brasserie special

1/2 Seagram's Bourbon Whiskey (1 1/2 oz Old Granddad Bonded)
1/2 Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1 tsp Passion Fruit Syrup (1/2 oz)
1 dash Lemon Juice (3/4 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

For an after work drink a few Saturdays ago, I turned to the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book. There, I uncovered the Brasserie Special that was a Tiki-feeling Bourbon drink that paired orange liqueur and passion fruit similar to that book's Bluebeard's Passion and Tiki classics like the Tonga. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make things less sweet and to bring up the passion fruit and citrus aspects. Perhaps giving the passion fruit and orange liqueur equal footing was not the intended flavor profile of W.E. Edwards of the UK Bartender's Guild, but it seemed to work. Modifying the above to be 1/4 oz passion fruit syrup and 1/2 oz lemon juice might keep the same level of sweetness and be a touch truer to the original concept. I could have done all the sweeteners and citrus at 1/2 oz akin to the Don's Special Daiquiri as well. Regardless, it was delightful.
The Brasserie Special gave forth a tropical aroma with orange and passion fruit notes along with hints of whiskey. Next, lemon, orange, and malt on the sip elegantly slid into Bourbon on the swallow with a dry passion fruit finish.