Phil Ward coined the term “Mr. Potato Head” around the time he was developing drinks for our very first menu back in 2006. The term has since become industry parlance for taking an established cocktail recipe and swapping out one or more components to create something familiar, but new. A great early example of this approach is Phil’s Elder Fashion, which replaces all three elements in a classic old-fashioned with new ingredients. Citrusy Plymouth gin steps in for the whiskey, floral St-Germain (a liqueur so popular at the time that we called it “ketchup”) for the demerara syrup, and orange bitters in place of aromatic. Even the traditional lemon and orange twists are swapped out for grapefruit. The result is built like an old-fashioned but couldn’t taste more different than the brown-and-boozy classic, with a floral nose and bright, citrusy flavor profile. The Elder-Fashion also lends itself well to another drink-creation trick, the “royale treatment”—that is, topping an existing cocktail with sparkling wine to create a new drink. You’ll find recipes for the Elder Fashion and the Elder Fashion Royale in our first book, “Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails,” but we’ve included instructions for both drinks below.