless of whether you celebrate Lunar New Year, or whether you want to monkey around with a new cocktail (this year will be the Year of the Monkey), have an Emerald Dragon!

Old school done right can be a wonderful thing.  I'm not referring to the funny movie Old School (as fraternity movies go it is not nearly as good as the classic Animal House).  The Whiskey Sour appears to have originated a couple of centuries ago when British Royal Navy sailors combined whiskey and lemon in order to combat scurvy, which is due to a vitamin C deficiency.  Scurvy is not a modern problem, but a bad Whiskey Sour is.  It can go wrong quickly due to bad ingredients, bad technique, or both.  Go back to basics and use the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

2 ounces whiskey (see below)
.75 ounces lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1 ounce super simple syrup

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake as if you're at the Delta Tau Chi toga party, or you're Gene Simmons rockin' out (this is the other KISS principle -- rock and roll all night and party every day), and strain into a chilled rocks (no pun intended) glass.  Lemon wedge garnish optional.

So what type of whiskey should you use in a Whiskey Sour?  Whichever one you like.  I prefer bourbon or rye. Not into whiskey? Use vodka and you more or less have a Lemon Drop. While the whiskey you use is important, using fresh lemon juice is critical.  None of this sour mix crap.  If someone tries to make you a Whiskey Sour without fresh lemon juice, run as if your liver depends on it. After all, life is too short to drink bad cocktails, right?