Wednesday, August 24, 2011

alcazer

1/2 Rye (1 oz Redemption)
1/4 Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1/4 Fernet Branca (1/2 oz)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail onion (subbed Barker & Mill's Bourbon Vanilla Cocktail Cherries).

Last Wednesday, I was flipping through Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 for Andrea had expressed interest in a whiskey drink. There, I spotted the Alcazer which matched rye whiskey with Fernet Branca and orange liqueur. Indeed, I remember enjoying that combination in Kevin Martin's whiskey riff of the Heather in Queue that I dubbed the Heather in the Rye. The Alcazer recipe called for pearl onions which we lack in house, and I wished that we had some of Kevin Martin's vermouth-infused onions that he made for the Nolet's Gin dinner. Instead of going on the briny angle with olives, I substituted the delicious Barker & Mills cocktail cherries that I was gifted at Tales of the Cocktail last month. While the onions would donate an interesting salty-savory note that often works well with bitter liqueurs, vanilla-cherry ones would certainly not be out of place here.
The Alcazer began with a rye and orange aroma with perhaps some notes from the cherry's syrup. Next, the sip presented a sweet, smooth orange flavor. For the swallow, I picked up on rye followed by a fruity-Fernet flavor while Andrea noted more of an orange-Fernet taste. Just like Cherry Heering in the Pinto, the Cointreau in this drink did an excellent job of subduing the Fernet into a well-behaved glassmate.

2 comments:

Jordan said...

How do you think this drink would go if you subbed in something like Chartreuse for the Fernet? It sounds interesting, but I'm still a bit scared by Fernet's rep.

frederic said...

The two are not very much alike, but it will probably be tasty. The combination of Green Chartreuse and Cointreau makes me want to recommend the Prospector Cocktail instead (it's Cognac based though).