Architects and Kings

Bartender Josh Relkin developed this recipe for Sable Kitchen & Bar in Chicago. It plays on the bitter side of coffee, adding herbal amaro and spicy bitters. Topped with whipped cream, it's a great way to wind down after dinner.

The Bitter Irishman

This St. Patrick's Day-appropriate cocktail is way better than green beer. The whiskey is light and almost floral, and the amaro is spicy and rich. Fresh lemon gives the drink a punch of refreshing sour flavor, and the drink finishes up with the whiskey's bite and a little bitterness from the amaro.

The Arnaud's Special

With the advance of autumn, it's time to break out the dark-spirit drinks suitable to the cooler seasons. The Arnaud's Special is a close cousin to the Rob Roy, and was the house cocktail for Arnaud's Restaurant in New Orleans during the 1940s and '50s.

Auld Draper

Byrrh, a mild apéritif based on red wine and flavored lightly with quinine, gives a rich and spicy kick to this easy-to-make gin cocktail.

Gramercy Tavern's Old Orleans

Tart and aromatic cider blends with sweet orange curaçao, and spicy bitters to create a warming autumn cocktail.

Yusho's Two Tribes

Bar manager Alex Bachman's delicious, spirit-forward rendition of an Old Fashioned features a house-made barrel-aged stone fruit bitters. Bachman emphasizes the importance of aging the bitters in a used American oak barrel, which can be difficult to source. He either uses seasoned casks from Willett or the distillery's smaller 20-liter new oak barrels, which he then seasons with grain neutral spirit to remove primary wood tannin. Do not use new oak, he notes, as the wood tannins will overwhelm s...

Basin Street Blues

This cocktail, adapted from Domenica in New Orleans, is pretty low in alcohol, but not at all low in flavor. It reminds us of caramel and lemon drops, with an essential smoky addition from a few drops of Scotch.

Apple Brandy Old-Fashioned

An Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail is a simple mixture of whiskey, sugar, bitters and a citrus peel. It is a sublimely simple and delicious preparation for a wide range of spirits besides just whiskey—rum, tequila, brandy—and a fine apple brandy is no exception. Showcasing the earthy flavor of fermented apples with just a bit of sugar and bitters is a perfect preparation to enjoy classic holiday flavors in a new way.

The Appetizer No. 4

In general, bourbon tends to work best in cocktails when its flavor can stand front and center, lightly adorned by trace amounts of other ingredients. Here's a drink that fits the bill: the Appetizer No. 4.

The New Hickory Cocktail

This pungent twist on the classic Old Hickory Cocktail substitutes uses bittersweet, vegetal Cynar instead of sweet vermouth and dry Manzanilla sherry instead of dry vermouth