1 1/2 oz. cognac
3/4 oz. Punt e Mes
1/4 oz. grenadine
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Stir on ice jusque à froid. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Add 1 1/2 - 2 oz. Lambrusco.
Transcribed on 4 October, 2008 from a register tape filled with elegant, rounded script (not my own).
Yes, yes, I know. A bit late with my posts. Work's been busy, but now that I've emerged somewhat from paperwork hell, I can catch up.
Fred had suggested that we stop in at Rendezvous a couple of Saturdays ago. I felt nicely warmed by the glass of crusted port with which I had finished my dinner at Vee Vee, and so I took him up on the suggestion. Scott greeted us with his usual friendly half-smile and poured us some water while we settled into seats nearest the door. Looking over the menu, I decided on Rome is Burning, for no other reason than the name sounded so very evocative. "Yes, indeed, Rome is Burning."
The nose was very grapey. The color - darkest purple-red. The taste - much sweeter than I anticipated, with a very slight effervescent bite. Sadly, I concluded it really wasn't what I wanted to drink à ce moment-là. The bartender later warned me that the cocktail is more of an apéritif, and I can see that the flavor might have worked better had I not just eaten (and imbibed) something sweet (a slice of cheesecake and the aforementioned port). So I passed the cocktail glass off to Fred. I still wanted a cocktail, so I waited while Fred finished my drink before requesting another drink.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
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5 comments:
I enjoyed the drink. My only critique is that Lambrusco is so full bodied that it dominated the drink. Cutting it down by half might bring out the other flavors a bit more. Although Scott's intention could have been to make more of a vermouthesque drink based on the Lambrusco and did so intentionally.
I know you think I was being unduly harsh in this review, but the shortcomings were mostly my own. I think it would have tasted much better with something salty, but I really did blow my palate with the port. Hence the caveat that it wasn't what I wanted at that very moment.
And I wasn't being contemptuous about the half-smile - I find them charming at their best, enigmatic more often, sneering - rarely.
I wish I knew which drink you were talking about for the Rome is Burning lacks Maraschino entirely.
With that said, the Boston palate seems to be able to handle a lot more Maraschino than many other cities' from what I've gathered.
Whoa, I could have sworn I posted that for The Fritz. Will delete here and repost there.
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