Tuesday, February 2, 2010

sunray

1/4 Bourbon Whiskey (3/4 oz Eagle Rare 10 Year)
1/4 Grand Marnier (3/4 oz)
1/4 Lillet (3/4 oz Lillet Blanc)
1/4 Orange Juice (3/4 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

On Saturday night, I was flipping through the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book and found the Sunray which seemed like it would be an intriguing Bourbon-based Hoop La variant. Surprisingly, the Sunray was relatively rather spicy and assertive especially compared to the Hoop La. The spice notes we attributed to the recipe's call for Grand Marnier instead of Cointreau or another orange liqueur, and for the strong barrel and mash notes in the Bourbon instead of the Hoop La's smoother Cognac. The drink's assertiveness stunned us for orange juice usually acts to smooth over flavors unlike the Hoop La's lemon; perhaps it did smooth over the first part of the sip but definitely not the latter half.

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