After I sent him the recipe for the Hoskins, Doc pointed out that it was a cousin of the Fin de Siècle cocktail, which indeed looked to me to be a sibling of the Hearst cocktail. If you throw in the Brooklyn, we’ve got ourselves quite a lovely little family, most with one gene in common — Amer Picon (or at least its American version, Torani Amer).

I’m really gettin’ to like that Amer, and will start to play with it a lot more. Oddly enough, the drink I first got it for, and the national drink of the Basques — Picon Punch — didn’t really do all that much for me when I first tried it. (UPDATE: I think it’s because the old vegetal-tasting formulation of Torani Amer didn’t really work all that well in a Picon Punch, but it does now. However, I digress …)

In the meantime … let’s mix:

Fin de Siècle Cocktail

1-1/2 ounces Plymouth gin.
3/4 ounces sweet vermouth.
1/4 ounce Amer Picon.
1 dash orange bitters.

Stir with ice in a mixing glass for no less than thirty seconds.
Strain into a cocktail glass; no garnish.

I hope I don’t find myself wanting to drink ten of these tonight.