Curar la resaca: aka Hangover Cure

For those of you who have been following both of my blogs, you may remember that in my post last week I made an aside about Italian amari in a tequila bar, and this cocktail was one I had in mind.  Liqueurs and liquors are absolutely able to cross the regional lines of cuisine (such is one of the truly great aspects of globalization in commerce), but it's important to keep the spirit of your brand at the core of your creations when building a cocktail list.

This cocktail was created for the brunch menu of a tequila bar with Mexican cuisine.  I will be the first to admit that I'm one of those bartenders who love Fernet-Branca, and because of the growing popularity of amari I was determined to find a reason to carry it on this shelf.  Fernet-Branca is one of those post-dinner liqueurs that helps stimulate digestion, and the heavy mint overtones immediately brought it to mind as something to soothe a stomach still reeling from last night's festivities--a real "hair of the dog" concoction.  To anchor it to the concept of the bar, I used a reposado tequila for the base and xocolatl molé bitters for the balance, sweetened it with agave nectar syrup, and rounded it out with ruby grapefruit juice and the nausea-soothing properties of ginger ale.

Curar la Resaca

 

 

Glass:  Collins/Highball
Method:  Shake and Strain

Garnish:  Orange Twist

 

1oz Milagro Reposado tequila

.5oz Fernet-Branca

.5oz Agave syrup

.25oz Fresh ruby grapefruit juice

1 dash Bitter Truth Xocolatl Molé bitters

2 dashes Regan's Orange bitters

2oz Ginger Ale (I use Canada Dry or White Rock)

 

Shake all ingredients (yes...including the ginger ale) with ice and strain into

10-12oz Collins glass filled with ice.  Garnish with an orange twist.

Persephone's Descent

Happy holidays to all!  With the cold weather having set in, I thought it was time to share one of my newer recipes--perfect to curl up with next to a fire.  This is also a perfect use for that spiceberry dram I wrote about in a previous entry.  If you don't have the dram ready to go, any commercially available ones would work well enough--though there are a couple of adjustments I'd recommend.  If you are using The Bitter Truth Pimento Dram, I might recommend using a simple syrup made with dark brown sugar instead of regular sugar, and a few drops of vanilla extract. If you are using St. Elizabeth's Allspice Dram you might want to shake in a few whole allspice berries and cloves, and cut the simple syrup to .25oz.

Now...onto the recipe, accompanied by a fantastic photo grid of me making the cocktail...courtesy of our social media coordinator at work.

Persephone's Descent

 

 

Glass: Large coupe

Method: Shake and Strain

Garnish: Flamed orange peel

 

1oz Four Roses Yellow Label bourbon

1oz Ruby Port

.5oz Spiceberry Dram

.5oz Simple syrup (1:1 ratio)

.25oz Fresh Orange juice

1 dash Bitter Truth Xocolatl Mole bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a large coupe.  Flame a freshly peeled piece of orange peel over the cocktail to add aromatics and spectacle.

 

The name for this cocktail is another one of my tributes to the gods and goddesses of classical Greece.  Persephone is the daughter of Demeter (goddess of the grain and harvest), and ultimately the queen of the Underworld. Persephone was kidnapped by Hades (the ruler of the Underworld) after Zeus (the ruler of the gods and goddesses) promised her for his bride. Her mother searched the world for her and fell into such despair searching that she neglected her duties and let the fields die. When Demeter finally found Persephone, Persephone had eaten some pomegranate seeds in her time with Hades. Zeus ruled that since she had partaken of food in the Underworld that she must return for that many months every year to rule alongside Hades. Every year, upon her return to the Underworld, Demeter mourns and lets the earth die. When Persephone returns, Demeter rejoices and the fields flourish.  This is the story of the changing of the seasons in Greek mythology and the background of the name for this beautiful and lush fall/winter cocktail.