Operating from 1937 to 1966, the Hawaiian Room was a popular venue featuring Hawaiian entertainment alongside Hawaiian and Polynesian food. Located in the gorgeous art deco Lexington Hotel in New York City (Ms. Cocktail Den and I have stayed there), the Hawaiian Room was a "see and be seen" kind of place, like the Brown Derby in Hollywood. This was its eponymous cocktail.

1 ounce applejack
1 ounce clear rum
.25 ounces Cointreau
1 ounce pineapple juice
.25 ounces super simple syrup

Combine in a mixing glass with ice, stir with some island rhythm, and strain into a chilled glass, preferably coupe. Orchid garnish optional.

The Hawaiian Room is a cocktail in which I suggest using the exact ingredients specified. Substitutions will throw it off. For example, applejack, a spirit from New Jersey (there's a reason it is the base of drinks such as the Jersey Girl), has a lighter taste and color than apple brandy. The same goes for Cointreau (used in drinks such as my Gintriguing) compared to other triple secs such as Grand Marnier (used in drinks such as the Burnt Fuselage). As with cocktails in the Den that use citrus juice, use fresh pineapple juice if you can.

Put it all together, and the Hawaiian Room evokes the relaxed vibe of Hawaii with an undertone of New York City dynamism. So when are you going to enter this room?

Think Groucho and comedy, not Karl and communism. Along with his brothers Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo, Groucho Marx starred in the 1932 comedy film "Horse Feathers" (horsefeathers is old American slang, sort of a polite version of the word that rhymes with "wool mitt"), one of their many comedic cinematic ventures. Benny Roff included the Horsefeathers in his book Prohibition Cocktails, and I learned about it from My Dad Made a Cocktail on Instagram.

1 ounce cognac or brandy
1 ounce aged rum
.5 ounces Benedictine DOM
.5 ounces maraschino liqueur

Combine in a mixing glass with ice, stir with some Marx Brothers madcap hilarity, and strain into a chilled glass. Orange peel garnish optional.

The Horsefeathers is sort of sweet, which isn't surprising considering it includes rum (a sugar cane based spirit) and two liqueurs. You see the Benedictine DOM in drinks such as the Monte Carlo, and maraschino liqueur in drinks such as the Last Word, which predates the Marx Brothers movies by more than a decade. The cognac kicks in at just the right moment. Don't let the sweetness of the Horsefeathers fool you, because every spirit in it is strong. If you want a drier Horsefeathers, try adding .5 ounces of cognac and subtracting .5 ounces of rum. Go with aged rum here because it has more liquid gravitas.

The Horsefeathers is a solid and delicious drink. No horsefeathers.

Alliteration happens when you emphasize the same sound or letter in consecutive words. Typically alliteration involves the beginning of words. An easy and tasty variation on the classic Daiquiri, my original Daiquiri 43 puts the emphasis at the end of them.

2 ounces light rum
.5 ounces lime juice (1/2 lime)
.75 ounces Licor 43
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters (optional)

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with rhythmic emphasis, and strain into a chilled glass. Lime peel or wedge garnish optional.

The Daiquiri 43 simply substitutes Licor 43 for super simple syrup (see what I did there?). Licor 43, an indispensable part of the 43 Up, is a slightly sweet Spanish spirit (I can't help myself).  Among other things, I taste vanilla in it, and it complements the rum nicely. Licor 43 is not nearly as sweet as sugar, and it definitely makes the Daiquiri 43 boozier than its ancestor. Using bitters such as Peychaud's (you also could try tiki or Angostura) adds some intriguing complexity to the Daiquiri 43, and so does using aged rum instead of light rum.

So get the ingredients for a Daiquiri 43, and have yourself a damn delicious derivation of a Daiquiri!

An American created what may be the most famous Cuban cocktail? At least one gets credit for it. Working for a mining company near Daiquiri, Cuba, in 1896 Jennings Cox, an engineer, served what we know as the Daiquiri as a punch to his guests. A little more than 10 years later the Daiquiri came to the United States, and a few years later Cuban bartender Emilio Gonzalez began serving it as a cocktail.

2 ounces clear rum
.75 ounces super simple syrup
.5 ounces lime juice (1/2 lime)

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with some Cuban style, and strain into a chilled glass. Lime peel garnish optional.

The Daiquiri is a simple and wonderful cocktail. How could time turn it into such a sickly sweet mess? I have two theories: the use of prepared mixes, and the tendency to overuse blenders and ice (no offense to Constantino Ribaligua Vert, a bartender at the famous El Floridita bar in Havana, who first used an electric blender to make a frozen Daiquiri.) In my opinion, the first makes the Daiquiri too sweet, and the second makes it too cold and diluted. Either one overpowers any remaining flavor. Use your preferred rum, and whatever you do, use fresh lime juice.

Want a deliciously simple Daiquiri? Now you know what to do.

Due to a job change, a few people asked if I would create a cocktail with a judicial theme. Ms. Cocktail Den cleverly suggested I create a 50-50 cocktail -- two spirits in equal proportions (and sometimes bitters). Just as a judge balances the competing interests of parties in court, a 50-50 cocktail balances the competing flavors, strengths, and sweetness of its spirits. After deliberating over many different combinations, I ruled in favor of the Scales of Justice.

1.5 ounces clear rum
1.5 ounces Averna
2 dashes orange bitters (optional)

Combine in a mixing glass with ice, stir with authoritative and knowledgeable precision, and strain into a chilled glass. Orange peel or amarena cherry garnish optional.

Rum gives the Scales of Justice some strength and a hint of sweetness. Averna, an amaro used in other drinks such as the Pura Vida and the Sicilian Manhattan, adds complex and rich flavors. If the combination of rum and Averna intrigues you, try a Drop Seed. So why add bitters? When a judge rules, usually someone is bitter about the result. In the Scales of Justice orange bitters nicely complement the Averna, and as we see in drinks such as the classic Daiquiri and my When Ernest Met Mary, citrus and rum go well together.

Have a Scales of Justice, and answer this question: what's your verdict?

Peligroso is the Spanish word for dangerous. The Peligroso comes from the excellent La Factoría bar in San Juan. Ms. Cocktail Den and I visited La Factoria many times when we went to Puerto Rico in 2019 for part one and part two of Tales of La Isla del Encanto. Like the original Peligroso, the danger in my minor adaptation only lies in its smoothness.

1.5 ounces clear rum (I like Don Q)
.5 ounces Campari
.5 ounces Averna
.25 ounces allspice dram
Juice from 1/2 lime
.5 ounces super simple syrup 
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake as if you're a dangerously good bartender, and strain into a chilled glass, preferably a coupe. Lime peel garnish optional.

The Peligroso is creative and complex. Combining rum with amari (bittersweet liqueurs) might seem odd, but it's not. After all, the classic Jungle Bird has rum and Campari, a part of drinks such as the Bitter Rasputin. Incorporating Averna, used in drinks such as the Pura Vida, gives the Peligroso a hint of richness. La Factoría's Peligroso uses spiced syrup with allspice berries and sugar. My easy workaround includes allspice dram, part of the Lion's Tail and my Les Bon Temps Roulé, and super simple syrup.

Do you want to bring some good danger into your life? Have a Peligroso.

Art can be words on a page, images on a screen, liquids in a glass. Ernest Hemingway was a famous author (and drinker), and Mary Pickford was a trailblazing actress at the dawn of the Hollywood film industry. Named for one of his novels, The Sun Also Rises is an absinthe enhanced twist on the Hemingway Daiquiri, a famous twist on the classic Daiquiri. She had an eponymous drink created during one of her movies. Crillon Importers generously provided a free bottle of Absente Absinthe Refined so I could play with it, and the When Ernest Met Mary is my resulting attempt at cocktail art.

2 ounces rum
.5 ounces maraschino liqueur
.25 ounces absinthe
.5 ounces pineapple juice
Juice from 1/4 lime (.25 ounces)

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with passionate and artistic flair, and strain into a chilled glass. Lime wedge and/or Luxardo cherry garnish optional.

Like its predecessors, the When Ernest Met Mary uses rum and maraschino liqueur. Half an ounce of maraschino liqueur might seem like a lot, but it leads to a balanced cocktail. The pineapple juice comes from the Mary Pickford, and the lime juice comes from the Hemingway Daiquiri. Use fresh juices if you can. Absinthe adds a splash of anise to this cocktail canvas. I decided to use absinthe directly in the When Ernest Met Mary as you might in a Millionaire, not a rinse as you would in a Sazerac. A little absinthe goes a long way.

Ms. Pickford, meet Mr. Hemingway. Mr. Hemingway, meet Ms. Pickford. And to you ... cheers!

Sunrise speaks to a new day, a new beginning, a new opportunity. Translating as "golden sunrise" in Italian, the Alba Dorata evokes that potential in cocktail form. The Alba Dorata is a new creation from Christiano Luciano at the Bar Longhi in the Gritti Palace hotel in Venice. Ms. Cocktail Den and I had a wonderful experience staying at the Gritti Palace and meeting people there; our journey inspired the Venetian Kiss. So how do you make this liquid gold?

1.5 ounces cachaça
1.5 ounces ginger liqueur (ciao Barrow's Intense, see below)
Juice from 1/2 lime
.25 ounces super simple syrup

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake with the joy of discovering a new love, and strain into a chilled glass.  Lime peel or mint sprig garnish optional.

Gritti Palace, Venice (photo taken from across the Grand Canal).

Cachaça is very similar to many rums, as it comes from fermented sugar cane juice. I'm a big fan of Barrows's Intense, and not just because I'm a small investor. It gives you a clean, strong, and unmistakably ginger taste. Courtesy of the cachaça and super simple syrup (Luciano calls for a few drops of it), the Alba Dorata is a little sweet at first, but then the ginger liqueur and lime juice kick in and give it a nice little afterburn. It's a lovely drink, particularly in warm weather. Luciano described the Alba Dorata as "expressing our wishes for a new beginning." Like Luciano, who created the Alba Dorata at home during the COVID-19 pandemic (which inspired my Flattening Curve), I hope the drink leads you to a new and promising chapter in your journey.

Join me and Signore Luciano, have an Alba Dorata, and declare bravo e cin cin!

Crops and flowers bloom when it's warm, but with the seeds timing is important. The Drop Seed cocktail blooms in liquid glory year round. I discovered the Drop Seed on the Liquor.com website.

2 ounces dark rum
.5 ounces Averna
.25 ounces allspice dram

Combine in a shaker with ice, stir with the precision of planting seeds in the right place at the right time, and strain into a chilled glass.  Orange peel or amarena cherry garnish optional.

The Drop Seed is a sultry looking, complex cocktail. Despite sharing a word in its name, it bears no resemblance in color or flavor to the delightful, refreshing, and unfairly maligned Lemon Drop. The Drop Seed has a closer cocktail genetic code to the Donna Maria, which also combines dark rum and allspice dram. Allspice dram is a rum based liqueur derived from the allspice berry. It's also known as pimento dram because the allspice berry grows on the pimento tree. A word of caution -- a little goes a long way. Averna, an amaro appearing in drinks such as the Lupara and the A Thief In The Night, complements the other spirits.  The original recipe calls for a very specific aged rum and uses slightly less of the other ingredients.  I adapted because I already had a different dark rum in my liquor cabinet, and I really like Averna and allspice dram.

If you're going to have to reap what you sow, a Drop Seed is a great way to do it.

Imagine a sultry weekend in Savannah, Georgia, home of great bars such as Alley Cat Lounge and the fascinating American Prohibition Museum. In the summer of 1995 Ms. Cocktail Den and I discovered Chatham Artillery Punch, a flavorful and complex libation. Legend has it a local artillery unit (Savannah is in Chatham County) created it during the Revolutionary War. It's a great story. It's not true. Research from eminent cocktail historian David Wondrich indicates it was created in the 1850s and became more popular later that century.

.75 ounces brandy
.75 ounces dark rum
.75 ounces bourbon
.5 ounces super simple syrup
.25 ounces lemon juice (1/8 lemon)
.25 ounces sweet tea vodka
.25 ounces red wine
Sparkling wine

Combine everything except the sparkling wine in a shaker with ice, shake with explosive force, strain into a chilled glass, and top with sparkling wine.

Yes, there are a lot of ingredients in the Chatham Artillery Punch, more than every other cocktail in the Den. The result is worth the effort. For the red wine, you can use whatever varietal you prefer, or a fortified wine such as madeira or port. You can make a simpler version of the Chatham Artillery Punch if you forego the sweet tea vodka and red wine, but then you lose the main flavors of the original concoction. This cocktail gives the word "punch" a double entendre. Originally created in mass quantities, this punch packs quite a punch. It's more potent than the Brown Bomber (the cocktail but not the late boxing champion for whom it was named).

Are you tough enough to take a Chatham Artillery Punch or two?