Jonathan Adler has spent years working in nearly every corner of hospitality. He trained as a chef, cooked in fine-dining kitchens, honed wine skills as a sommelier, and eventually landed behind the bar, where all of those disciplines finally converged: he is currently the beverage director at a high-end cocktail bar in New York City. His layered background shapes the way he thinks about cocktails, and how some ingredients can be underestimated.

Luxardo Maraschino Originale is one of them. Frequently treated as a background modifier, the liqueur is usually measured in drops rather than ounces. Adler takes the opposite approach. By understanding its stone fruit character, restrained sweetness, and herbaceous and floral notes, he uses Luxardo Maraschino Originale as a structural ingredient, building cocktails around it instead of quietly supporting it.

With three original recipes, Adler shows how Maraschino Originale can anchor everything from a refreshing highball to a smoky stirred cocktail to a balanced sour.