Douglas Kerchek, “The Smoker,” from “Kissing in Manhattan,” David Schickler

Spanish Flip

When you marry into a family that seems to have it all together, their rituals in place, and the roles they play worn as comfortably as an old coat, it’s hard to find your place. For poor Douglas to wed into the Bonner clan, he’ll need to get used to about as much freedom as an iron maiden affords. But he knows that they’re a brandy family, that they enjoy the special mixing of spirits and citrus that is a cocktail (specifically, a well-made Sidecar), and that their penthouse, in the Preëmption apartment building on the Upper West Side, needs a little of the street let in.

Start with Spanish brandy instead of the French stuff, then add some lemon and simple syrup so you have a solid foundation. But replace the Cointreau with a bit of the Caribbean’s allspice-flavored pimento dram, dark rhum, and a few dashes of Trinidadian Angostura bitters, plus the white of one egg. Why add protein to a cocktail? For the frothy head and the amazing mouth feel it provides.

I think that Douglas wants to put his own stamp on this brandy family, to enjoy a cocktail that reflects Manhattan more accurately, and to impress them with the vigor he applies to shaking his take on a classic flip.