Saturday, November 23, 2019

garibaldi wallbanger

1 Orange, Juiced and Blended (2 1/2 oz)
1 oz Campari
1 oz Vodka (Barr Hill)
1/2 oz Galliano

Build spirits in a small glass and chill in the freezer. Juice a refrigerated orange and blend (stick blender). Pour the fluffy orange juice into the chilled glass with the spirits, mix, and garnish with an orange slice. If a Breville juicer is used, skip the blending step.

After brunch two Saturdays ago, I was reading Instagram and noted that the day before, November 8th, was National Harvey Wallbanger Day. I had written about the last time I had celebrated that holiday which was also the first time that I had that 1970s drink back at an event at Eastern Standard in 2010, and I was curious what direction that I could take it. One of the drinks that I had heard about for a year or two but finally tried late this past summer was the fluffy orange juice-Campari Highball called the Garibaldi. What if I were to merge the two of them? I lacked the Breville juicer that makes beautiful fluffy juice, so I improvised by whipping up freshly squeezed juice with a stick blender. It felt like a solid tribute to the holiday albeit 12 hours late.
The Garibaldi Wallbanger surfed on in with a star anise and bitter orange aroma. Next, a creamy orange sip landed with a slightly bitter orange, vanilla, and star anise swallow. The spice elements of the Galliano melded well with the orange juice and Campari flavors to elevate the classic Garibaldi. And using a local and quality vodka did not hurt things here.

Postnote 11/28/19: I later discovered that there was a 2017 Garibaldi Wallbanger consisting of "Stoli Vanilla, Galliano, San Pellegrino Blood Orange Soda." Considering the absence of Campari or orange juice, mine is closer to a mashup whereas theirs is closer to a spritzy abstraction, but they did beat me to the punch by 2 years or so.

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