Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit, Me., had a request for a signature wedding cocktail utilizing cocoa powder. The bartender devised one in which gin is shaken with red currant sorbet and cocoa-infused simple syrup, then served in a glass rimmed with cocoa powder. It’s a lively, complex drink — a far cry from the weak gin-and-tonics that once defined wedding reception drinking. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

To add some funk to Manischewitz, the notoriously sweet kosher wine that’s used as often for a punchline as, say, a punch ingredient, Jill Schulster, the co-owner of JoeDoe, mixed it with Old Pogue bourbon along with a splash of lemon juice and some mellowing fizz from club soda. “To remind you that it’s Passover,” Ms. Schulster said, she added a chunky and slightly chewy rim of crushed matzo, tempered with confectioner’s sugar, to the glass the drink is served in. While the Manischewitz’s cloying sweetness comes through (one suspects it would take a full gallon of bourbon to subdue that candied Concord grapiness), the drink is determinedly balanced, and rather festive to boot. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Muddled tomatoes and herbs are mixed with gin then topped with a bracing fizz of tonic water. It's the cocktail as salad, or vice versa. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

The obvious starting point for a proper St. Patrick’s Day cocktail is Irish whiskey. But that is where it gets difficult. Ask a bartender for a classic Irish whiskey cocktail, and you’re likely to get a long, pained pause. That’s because Irish whiskey has kept its distance from the cocktail set. Like its peatier cousin, Scotch, it tends to be a curmudgeonly loner, preferring the company of just ice and a bit of water. This recipe was created in 2009 by Anthony Malone, the Dublin-born general manager and bartender at Puck Fair, as part of a challenge to create a cocktail based on the traditional Irish breakfast — eggs, bacon, black and white pudding, and toast. Malone's drink combines Bushmills with cherry liqueur and orange juice, as in the Scotch-based Blood and Sand, along with a whole egg, “for that creamy consistency.” Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

This classic grape-and-grain mixture came to us from Christopher Tunnah, the general manager and beverage director at the Bedford Post in Bedford, N.Y. It's as jolly and red as a Santa suit, and it derives its Dickensian tang from the nutmeg hints in Angostura bitters and the clove-studded orange flavors of orange bitters. Craving seconds is easy. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

The Out of State pairs tequila with carrot purée, sweetened by agave syrup that has been infused with makrut lime leaf. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

The Madame Almack's is a cocktail from 67 Orange Street in Harlem. The bar's address was also the final address of Almack’s Dance Hall, an African-American-owned bar that flourished in the early 1800s. Kali Irwin, the bar's general manager, created this old-school cocktail with a baroque twist. In the Madame Almack's, Bison Grass vodka meets Cynar, an artichoke-flavored aperitif, along with fresh mint and Champagne. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

The Murricane is the nickname the actor Dan Aykroyd supposedly gave to his frequent (and frequently moody) co-star Bill Murray. In this drink, named for the actor, bourbon is shaken with a high-minded mixture of basil, watermelon juice and elderflower liqueur, then flecked with black pepper. Mr. Murray may be funny, but his drink is downright serious. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

This is a martini that’s about as wet as it gets, and it happened to be Julia Child’s favorite cocktail. It’s one part gin to five parts vermouth. “It’s a great, crisp summer drink,” said Ben Ward, the head bartender at Libation. It’s also much closer in spirit to the way dry vermouth is consumed in Europe — as a solo aperitif, rather than a meek cocktail modifier. Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

Jonathan Miles

Jonathan Miles · NYT Cooking

The Zin Cup is a sort of British sangria in which Pimm’s is mixed with red zinfandel and ginger beer. Sprightly and a little cheeky, the drink has been the top seller at Nios since its opening. Jonathan Miles