Cocktail recipes are not set in stone. Tastes change, techniques develop, ingredients disappear. As I’ve covered, a lot’s changed in the 13 years since Beta Cocktails was published. Including some of their recipes.
I recently got Toby Maloney’s cocktail book The Bartender’s Manifesto, which is way more than a Violet Hour recipe book — Maloney dives into the theory behind cocktails, and bartending, in a really valuable way. But it also is a Violet Hour recipe book. As I was paging through, I noticed the printed spec for the Art of Choke was different than the one I’d found in Beta and long known. The Art of Choke from the Manifesto swapped the demerara syrup for regular simple syrup, and called for a quarter-ounce each of the simple and lime juice, rather than an eighth. The Manifesto was published in 2022; presumably, that’s the spec I’d get if I ordered an Art of Choke at the Violet Hour today.1
The Tiger Balm is also in both books, under different specs. It’s a daiquiri riff from our man Kirk Estopinal, with a bitter-minty boost from Branca Menta: a slightly sweeter, even mintier take on Fernet-Branca. The recipe in Beta calls for demerara syrup and a quarter-ounce of Menta, while the recipe in the Manifesto again calls for simple, along with a shorter eighth-ounce pour of Menta and a dash of Angostura. That got me wondering: Are these two still the same cocktail? So I decided to do a little compare and contrast. (I did sub Don Q gold rum for the Brugal Anejo because it was what I had around, but Estopinal says in the Manifesto that Brugal adds a bit of a honey note to the drink.)
Tiger Balm (Beta Cocktails)2
2 ounces Brugal Añejo
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce demerara syrup (2:1)
1/4 ounce Fernet Branca Menta
Mint leaf (garnish)
Shake and strain the ingredients into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a mint leaf, slapping the leaf to express its oils.
By Kirk Estopinal
Tiger Balm (The Bartender’s Manifesto)3
2 ounces Brugal Añejo rum
3/4 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1/8 ounce Branca Menta
1 dash Angostura bitters
Mint leaf
By Kirk Estopinal
The Manifesto recipes are extremely detailed, so I’m not going to print it here, but I will note that it calls for a garnish of a mint leaf with a drop of Branca Menta on top.
Beta’s version of the Tiger Balm reads more Fernet-y, pretty much like a lightly bittered daiquiri. The deep sweetness of the demerara gives it a candy-like taste. But the Manifesto version is really just a Mojito-Daiquiri mashup. It’s just cool and refreshing, barely bitter, and very clean from the simple syrup. I can see how this would appeal to more bar-goers at the Violet Hour, but the version in Beta is … well, more of the Rogue/Beta Cocktails philosophy.
Up next, a cocktail ode to Amsterdam.
And even though they don’t keep it on the menu, you can still order it.
From Beta Cocktails by Maksym Pazuniak and Kirk Estopinal, 2011.
From The Bartender’s Manifesto by Toby Maloney with Emma Janzen, 2022.