Flor De Jerez (Death & Co. Recipe)

aa

I love apricot liqueur. I used to make the stuff when apricots were plentiful in early summer. I'd soak the fruits in brandy and cook a sugar and apricot juice. When you cant find Rothman and Winter at your liquor store or you just don't have time to do all that with the apricots, you can use jelly. It comes together easily in the shaker tin when you stir a bar spoon of jam into citrus juices. 

 

In this case, I built the entire drink in the shaker before adding the apricot jam. (And I used a little less sugar syrup than I would have if I had liqueur because jams are sweet.) And, yes, I stirred in my shaker tin, but the result is pretty exceptional and I recommend the jam trick to any home bartender. Your refrigerator is loaded with good ingredients, so you don't need to go hunting around for liqueurs that are expensive and hard to find.

And Death & Co. knows this. How many of their drinks have marmalade or apple butter or some such ingredient or infusion. Be creative with your cooking staples, that's how cocktails were invented in the first place.

 

• 1/2 oz. Jamaican rum (George Bowman used)
• 1 1/2oz. Lustau Amontillado (Alexandro Amontillado used)
• 1/4 oz. Rothman and Winter apricot liqueur (apricot jam used)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup (1/4 oz. when using apricot jam)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters 

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. If using apricot jam, make sure to stir before adding ice to dissolve the solids into the liquid ingredients. Add ice and shake, then double strain into a coupe glass. 

Petticoat (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

There are many strange botanicals in new American gin styles, from lemon balm to birch leaves. What you never see in gin is Szechuan peppercorns. I don't know why, though. Szechuan peppercorns are not pepper. They are a dried flower bud that has an interesting numbing effect that enhances spicy Chinese soups and roasted meats. In a drink, Szechuan peppercorns give you a flavorless tingle that blends with alcoholic burn that makes you salivate more--a good thing, right?

I made the peppercorn infusion with MurLarkey ImaGination gin. My reason for picking MurLarkey is because I didn't want to use a super-dry gin that would have a noticeable change in its profile. ImaGination is robust and can take some altering without being overwhelmed by new flavors. This infusion needs to be about 30 minutes. Any longer just invites ruining the gin with too much numbing effect. For the purpose of this drink, I made 4 ounces of infusion with 1/2 tsp. of Szechuan peppercorns.

I also altered the recipe by using a tsp. of apricot jam and a splash of cognac to replicate Marie Brizard apricot liqueur. The use of jelly and jam as a sweetener and a way of flavoring a cocktail is common and an easy way to get ingredients you don't have. Apricots, sugar and cognac are often ingredients in apricot liqueur; so I feel my decision is sound. When you can't get something, make it--I always say. 

• 2 oz. Szechuan peppercorn infused gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used)
• 1/4 oz. falernum (homemade used)
• 1/4 oz. Marie Brizard apricot liqueur (1/4 oz. cognac and a tsp. apricot jam used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/4 oz. cane sugar syrup (omitted when using jam as above)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.