This is a personal concoction. Hence the difficult to pronounce name. Well, this has two parts.

The first is “Kairi Panha” – also known as “Aam Panna“. “Aam Panna” is a juice made of raw mangoes with some cumin seeds, rock salt, sugar and mint leaves added to it. This is a very refreshing and popular drink during the tropical summers of India.

Added 2 parts of that to one part of Cachaca. This is the most popular distilled spirit in Brazil made from fermented sugarcane. It is also the base alcohol for Brazil’s national drink – Caipirinha.

And to that I added some “bhaja masala” made by Sharmila. This is cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and then a bit of cardamom – dry roasted and then grounded to powder.

That was a perfect pick me up for the evening.

This has 1.5 oz Bourbon, 0.5 oz of Brandy, 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth, 1 tablespoon of Campari, 0.25 oz of lemon juice and 4 dashes of Cherry bitters. I used my freshly acquired rock sugar instead of simple syrup. Smoke some wood shavings of a cherry tree in the glass.

Fireball Whiskey and Rum Chata.

Sharmila has a book club meeting where she is responsible for the drinks (with another person). So, we experimented with the Aperol Spritz.

Aperol, Prosecco, Soda and orange slice

This is a variation of the good old Old Fashioned. Instead of Bourbon, this uses equal portion Tequila and Mezcal. It continues with the Agave theme by using Agave nectar instead of simple syrup. Finally, there is the bitters, of course.

This uses Genever (the original precursor to gin, I used the Ouede variety), Maraschino liqueur, dry Vermouth and lemon juice.

There are two variations of this drink. I went with the traditional one – Rye Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth and Fernet.

One interesting trivia I learnt. Over one third of all Fernet imported into the USA (from Italy) is consumed in San Francisco. What are those ‘Franciscans up to?

Picked up another cocktail from the book Natasha had given. Harvard comprises of cognac, sweet vermouth, simple syrup, bitters and a splash of soda water.

In full candor, I am supposed to use a Nick and Nora glass. I do not have one. Used a glass with a rather unique base.

I probably should have waited for a month to make the name of the drink go with the times. Never quite figured out why this drink is called so. It is a fairly old concoction though – over a century old recipe.

Gin, Sweet Vermouth, Dry Vermouth, Orange juice and bitters.