Jena Derman

"Kitsch is back, baby. Kitsch is cool. It's true in fashion, design, art, and especially in booze. Bartenders have begun taking a maximalist approach to ingredients and, in doing so, have uncovered and reclaimed forgotten bottles like amaretto and Galliano for use in modernized, delicious creations. Midori is a prime example of this transformation. It's a high-quality Japanese melon liqueur, but snobby leather-aproned bartenders turned up their noses for decades because it happens to be neon green.

Fill a 9 by 13-inch pan two-thirds of the way with ice and cold water. • With dry hands, take the weighed or counted sheets of gelatin and submerge them in the ice water one at a time, taking care that they are not clumping together. (Work in batches as needed to avoid clumping.) • Let the sheets sit in the ice water until they are smooth and soft and the diamond pattern on the surface has faded. Use your hands to agitate regularly to aid this process. The whole process should take 3 to 5 minutes.

"The Negroni is a gateway drink. One minute you're ordering dive-bar trash like Sex on the Beach and Incredible Hulks, but after one sip of that blood-red nectar your life has forever changed. Suddenly, an entire world of bitter, botanical beverages is on your horizon. The Negroni, and its cousins the Boulevardier and Mezcal Negroni, are wonderful in their simplicity to whip up (equal parts!) and remarkable in complexity and depth of flavor.