Anatomy of a Drink

Est. 2022

Anatomy professor by day.
Cocktail creator & photographer by night.

One cocktail · Every day

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Anatomy of a Drink✦One Cocktail Every Day✦Stirred✦Shaken✦Built✦Est. 2022✦Anatomy of a Drink✦Mezcal✦Calvados✦Rhum Agricole✦Japanese Whisky✦Tequila✦Bourbon✦Sherry✦Anatomy of a Drink✦One Cocktail Every Day✦Stirred✦Shaken✦Built✦Est. 2022✦Anatomy of a Drink✦Mezcal✦Calvados✦Rhum Agricole✦Japanese Whisky✦Tequila✦Bourbon✦Sherry✦

Daniel E. Zajic, Ph.D.

The Creator

Daniel E. Zajic

Ph.D. · Associate Professor of Health, Human Performance & Athletics

One cocktail, every day — where the science of flavor meets the craft of the bar.

Daniel teaches Human Anatomy & Physiology at Linfield University. A first-generation Czech-American and member of the LGBTQ+ community, he shares a new cocktail every day.

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Latest

November 12, 2026

Mr Manager

By Brett Adams (@your.daily.brett)

This cocktail was created by Brett Adams (@your.daily.brett) and published in The Bartender’s Library, his new book with Jacob Grier (@jacobgrier). They describe it as a banana Daiquiri with a little more going on, using light rum as the base and a more flavorful Jamaican rum to give it extra depth. Banana and cinnamon bring ripe fruit and warm spice, while Amaro Montenegro adds citrus and soft herbal bitterness. The original is served without a garnish, but I added a dehydrated banana slice. The name is a reference to a scene in the Arrested Development series; Adams elaborated on the name in a message to me, "The banana stand is too obvious so you gotta go one deeper."

RumAmaro

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Mezcal✦Calvados✦Rye Whiskey✦Tequila✦Rhum Agricole✦Bourbon✦Japanese Whisky✦Gin✦Scotch✦Rum✦Sherry✦Amaro✦Vermouth✦Cachaça✦Mezcal✦Calvados✦Rye Whiskey✦Tequila✦Rhum Agricole✦Bourbon✦Japanese Whisky✦Gin✦Scotch✦Rum✦Sherry✦Amaro✦Vermouth✦Cachaça✦

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RumAmaro

Nov 11, 2026Jackson Oelke

Michigan Standard

This cocktail was created by Jackson Oelke (@jackoelke) and published in The Bartender’s Library by Brett Adams (@your.daily.brett) and Jacob Grier (@jacobgrier) explain that the Multnomah Whiskey Library staff loves making unusual Daiquiri riffs, and this split-base combination of funky Jamaican rum and baking-spice-forward amaro became one of their go-to recommendations when guests asked for a fun rum drink. This drink is now on the menu at their downstairs bar, The Green Room. Doctor Bird brings a Michigan connection to the drink: the Jamaican rum is blended and finished in Moscatel casks at Two James Spirits in Detroit. The cinnamon syrup I happen to use has gum arabic in it, which gives the cocktail a prominent foam layer.

Daiquiri

This classic cocktail is generally credited to Jennings Stockton Cox in Daiquirí, Cuba, around 1898, though rum, citrus, and sugar had been combined throughout the Caribbean long before then. Despite what countless frozen, sugar-loaded versions might suggest, a proper Daiquiri is simply those three ingredients, shaken cold, and kept in balance. The Daiquiri was one of the first drinks I shared when I started this series in 2022, but somehow I never gave it a proper post. It has remained my go-to cocktail ever since. If I had to choose a deathbed cocktail, this would be it. For this one, I used Pelacañas Blanco (@pelacanas.ronartesanal), a Mexican agricole-style rum made in Jalisco from 100% freshly pressed, estate-grown sugarcane juice. It brings fresh cane, tropical fruit, and a slightly funky edge while still keeping the drink crisp and straightforward.

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RumAmaro

Nov 9, 2026Craig Nielsen

Dark Magus

This cocktail was created by Craig Nielsen in 2025 and lands somewhere in the tropical Negroni realm. Hampden Estate 8 Year gives it plenty of ripe fruit and Jamaican funk, while pineapple and banana push that tropical character even further. Campari and Angostura add a firm bitter, spiced edge, with orange oil brightening everything up. The name shares its title with a Miles Davis live album, though I could not find confirmation from Nielsen that this was the intended reference.

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Rye Whiskey

Nov 8, 2026Reddit user u/xiaotiexia

Frozen in a Starry Void

This cocktail was created by Reddit user u/xiaotiexia and shared to r/cocktails in 2020. I found it while looking through a master list of Last Word riffs and equal-parts cocktails, and the combination was unusual enough that I had to try it. Rye gives it a dry, spicy base, but the allspice dram is the real star, bringing a heavy dose of baking spice alongside the maraschino and lime. It drinks richer and spicier than most Last Word variations. The name also appears to come from a line in MGMT’s “Siberian Breaks.”

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RumCampari

Nov 7, 2026Michael McIlroy

Right Hand

This cocktail was created by Michael McIlroy (@attaboy_mcilroy) at Milk & Honey in New York City around 2005 as the companion to Sam Ross’s Left Hand. The structure is nearly identical, but aged rum replaces bourbon and an orange twist takes the place of the cherry. Both drinks were part of Milk & Honey’s “Hand” family and made use of the then-new Bittermens mole bitters. The rum brings caramel, tropical fruit, and spice, while the bitters pull everything toward cocoa and warm baking spice. If the Left Hand is a chocolate-accented Boulevardier, the Right Hand is its richer rum-based counterpart.

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