[scotch indian flip]

2 oz Laphroaig Cask Strength Scotch
3/4 oz Demerara-Katira Gum Spiced Syrup
1 Egg

Shake ingredients once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with grated nutmeg.

On Sunday night, Andrea and I went over to Drink. John Gertsen was tending at the station we sat down at, and I asked him what he had been making lately that he thought I would enjoy. Out of the two or three drinks he mentioned, the Indian-spiced Scotch flip seemed unique enough to warrant a try. The simple syrup was made from demerara sugar and spiced with cardamom and clove. Moreover, the syrup contained katira gum (sometimes called tragacanth) which is a thickener that provides a full-mouthed feel similar to gum arabic and hails from a plant that grows in the Middle East. The drink itself was very smoky even over the soothing properties of the gum and the egg. The clove and cardamom came through quite nicely on the swallow. Andrea was pretty surprised when she tasted it as to how "super peaty" it was.