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Cocktails

The 5 Most Popular Cocktails of February

February 29, 2024

Story: Punch Staff

photo: Lizzie Munro

Cocktails

The 5 Most Popular Cocktails of February

February 29, 2024

Story: Punch Staff

photo: Lizzie Munro

Here are the five drinks that you couldn't get enough of this month.

Among the most popular recipes of the past month were some deep cuts: a colonial-era liqueur transformed with bourbon and bubbles, an early-aughts European modern classic and not one, but two highlighter-green cocktails from the disco era. The other favorite was a perennial stalwart: a Negroni. But not just any Negroni, the winner of our blind taste test of 10 Negronis from bartenders across the country. Whether you’re keeping it classic or mixing up a throwback cocktail, the recipes you deemed best in February offer something for everyone.

Cherry Bounce

Cherry Bounce Cocktail Recipe

The Cherry Bounce has been a stalwart at Jonny Raglin’s San Francisco Bar, Comstock Saloon, for more than a decade. According to Raglin, a regular told him about a midcentury Hollywood restaurant that served a house cocktail called the Cherry Bounce, which contained both cherry brandy and Champagne. He used this as a starting point for his bourbon-based sour sweetened with cherry syrup (left over from Griottines brandied cherries) and topped with sparkling wine.

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Rapscallion

Rapscallion Cocktail

This potent, stirred blend of Scotch and Pedro Ximénez sherry—served up in a pastis-coated Nick & Nora glass and garnished with a lemon twist—reached its final form at Copenhagen’s Ruby in 2007 after shape-shifting at bars in Edinburgh. The subtly sweet and smoky recipe has taken on a life of its own, appearing at bars around the world and in Jim Meehan’s 2011 book, The PDT Cocktail Book.

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Anthony Schmidt’s Negroni

Best Negroni Recipe

The unanimous winner of our Negroni blind tasting felt like it satisfied both roles of the modern Negroni—ideal for a pre-dinner drink or as a stand-alone cocktail. With an ounce of the botanical spirit paired with three-quarters of an ounce each of Cocchi Vermouth di Torino and Campari, the recipe is gin-forward on paper. But the gin of choice, Sipsmith London Dry, was deliberately selected in part for its ABV—which at 41.6 percent is slightly above than the standard 40 percent—but without the boozy bite of something higher. The result was an exceptionally balanced cocktail, each element detectable in appropriate measure. It’s a Negroni that can do it all.

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Huelo’s Japanese Slipper

Japanese Slipper Cocktail

This variation on the Japanese Slipper, an Australian-born modern classic from the 1980s, brightens the original formula and adds complexity by cutting the melon liqueur with savory gin and replacing the Cointreau with aloe vera syrup. As a final flourish, the drink is garnished with Champagne air in truly hedonistic ’80s style.

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The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

June Bug TGIFridays Cocktail

Another neon green cocktail, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution from Austin’s Drew Record takes inspiration from two classic disco drinks: TGI Fridays’ June Bug (a mix of coconut rum, melon liqueur, banana liqueur, sour mix and pineapple juice) and the Japanese Slipper. This low-ABV spin, according to Record, “speaks to the flavor memories of both of these recipes, and mingles” the best elements of both.

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