I’m currently trying to find a good mixed drink that works well batched. I like drinking outside on summer evenings and getting up several times to make a new cocktail from scratch doesn’t really fit with the “sit outside and relax” thing for me. The difficulty for me is that I often just don’t like drinking more than one of a particular cocktail, either because it’s too intense in some way or because I get bored of it. And some cocktails just don’t batch well or are a little too involved for what I’m going for (e.g. hard-require shaking or elaborate garnishes).
I’m going to try a batch of Jungle Bird today - it’s better shaken, but it’s still good just poured on ice with a little sparkling water for dilution. Remains to be seen whether I’ll want a second and third one.
Sometimes I also enjoy a mix of whisky, Lillet blanc and a little still water (1 part whisky to 3 parts Lillet), it’s easy-drinking but doesn’t get too boring. The spirit + fortified wine thing seems like a great option, but I haven’t found a mix that I’m really into right now.
Sharpie Mustache once you get it dialed in for your personal taste. Note that Bonal and Meletti are very hard to sub out without major changes to the recipe. But if you’re out of oranges, I do a spritz or rinse with Bigallet China China, or even orange bitters.
On that note, I’ll make a batch of paper plane, or boulevardier, or negroni, or daiquiri, or maitai too. Sometimes I’ll do a batch of negroni or boulevardier upside-down if I need to be coherent later.
But don’t listen to intoxicated self later: you don’t need to finish the batch in one sitting. They’ll last just fine overnight.