[beauty's release]

2 oz Housemade Amber Vermouth
1/2 oz Spiced Syrup
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with. Strain into a coupe glass.

For my second drink at Eastern Standard on Monday, I asked bartender Hugh Fiore if he had any ideas pairing vermouth and egg white. After Hugh inquired as to whether citrus would be ok, he set about improvising this drink. The spiced simple syrup he used was flavored with star anise, clove, and cinnamon.
The drink started with a cinnamon and star anise aroma that was able to penetrate the thick egg white head. The sweet sip was thick and filled with flavors from the amber vermouth and fruit elements, and the swallow had pleasantly lingering cinnamon and clove notes. When I let Andrea have a sip, she commented that it tasted vaguely Moroccan to her; indeed, it did have some spice elements in common with the Moroccan Old Fashioned I had a few months ago. She also commented that the drink tasted peachy or apricotty perhaps from the vermouth interacting with the Cointreau and grapefruit juice.