super nova

(a) 1 3/4 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1 dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1/2 oz Cardamom Simple Syrup
(b) 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
Lemon Twist

Stir ingredients in (a) with ice. Add Chartreuse to rocks glass and ignite. Twist the lemon rind over the fire and drop in to caramelize. Douse the flame after 15 seconds by straining (a) over the top of (b). Serve, but let rocks glass cool before drinking.

For one of my cocktails at Drink on Sunday night, John Gertsen made me his variation on the Star Cocktail that he dubbed the Super Nova. The Star Cocktail first appeared in George Kappeler's Modern American Drinks in 1895. The recipe is as follows:

Star Cocktail
1 1/2 oz Apply Brandy
1 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
3 dashes Peychaud's or Angostura Bitters
2 dashes Gomme Syrup

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

Gertsen's variation kept the basic gist of the Star Cocktail but changed the nonpotable bitters, brandy to vermouth ratio, and syrup type. However, the major change was the green Chartreuse which altered the flavor greatly, and indeed, the flame certainly added to the showmanship aspect immensely. In the drink, the Chartreuse flavors mingled with the Carpano Antica vermouth and the bitters quite nicely, and the flamed lemon twist added a slight burnt caramel nose. All of these flavors were riding on top of an orange bitters-less Marconi Wireless base. Andrea commented that the Super Nova tasted "candied but not cloying", and I would have to agree that the balance of this drink was right on the money.