rabo-de-galo

2 oz Beija Cachaça
1 oz Punt e Mes
1 dash Housemade Orange Bitters
St. Elizabeth's Allspice Dram

Stir the cachaça, Punt e Mes, and bitters on ice. Strain into a cocktail glass pre-rinsed with Allspice Dram. Twist an orange peel over the top and discard the peel.

For my second drink at Eastern Standard last night, I asked Hugh Fiore to make me a drink with Punt e Mes in it and with an Allspice Dram rinse. The Maldenado's spiciness and tequila made me think of the Allspice Dram, and the bottle of Punt e Mes next to it on the shelf seemed like it would make a good pairing. I left the rest of the ingredients up to Hugh. Hugh's touches were the Beija Cachaça and orange bitters. The cachaça's unaged rum heat made for a good transition from the blanco tequila in the last drink. The Beija's taste and Punt e Mes' berry notes came out in the first part of the sip, and this was followed by the flavors in the Allspice Dram and by a wave of bitter notes from the Punt e Mes vermouth and the orange bitters in the swallow. The Allspice Dram and the roughness of the cachaça complemented each other rather nicely, and the end result reminded me of a raw Pirate's Cocktail. In searching for a name for this drink, I discovered that the Rabo-de-galo in Brazil is a similar 2:1 cachaça to sweet vermouth cocktail. Moreover, the sweet vermouth is sometimes substituted for Cynar in São Palo, a combination with which I am sure would Hugh would be game to experiment.