Suzen and I do not haunt bars. The only time we’ve ever hung out in one was our very first date. In Boston, on a night when the chill factor was about 10 below. We would have sat in Boston Commons instead, but the bar had Irish coffee and a fireplace. It was an easy choice, and apparently a good one: we did have that second date.
And were married in six months.
Back to the bars. I wait for the latest bar “hits” to filter out. New products, new beverage ideas, come and go as fast as a vibrating cocktail shaker. There will be buzz about something and then it’s gone to beverage heaven, or hell. So, pausing for a year or so to see if a new beverage idea has real legs is my policy. I want beverages destined for the Hall of Fame.
A few years ago a wonderful new liquor, St-Germain, was introduced. Dubbed an elderflower elixir, this beverage is versatile and delicious. My first sip, straight up from the bottle, was on a summer night after a full meal. The full, fragrant body of this liquor was enough to constitute dessert.
Creative mixologists have expanded the domain of St-Germain. The recipe below, from the seasonal-American restaurant James in Prospect Heights Brooklyn, combines St-Germain with my beverage favorites: mint, lemon juice and sugar. The cocktail name, Saint Anne, honors the chef-owner’s great grandmother. It’s a lovely creative tribute. This cocktail is complex, refreshing and one I hope you sample.
Saint Anne Cocktail
Ingredients:
8 Mint leaves
1 ounce lemon juice
2 ounces gin
1 ounce St-Germain
Dash sugar syrup
Preparation:
Muddle the mint leaves and the lemon juice in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin, St-Germain, and simple syrup to taste. Add ice, shake, strain, and serve in a chilled martini glass.
Source: James Restaurant, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
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I’ve never been in Acapulco. I hope to get there soon but right now I’m working on issues.
Here’s today’s conundrum. What if you want great cocktail, perhaps something really new to your beverage portfolio, and you want it now. How are go going to find it and how easy will it be to make?
In this blog I hate to ask questions without supplying answers. So how about this: quick to find and easy to make. For your next experiment I recommend the Acapulco from Mittie Hellmich’s Ultimate Bar Book. The recipe is below, and, yes, I’ve faithfully done both the original version and tried some options which are suggested below, too.
I’m a good amateur mixologist. At our dinner parties, I offer to make cocktails and I always get a group vote of “Yes.” But lately, my concoctions have been delicious but complex. It takes me a while to produce a dozen glassfuls and after the group has ushered in that “Yes,” well, I can see their eyes soon begin to wander. There is unopened wine next to the appetizers on the kitchen island and some of those guests want to cut to the chase and imbibe. Waiting for me is a pain.
With my complex drinks, I can still be juicing lemons and limes — because I insist on freshness and freshness does not mean pulling hours old stuff from the refrigerator. And there’s fruit to dice and …
It takes time. What I need is a great drink in zip time with no mess to clean up. The Acapulco is the solution.
It’s a drink I imagine you actually sipping on that beach on a warm day. Or this summer around the pool. Or, heck, just today. CNN just announced there is snow on the ground in all the states but Hawaii. After two blizzards, most of the country is still digging out. Airlines have schedules that are a shambles with most flights either delayed or cancelled.
This is what God would call a Fork In Your Life Day. There are two paths before you. Option 1. You can go to the airport and struggle to get that flight to somewhere. If you do that, I admire your tenacity, but, seriously, have often have you fought the airlines and won? I once saw a beleaguered passenger hurdle a ticket counter at JFK. His screaming stopped soon after he was subdued. Subdued meant being maced and handcuffed.
Option 2 is to reach for the rum and try this beverage. You won’t earn miles this way. But you won’t be cuffed, either. Or spend hours scrubbing chemicals from your eyes. Instead you can shut those resting eyes and image the sights, the smells, the breezes of some paradise. If you need assistance, just take another sip of your Acapulco.
Acapulco
Ingredients [for a large cocktail]:
3 ounces light rum
1 ounce of Cointreau [Brian’s option: Mandarin Napoleon]
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
2 egg whites, optional
1 ounce simple syrup [Brian’s option: www.cookingbythebook.com/blog/recipes/sublime-citrus-sugar-syrup/]
1 mint spring
Preparation:
Shake the liquid ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with mint sprig
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