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My wife hates ginger. My wife loves ginger. I’m perpetually confused about the circumstance under which she will like a “ginger something.” My approach? I don’t tell her. I let her taste and if she makes a face, I head for another room.

She made no face here. Just a broad smile. “What is this?” she asked.

“Ginger,” I said. See, I am, in the end, an honest man of modest honor.

The secret ingredient here is Domaine Canton Liqueur, a product from France that has existed since 2007. A decade before, there was a similar product made in China that was exported here. But that product line was not successful.

Domaine Canton is successful. You’ll see it now in bars everywhere, there is a wonderful website with recipes and you are sure to want to experiment when you taste this delight. I tasted a version of this at the Red Onion in Saugerties, New York, but I've made enough modifications so that I really can claim this cocktail is "mine."

There is no distinct “ginger” note here really. Just an underlying foundation of “heat” and “spice.” This has become a go-to cocktail for us and I expect it will for you, too. Ginger away!


Spicy Sidecar with Domaine Canton from the Red Onion

Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

  • Sugar, clove, ground nutmeg and cinnamon mixed for the rim.
  • 2 ounces brandy
  • 1 ounce Domaine Canton
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 ounce agave

Preparation:

Make the rimming sugar by combining ½ cup of sugar with ½ teaspoon each of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. Taste test to your satisfaction. You can add some ginger, too, or cayenne pepper. Just taste test slowly along the way. This stuff is going to rest on your lip.

Put the brandy, Domaine Canton, lemon juice and agave in a cocktail shaker filled with iced. Shake vigorously until well chilled. That’s a good 30 seconds, folks, not five. It’s a lot like the “brush your teeth for 3 minutes” thing.

Use the leftover lemon to rim a cocktail glass. Then rim the glass with the spiced sugar. Fill the glass with ice and then the chilled cocktail.


Source: Brian O’Rourke’s version of the Red Onion original

Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/4.5 for 1/40th second at ISO‑2500