As a freshly minted bartender, still learning the ropes at PDT, the neo-speakeasy where I worked, I spent a lot of time studying a Rolodex of cocktail recipes. This was the late 2000s, a time when smartphones were only accessible to well-off early adopters, so I mean a literal Rolodex—an acrylic box that contained alphabetical-ordered, plastic-sheathed notecards with hundreds of recipes, from original PDT drinks to long-forgotten classics.
One of these was the Air Mail. It’s an elegant concoction of rum, lime, honey, and sparkling wine that I would introduce to any bar guest of mine who liked a French 75 and perhaps wanted to try something “off menu.” It eventually ended up in my then-boss Jim Meehan’s excellent PDT Cocktail Book.