Tuesday, June 8, 2010

kingston contessa

1 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Aperol

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass spritzed with Medjool date essence.

For my second drink at Eastern Standard last week, bartender Hugh Fiore said that he had a rum drink that was inspired by his trip to Manhattan's Death & Co. bar. After hearing the ingredients, it sounded like a Smith & Cross Rum version of the gin-based Negroni variant, the Contessa. Given that Smith & Cross makes most everything taste better, I was game.
The drink started with the aroma of the Smith & Cross rum that came across in a very Batavia Arrack-sort of way. The sweet vermouth and Aperol combined to provide a fruity sip that was followed by a spicy and funky swallow from the rum coupled with bitter notes from the vermouth and Aperol liqueur. Rum in place of the gin in the Contessa seemed to shift the flavor profile away from the bitter herbal complexity and bring the fruit aspects a little more forward.

Postnote 10/8/21:Hugh was most likely introduced to the Kingston Negroni that had been created less than a year before.

5 comments:

KeithP said...

Interesting - Death & Co. (here in NYC) just rolled out a new menu and on it they have a drink called the Kingston Negroni (Smith & Cross, carpano and campari).

frederic said...

Thank you for commenting! My notes said P.D.T./Death & Co. since he mentioned both, and I only wrote P.D.T. in this post. So this sounds very much like Mr. Fiore was influenced by!

frederic said...

Also, I changed (besides the bar) the name to Kingston Contessa.

KeithP said...

No worries, if i had to guess i'm sure PDT has a variant as well (and they are only a block away from one another ...)

You know I thought the name was different when I first read the post.

I Just Don't Get It. said...

Hi!
I really enjoy your blog and want to keep you in the loop with news from our restaurants- some of the best cocktail spots in Boston. If you're interested in receiving info, send your contact details to asteinbock@marlomc.com. Thanks!