Thursday, April 26, 2012

four moors

1 1/2 oz Lustau Dry Amontillado Sherry
1 oz BG Reynolds Orgeat
1/2 oz Mirto Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

For my second drink at Estragon, bartender Sahil Mehta made me the Four Moors which sounded appealing for its inclusion of Mirto, a Sardinian bitter liqueur flavored by myrtle berries and leaves. The name Four Moors is a reference to the four Moors on the Sardinian flag; moreover, the Moors' ties to Spain is what prompted Sahil to use sherry as the base spirit. In addition, the combination of sherry and orgeat was also tempting for it worked rather well in Clio's Joe Bans You.
The Four Moors began with a lemon oil and orgeat aroma that later became more sherry driven. The amontillado's grape filled the sip, and its nuttiness paired with the orgeat on the swallow. Finally, the Mirto's bitter notes worked well to give the Four Moors some complexity at the end.

2 comments:

elkaboom said...

Sounds delicious! I'm curious to know if Sahil used Mirto Rosso or Bianco. By the color, I'm assuming the former, but that could be a burly home-made orgeat mucking things up a bit. BTW, the reason I'm here is because I Googled Gin Gin Mule & Fernet. I spiked mine in that manner & I was curious if anyone else had the same inspiration...seems natural enough. Thanks for all the great reporting on your discoveries.

frederic said...

It was definitely the darker Mirto. We can only get one in town -- Argiolas Tremontis Mirto Liqueur.

Cheers!