My cocktail life

In my early 20s, cocktails were for sweet drinking with quick results and horrible hangovers. In my mid 20s, I disregarded my mom's warning about gin ("It makes you mean," she says) and found that I loved it. It was the first time I could drink a cocktail and taste the alcohol without wanting to spit it out. In my late 20s, I learned that there was more to cocktail drinking than vodka, gin and whiskey.; there were bitters and botanicals and tinctures. In my 30s I stood in the liquor aisle with my boyfriend and a small wad of cash, paralyzed with indecision on whether to buy the Lillet or the Cocchi Americano.

This is what aging looks like, people -- Frasier Crane style.

It's all a little ridiculous; every time I've tried to write about cocktails, I erase everything because of how pretentious everything sounds. But when you find a hobby that is truly fun, one that you can share (and that others are eager to partake in), that is visually pleasing and makes you feel fancy, that gives you out-of-town destinations on your quest for new ideas and tastes, that plugs you into subcultures (strange and snobby as they may be), and that opens your palate to a world of complex flavors, it is so worthwhile.

So, back to the grocery aisle in my third decade of life: we went with the Cocchi Americano. And, on a whim, some Gentiane Quina. The former has the sweet, kind of floral-sweet taste of Lillet (which, if you haven't tried, is an easy sipper and lovely chilled aperitif), but also a nice taste of apple. And the gentian is akin to sweet vermouth with more bite. Neither is terribly expensive, so you can totally buy them both.

With these ingredients we made our Friday night cocktails.

Reviver No. 2 (straight from the back of the Cocchi Americano bottle): 3/4 oz. each Cocchi Americano, dry gin, triple sec, fresh lemon juice; shake and strain and float 2 drops of absinthe over it (we used Ricard instead). Bright and tart and not so sweet. If you like refreshing Collins-type drinks, give this a whirl.

Negroni: 1 oz. each gin, Campari and Gentiane (in place of the vermouth); stirred; orange rim (we stuck a slice in the drink for good looks). Not for the early-20s version of cocktail-me, to be sure, though the color would have attracted me right away. It's bitter and earthy and unusually sweet. Negronis in their various forms are ones I have grown to really love.

Prost.