1 cup/240 mL white sugar
1 whole vanilla bean
1 cup/240 mL water
Slice the vanilla bean along its length to expose the seeds inside. Combine the sugar and water over low heat in a saucepan. Stir gently to dissolve the sugar. Add the vanilla bean and continue stirring until all of the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for 2 to 3 hours. Remove the vanilla bean and strain the liquid into a container that can be closed and refrigerated.
Hotel Delmano
VANILLA SOUR: Take the vanilla-caramel flavors of bourbon and draw them out in this classic sour with egg white to add a silky texture (½ oz/45 mL bourbon, ¾ oz/20 mL lemon juice, ¾ oz/20 mL vanilla syrup, 1 egg white; dry shake all in a cocktail shaker without ice, add ice, wet shake, strain into a chilled coupe)
VANILLA TODDY: Real vanilla bean deserves a high-quality spirit like Cognac in this sophisticated hot toddy (2 oz/60 mL Cognac, ½ oz/15 mL vanilla syrup, 3 oz/90 mL boiling water, stir together in a mug, garnish with a squeezed lemon wedge and coin-shaped orange peel studded with three cloves)
Enoch’s Folly, Esme
Follow procedure for vanilla syrup, using demerara sugar.
½ cup/120 mL molasses (do not use blackstrap molasses)
½ cup/120 mL water
Combine water and molasses in a saucepan. Heat and stir until the molasses has dissolved; do not boil. Store in a container that can be closed and refrigerated.
Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, Tooker Alley
1 cup/240 mL simple syrup
4 limes
Zest the limes into the simple syrup. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Strain.
1 whole hand of fresh ginger
White sugar
Juice the ginger using a juicer, or in a food processor or blender (blend with a little water until liquid, then strain). Measure ginger juice, and combine 1 part fresh ginger juice with the allotted amount of sugar (see below). Stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Will keep refrigerated up to 1 month.
For The Ninety-Nine Roses (Hotel Delmano), New Rider (Rucola), Extra-Ginger Dark & Stormy, Ginger Caipirinha, Happy/Sad Girl (No. 7), Arch Leveler (Bearded Lady), Cool Leatherette (Sisters): 1 part ginger juice to 1 part sugar
For Watership Down (Donna), Infernal Affairs (Donna), Smoking Jacket (Dear Bushwick): 1 part ginger juice to 2 parts sugar
For Poppa’s Pride (Ba’sik): 3 parts ginger juice to 1 part sugar
GINGER & TEQUILA: Ginger’s bite and tequila’s bite mesh well in this tall refresher (2 oz/60 mL blanco tequila, 1 oz/30 mL lime juice, ¾ oz/20 mL ginger syrup, shaken; strain into a Collins glass filled with ice, top with 2 oz/60 mL soda, garnish with a lime wheel)
GINGER-RYE SOUR: Rye’s spice and ginger are a smart match in a sour (2 oz/60 mL rye, 1 oz/30 mL lemon juice, ¾ oz/20 mL ginger syrup, shaken; strain into a rocks glass filled with ice, garnish with brandied cherries)
Oaxaca Floca Flame, Mayfield
1 cup/240 mL white sugar
1 cup/240 mL water
2 ancho chiles, torn into rough pieces
Combine the sugar and water over low heat in a saucepan. Stir gently to dissolve the sugar. Add the chiles. Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for 2 to 3 hours. Remove chiles and strain liquid into a container that can be closed and refrigerated.
Wire + String, Jupiter Disco
½ small fresh pineapple
White sugar
Juice the pineapple using a juicer or in a food processor (blend until liquid, then strain). Measure pineapple juice, and combine 1 part pineapple juice with 1 part sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
Clover Club, Clover Club
½ cup/75 g raspberries
1 cup/240 mL sugar
½ cup/120 mL water
Mash up the raspberries in a small pot. Add the sugar and water. Over very low heat—do not boil—stir to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is mostly dissolved, remove from the heat and let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Stir to dissolve any remaining sugar, then strain out the solids. Refrigerate.