(#CocktailSaturday) (from:tomwhoscontrary)

#CocktailSaturday moves along one axis: a Manhattan with 2℥ Rendezvous rye, 1℥ Yzaguirre reserva sweet vermouth, 2♏︎ Sainsbury's aromatic bitters is still pretty spicy.

No #CocktailSaturday would be complete without a Vieux Carré variation, and 1℥ White Rhino rye, 1℥ Cockspur fine rum, 1℥ Ramazzotti amaro, ½℥ Bénédictine, 1♏︎ Sainsbury's aromatic bitters, 1♏︎ Angostura bitters is it! Bit weird. Amaro dominates. Not unpleasant.

#CocktailSaturday accelerates with the Ramazzita (?!), being is 1½℥ White Rhino rye, ½℥ Ramazotti amaro, ½℥ Antica Formula, ½℥ Lillet Blanc, 2♏︎ Sainsbury's aromatic bitters. More black treacle and liquorice this time, hmm.

2℥ Red Leg spiced rum, ⅔℥ ginger wine, ⅓℥ amaretto, 2♏︎ orange bitters. There's a lot going on, but harmoniously - this is a winner. #cocktailsaturday

A last-minute #cocktailsaturday: the 'quatre carré', 2℥ Doorly's 12yo rum, 1℥ Antica Formula, ¼℥ Bénédictine, 1 Angostura bitters, 1 Peychaud's bitters; a vieux carré, with rum as the sole spirit. Doorly's is from the Foursquare distillery, hence the name. It really works!

On #CocktailSaturday resuming my negroni research with what I might call a golden negroni: 1℥ Suze, 1℥ Antica Formula, 1℥ Old Simon genever. It's got Antica in, so it's delicious, but the flavour of the Suze is swamped (though the obscene bitterness is not).

A simple #cocktailsaturday pre-lunch loosener of 2℥ Tullibardine 228 whisky, 1℥ Bénédictine, ⅓℥ lemon juice. The Tullibardine is quite sweet as whisky goes, but still contributes much more flavour than sickliness here - this packs a punch.

2℥ Red Leg spiced rum, 1℥ crème de cacao, 2♏︎ orange bitters, definitely a bit of a dessert, but there's enough contrast and bitterness to save it from insipidity - i quite like this. #cocktailsaturday

Invoking the dark arts of Ryanetics once more to round off #CocktailSaturday: 2℥ Tanqueray Ten, 1℥ Lillet Blanc, ½℥ Suze, 2♏︎ Elemakule Tiki bitters. Bright and crisp! The Suze doesn't overwhelm. Maybe could use lemon juice?

Quiz-assisting #CocktailSaturday: 3℥ Pierre Ferrand 1840, 1℥ MOF Chartreuse, ⅓℥ lemon juice, kind of an even more French Sidecar. This is pretty great! I had forgotten how good 1840 was, very full and fruity. The Chartreuse is very much in the background here.

Going a sedate 110% this #CocktailSaturday: 2℥ Physic gin, 1℥ Cointreau, ⅓℥ lemon juice, 1♏︎ orange bitters makes a slightly more intense and bitter White Lady. Given the Oxford gin, maybe a Hildebeast?

Quick #CocktailSaturday before settling down with the whisky; 1℥ Maker's Mark, 1℥ Buffalo Trace, 1℥ Chairman's Reserve, 1℥ Antica Formula, 1℥ Bénédictine, 2♏︎ Angostura bitters, 2♏︎ Abbott's bitters. Tried to make a Vieux Carre but went wrong. Spicy!

Officially still #CocktailSaturday, making a suspiciously normal Manhattan with 2℥ Rendezvous rye, 1℥ Yzaguirre reserva sweet vermouth, 2♏︎ Jerry Thomas's own decanter bitters. Really rather spicy.

#CocktailSaturday continues with an ingredient-driven experiment: 2℥ Old Simon genever, 1℥ Fleur de Couscouille, 1♏︎ Abbott's bitters. Fine, quite subtle, a little strange, maybe needs something more. Might work as a Sidecar/Aviation style thing?

On this cool and autumnal, er, July lunchtime, #CocktailSaturday sees a warming Manhattany formula of 2℥ smoked rum, 1℥ nocinio, and 2♏︎ Abbot's bitters. This really works, although the nocinio is a bit lost. Might try this again in the winter.

Finally getting round to this on #CocktailSaturday: 2℥ Mount Gay Eclipse, 1℥ triple sec, 1℥ blood orange juice makes a variant of an Outrigger. Sunset Outrigger? Outrigger on the Sand? Anyway it's perfectly nice, maybe a bit mild. https://twitter.com/ratkins/status/1344014846665383937 …

#CocktailSaturday sees the rather weird junction of 1℥ smoked rum, 1℥ cognac, 1℥ nocino, 1℥ Noilly Prat, 1♏︎ Abbott's bitters, and 1♏︎ orange bitters. Slightly herbal and very sweet, like a vieux carré from a hell dimension.

I'm still counting this as #cocktailsaturday: 1℥ Rendezvous rye whiskey, 1℥ Chairman's Reserve rum, 1℥ Bénédictine, 2♏︎ orange bitters. I wanted the buttery taste of the rye, couldn't be bothered to juice a lemon, but then got completely lost. Not bad, but not recommended.

Making an Elder Fashioned on this #CocktailSaturday - 3℥ Tanqueray Ten, 1℥ St Germain, dash orange bitters - on the suggestion of someone off Reddit. The muscular gin stands up well to the insistent liqueur.