Istrian Smiling

I have always thought that this cocktail had a lovely name: a quixotic mashup of an active verb signaling pleasure and a peninsula to the west of Venice. (It's not a typo: "I Strain Smiling.")

One of the difficulties I've had in Virginia is acquiring less common spirits, especially unusual European liqueurs. I've had to fall back on making them myself. Sometimes I have the help of an on-line recipe for things like Amer Picon and Swedish Punsh. Other times, I've had to take a chance that my hunch of how the liquor tastes based on its description and hope that I can approximate it with ingredients I have at home. That is the case with Mandarine Napoleon; I was really shooting in the dark. But tips describing it's spicy citrus brightness (clove, coriander and mandarin zest) and its relatively low sweetness (caramel and vanilla) helped me zero in on a recipe that is close to the citrus and cognac liqueur.

Once I've confirmed that my recipe I'll include it with this post. As it stands now, this is the recipe for this very satisfying and not too sweet cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Bulldog London Dry used)
• 1 oz. creme de cassis (G. E. Messenez used)
• 1/2 oz. Mandarine Napoleon (DIY Mandarine used)
• tonic water (Fever Tree used)

Combine all ingredients except tonic water in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Top with chilled tonic water and stir.