Cocktail culture is all the rage. Yes, it comes with some unwanted baggage. You’ve got to deal with the pretention and the mustaches. Once you get past those, the phenomenon itself deserves your esteem.

For our first decade of consumption, when we ordered a drink from a bar, the central question involved what liquor to mix with Coca-Cola or tonic water. A few bartenders knew how to make a Manhattan. But, who drinks Manhattans? Crusty old men. We were young and hip, so no Manhattans for us. But, an Old Fashioned? Yes, please!

Times have changed. Society has embraced the craft cocktail. Historians scour records for what people drank in the 1920’s, and mixologists in funny hats recreate the concoctions for their adoring patrons. By the way, is mixology an art or a science? It doesn’t much matter; consider us strident supporters of elevated imbibing.

A well-constructed cocktail is hard to beat. Sometimes, though, we’d prefer to stay at home. Maybe, we’re hosting others. Maybe, we’re sitting alone binge-watching Netflix. Either way, it pays to have a couple of cocktail recipes up our shelves.

Last night, we made a scofflaw. The word “scofflaw” refers to people who flout the law, particularly those drinking illegally during the Prohibition-era. The cocktail “scofflaw” is a simple-to-make whisky drink. The grenadine makes it appear overly sweet, but it actually delivers a pleasant balance of tart, dry and sweet flavors.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces of rye whiskey
• 2 ounces of dry vermouth
• 1 ounce of lemon juice
• 1 ounce of grenadine
• 2 or 3 dashes of orange bitters
• Lemon peel

Directions

Combine the ingredients in the order that they are listed. Stir. Add ice and garnish with lemon peel. Enjoy.

If you have a cocktail shaker, you can chill the ingredients by shaking them with ice then straining the liquid into a glass.