u/144tzer

Choco Island

Drinkware: shot glass

½ oz (15ml) cognac

½ oz (15ml) dark chocolate liqueur

Whipped cream

Chocolate sprinkles

Mix cognac and dark chocolate liqueur in shot glass.

Top with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. Serve.

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Recipe adapted from The Mana Bar (now closed)

Martini

Drinkware: cocktail glass

3 large ice cubes
1 drop Angostura bitters
½ oz (15ml) dry vermouth
3 oz (90ml) gin (or 3 ½ oz, 105ml, for slightly stronger)
Lemon peel
Olives or blue cheese-stuffed olives (see note)

1. Chill martini glass (see note).
2. Add 3 large ice cubes to a mixing glass and top with water. Stir and then strain the water from the mixing glass.
3. Add bitters, vermouth, and gin to mixing glass over ice and stir 100 times, doing your best to not create bubbles as you stir.
4. Strain into martini glass. 
5. Express a lemon peel over the glass - do this by squeezing/twisting the peel and waving vaguely over the martini, mostly for aroma.
6. Serve alongside 3 olives, presented in a small saucer or glass cup on the side. Alternatively, garnish with 1 olive on a cocktail stick (see note).

Notes:
When expressing a lemon peel, rather than holding it above the drink, hold it about 3”-6” away at a 45º angle from the top of the drink. Face the yellow skin side away from you and fold between your fingers so that the oils spread out over the top of the glass. Wave it around a bit.
I prefer Antica Torino dry vermouth, but that is hard to find. Dolin dry vermouth is another good option.
I like Ki No Bi best, but that is more expensive. Any other that is smooth, soft, and neither sharp in flavor nor overly complex can be a good gin. Roku and Botanist are my go-to’s (even though Botanist is actually rather complex; but the result is still good, albeit a very different taste). Boodles, Hendrick’s, Fords, Plymouth, and Beefeater (in a pinch, they keep lowering their ABV) are all acceptable as well.
If drinking while walking, only use 1 olive, impaled on a stick in the drink. Otherwise, 3 blue cheese-stuffed olives on the side is preferable.
You should always chill the glass, either by filling it with ice water as you prepare the drink, or by placing it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

I want to make this. I love cheese. I love blue cheese. I love triangular cocktail glasses.

But dear god, the indtructions are actually impossible. I can't fit a science lab (rotary evaporator) in a NYC kitchen. Or anywhere else.

To all you better-than-me mixologists: how can I make some semblance of this as accurately as possible?

SATOYAMA HIBIKI: Add lindela, oak, and cedar shavings, twigs from a cinnamon tree, and sansho pepper to 1 (750ml) bottle of Suntory Hibiki Whisky. Steep for about 2 weeks. Strain before using or storing.

I want to make this recipe. But Hibiki is expensive. Obviously I'm not going to use an entire bottle of whisky for the experiment, but I want to make a few smaller jars and test the formula. Maybe once I know what I'm doing I can bump up the quality, but until then, any recommendations for cheaper, but taste-comparable, whiskies?