Five New Delicious (and Fittingly Strong) Cocktails in Honor of Dr. M.

In celebration of success, to savor the beauty of life, or to soften the pitfalls of experiments gone awry, alcohol has always been an integral part of research. Alcohol consumption in the sciences is higher than many other professions, but of course, we are not elderly rummies barely hanging from the corner lamppost. We are cultured people who know how to drink with class, vision, determination, and a knowledge accumulated through travel and experience. Cocktails are experiments on how to blend the many historic and hallowed types of spirits into elixirs of pleasure, taking our livers along with us on a voyage of discovery. The tavernauts at Lobos Marinos International Marine Science (& Cocktails) worked in their labs to produce five new or modified cocktails in honor of Dr. M., an inspiration both as a scientist and as an illustrious mixologist.

Living on the eastern seaboard of the US for many years, Dr. M. has no doubt enjoyed the cool, crisp cocktail regionally known as the Gulf Stream. It’s sort of a southern equivalent of the mimosa, which of course is a respectable excuse to begin drinking on a Sunday morning, and not stop until just before dinner. Delicious, yes, but not nearly strong enough to slake the thirst of our leader. With a few tweaks of the original recipe, here is the Atlantic Gyre:
2 oz. Brandy
2 oz. Dry White Rum (10 Cane, Angostura)
1/4 oz. Blue Curacao
6 oz. Lemonade
Champagne
Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, excluding the champagne; pour into a pint glass filled ¼ full of course crushed ice. Fill and top off with the champagne, garnish with a thin lime wedge & sprig of mint.

 Dr. M. is a complex man, having more facets than the Hope Diamond. Did you know he is not only obsessed by Southern home-made biscuits, but actually worked as a biscuit baker? To blend his love of biscuits with his love of the sea, here is a rich, smooth cocktail called the Sea Biscuit, after the creamy white, delicious echinoderm of the genus Clypeaster.

In a cocktail shaker add the following:
2 oz. Vanilla Schnapps
2 oz. Premium smooth white rum (Plantation Three-Star or Vizcaya Crystal White)
4 oz Horchata*
4 oz Full Cream Milk
Lightly shake the mix and pour into pint, adding ice to top off the drink, with a mild sprinkle of allspice on the top.
*you can substitute the pre-made product Rum Chata for the horchata & white rums

 

Other than biscuits, Dr. M’s has another obsession that wrestles him in his sleep and grips his thoughts in daytime. It is his White Whale, an archtypal beast of lore that he has been seeking but has yet to find. Being the largest of the large, the Colossal Squid doesn’t disappoint the imagination of what the deep-sea can conjure, nor the reality it’s based on. To Dr. M. and his beloved cephalopod, here is The Colossus:

2 oz. Pomegranite Liqueur
½ oz. Grenadine
2 oz. Dry White Rum (Brugal, Diplomatico, Matusalem)
1 oz. Gin
Juice of ½ lime
4 oz. club soda
Mix all ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with large ice cubes; shake and strain into a large glass. Add a dash of Cherry Bitters for the finish. Feel the cocktail’s tentacles work their way into your brain.

Some people think they are busy, but Dr. M. must drink more workahol that just about anybody I know. He coordinates with grant-writing teams, acts as a managing journal editor, trains his field crews, communicates with the press, writes scientific papers like a madman, and of course, simultaneously pens several different blogs, including Deep Sea News. As a twist to the old and well-haled drink of yore with the well-fitting name of The Wrangler, here is a version scaled-up to meet the needs of our boss. I call it The Commodore:

2 oz. Rye Whiskey
1 ½ oz. Dark Rum
5 oz. Orange Juice
5 oz. Ruby Grapefruit Juice
5 dashes of Angostura bitters
In a shaker put all of the ingredients except the ½ oz. of dark rum; pour into a pint glass and fill with cube ice to the top; add the remaining ½ oz. of Dark Rum as a float on top, garnish with a small sprig of fresh rosemary. Also fights scurvy.

Over the decade, Dr. M. has posted about his deep, somewhat disturbing, passion for Kraken Rum on the pages of Deep Sea News. Not only does this dusky rum shimmer with the darkness of the abyss, bear the piquant tang of the Spice Islands, and a inflicts a burn that would cause any buccaneer to reel, but their neo-Victorian steam punk meets Ernst Haeckel artwork is worthy of endless tattoos. Indeed, rum is often the fuel of creativity, and without the nourishing and enriching powers of rum drinks, Dr. M. wouldn’t be who he is today, so in honor of our leader, here is The Big Kahuna:

2 oz. Kraken Rum
2 oz. Macamadia Nut Liqueur
1 can sugar cane-based Cola soda
Fill a pint glass ½ full with cube ice, add the Kraken Rum and Macadamia Nut Liqueur, then fill the rest of the way with the cola, stirring lightly.