1/3 Sweet Vermouth (1 oz Vya)
1/6 Orange Juice (1/2 oz)
1/6 Kümmel (1/2 oz Helbing)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added an orange twist.
Friday, March 18, 2011
vowel cocktail
1/3 Blended Scotch (1 oz Famous Grouse)
1/3 Sweet Vermouth (1 oz Vya)
1/6 Orange Juice (1/2 oz)
1/6 Kümmel (1/2 oz Helbing)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added an orange twist.
Last Saturday, I spotted the Vowel Cocktail in Harry MacElhone's Barflies and Cocktails. The Vowel's combination of orange juice and kümmel made me think of the tasty Lupe Velez and the Kingston Heights and lured me in. Once mixed, the Vowel Cocktail greeted me with an orange aroma from the juice and twist, grape from the Vya vermouth, and malt notes from the Scotch. Upon sampling the drink, the fruit notes of orange and vermouth appeared on the sip, and the Scotch, kümmel's caraway, and the Angostura's spice rounded out the drink on the swallow. With the full flavored vermouth along with the Scotch and orange juice, the Vowel Cocktail reminded me of a cherryless and spicier Blood & Sand.
1/3 Sweet Vermouth (1 oz Vya)
1/6 Orange Juice (1/2 oz)
1/6 Kümmel (1/2 oz Helbing)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added an orange twist.
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5 comments:
I have never seen Kümmel in the Boston area. Can you get it locally?
Unfortunately, no. Ours came via Andrea's boss on his travels to Germany after we failed to find it in Massachusetts (we even asked Marty's in Newtonville and Ball Square Liquors to see if they could order it for us). The guys from CocktailBuzz found theirs in New York City so it might be imported in certain places with high immigrant populations or other (or knowing NYC, just plain smuggled).
I know one of the bars in Boston makes their own (recipes for such are google-able). Hopefully, if there is enough of a market demand, someone will start to import it. It has happened with other spirits...
Scored a bottle of Helbing Kümmel at Table and Vine in W. Springfield Ma while out visiting friends in Northampton. T &V is also a good place to score Plymouth Sloe Gin at $7-8 cheaper than the Boston area as well as Thatcher's Elderflower Liqueur for those who want another elderflower flavor on their cabinet other than St G.
Good news. Was it a dusty bottle or is there enough of an eastern European presence there to necessitate kummel being imported and sold? We are out in that neck of the woods every few months, so perhaps we'll stop in.
The buyer said he had 20 bottles in stock, and those on the shelf looked entirely dust free.
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