[kartini]

2 oz Batavia Arrack
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz B.G. Reynolds Orgeat
1/2 oz Lustau Pedro Ximénez Sherry
1/4 oz Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Two Mondays ago, we ventured over to the Citizen Public House when Sean Frederick was bartending. For a drink, I asked Sean to make me something with Batavia Arrack and sherry. Sean thought for a moment and then set into action to craft a complex Tiki libation by putting orgeat, lime, and a healthy dose of Angostura Bitter into the mix. The structure of the drink reminded me of something he made for me on the fly after returning from the Angostura competition in Trinidad that eventually got dubbed the Jab Molassie. For this unnamed drink, I dubbed it the Kartini after Raden Ayu Kartini, an Indonesian heroine who was a pioneer of women's rights there.
The nutmeg garnish's aroma greeted the nose. A lime and grape sip led into a swallow filled with Batavia Arrack's rum-like funkiness and the sherry and orgeat's nutty raisin flavors. Finally, the bitters added a complex cherry, dryness, and spice to the finish.