power of love

1 1/2 oz Lustau Spanish Brandy
3/4 oz Mulberry Syrup (*)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 barspoon Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
2 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Fill with crushed ice, garnish with fresh mulberries(*) and a sprig of mint, and add a straw.
(*) Will work with most berry syrups (or berries muddled in simple syrup).
One of the stretches on my walk home from work has a trio of mulberry trees. For the last 4 or 5 years, I have been making syrups and shrubs with them. As I passed by and watched them ripen, I decided that I needed to something for Loyal Nine's Yacht Rock Sundays with them. The direction I wanted to take was a classic Fix. One part because they always look better with berry garnishes such as Ted Kilpatrick's treatment of Harry Johnson's Brandy Fix, and the other part because I was reading the updated edition of David Wondrich's Imbibe. With the subtitle ending up "a Fix for what ails you," dubbing this after Huey Lewis' Power of Love seemed appropriate. The Maraschino liqueur was added to make berry flavors pop out more and the orange bitters to complement the lemon juice in the mix. Obviously, this drink will come off the menu when mulberries are out of season, but it would work just as well with blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries. With this syrup, I also did a Cobbler for Fourth of July fixed price menu drink pairing to complement a ginger trifle dessert (see my Instagram post) as well as a brandy-mulberry Ramos Fizz to pair with a different dessert (a strawberry Buckle) for a couple's first or second date that was going rather well.