Monday, January 7, 2013

queen of sheba

1 1/2 drink Brandy (1 1/2 oz Foret)
2 dash Sherry (1/4 oz Lustau East India Solera)
1 dash Port (1 barspoon Taylor Fladgate Ruby)
1 dash Sweet Vermouth (1 barspoon Cocchi)
2 dash Maraschino (1/4 oz Luxardo)
1 dash Curaçao (1 barspoon Pierre Ferrand)
2 barspoon Sugar (1 barspoon)
2 Egg Yolks (1 Yolk)

Shake with ice and strain into two (here 1) long thin glass. Crown each glass with an egg's white beated stiff. Sprinkle colored sugar (sugar infused with beet) on top. Note: the original was for two drinks and I scaled it down to one.

After the Joliet, I was in the mood for another drink so I peered into William Schmidt's The Flowing Bowl for something unusual. The late 19th century gem I selected was the Queen of Sheba which reminded me of a Knickebein with the liqueur, egg yolk, and spirit layers mixed together into a Flip. With that lack of separation, the style is a lot more casual and there is less weight put on the presence egg yolk. The Queen that the recipe refers to is a 10th century BC ruler of Ethiopia, and back then that empire would have included a vast stretch of land extending through the Middle East and into Armenia.  She was a contemporary of King Solomon and paid him a visit in Jerusalem.
william schmidt the flowing bowl
Once assembled, I regretted not having green colored sugar in addition to the red to give the drink a Christmas feel appropriate for the week it was made. Besides decorative, the egg white crown did function to dampen the ingredients' aroma. Once past the meringue layer, the sip was a creamy grape flavor. Finally, the swallow began with the brandy and ended with the liqueurs' orange and Maraschino notes.

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