Winter Cocktails: French 75 in New Orleans

It is with great appreciation and honour that I present a whopping total of four Christmas cocktails from the historic New Orleans bar, the French 75. The bar itself was built in the late 1800's, but was renovated in the 1970's, and reinvented in 2003 with an emphasis on premium spirits and cigars, and of course the new renaissance in cocktails. This award-winning bar is the first in New Orleans to grace this site, and they have graciously contributed a handful of recipes.

"The Winter Waltz," a rye, amaro, and Christmas spice mix, is named after head bartender Chris Hannah's favourite Frank Sinatra Christmas Carol. "The Contessa" is a nod to the character in Tennesse Williams' novel, "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone." Contessa was the swindler in the book who introduced the Negroni to the characters in tho novel.

Winter Waltz
2 oz Rye Whiskey
1/2 oz Averna Amaro
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth's Allspice dram
2 dashes Angostura bitters
 
Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with star anise.

Dicken's Toddy
2 oz Wild Turkey bourbon
1/2 oz Maple Syrup
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
 
Build like and Old-Fashioned in a rocks glass with ice, garnish with an orange peel and a cherry.

Contessa
3/4 oz London Dry Gin or Plymouth Gin
3/4 oz Aperol
3/4 oz Ruby Red Grapefruit juice
1/2 oz Cranberry Cordial
2 dashes Orange Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass, garnish with an orange peel.

(We make the Cranberry cordial similar to making Cranberry Sauce)

A fairly simple alternative to making a cordial is making an infused simple syrup. By adding equal parts water to sugar (usually 1 cup) and adding fresh cranberries to the mix once the sugar dissolves over low heat, you can make a cranberry syrup to use in this and other similar Christmas cocktails).  

Charante Hessian
1 1/2 oz Cognac
1 1/2 oz Pumpkin Butter
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth's Allspice dram
4 oz boiling hot water
 
Build in a tempered glass or mug, stir and garnish with grated cinnamon and nutmeg.

Pumpkin butter is a compound butter with added pumpkin puree.

Cheers to the French 75 team and their amazing bar in such a historically exciting city.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Brian Grant Shares the Love in Vancouver

Pourhouse is timeless. Step into the century-old building from Vancouver's historic Gastown to find a seat along the saloon-style wood and it feels like it's been there forever, even at the ripe old age of three years. Is it this feeling that makes Pourhouse so unique? Is it the lush, turn-of-the-century decor? The knowledgeable and friendly service? Perhaps the fantastic and revered bar program? The bar top itself, made from 1920's reclaimed Douglas fir and stretching thirty-eight feet, is the centre-piece of the space, with the entire backbar sitting in front of a bronze mirror meeting in the middle at a vintage boiler modified to dispense draught beer. Along with the look, the bar program focuses on the "golden age of cocktails," from Jerry Thomas to Prohibition; the techniques, drink-styles, and roles assumed by the bartenders are intended to recreate how an experience from that time might be. Refusing (politely) from the start to serve anything overly sweet, using only fresh ingredients, and never stocking any flavoured spirits or poor quality products, Pourhouse quickly established itself as both a destination for classic cocktail-lovers and those who want to learn.
Perhaps what makes it truly great is its warm, personal atmosphere that is without the expected air of pretension. The staff are just as excited for you to have a beer or a glass of wine from the mostly local list as they are to craft a new and unique cocktail catered to your desired tastes. They're likewise as excited to serve the suit-ed business-lunch crowd as the short-ed passerbys. It's this welcoming and homey atmosphere overall that brings people back time and again.   
As to be expected with any current trend, people were practicing the craft long before anyone was paying attention. Pourhouse co-owner and bartender Brian Grant is one such man. He graciously took time off mixing drinks, boxing and training for the Aprons for Gloves initiative, and his business plans for creating Vancouver's first distillery for a little chat...

RW: Everyone has a different preferred title for this profession, and I find I often have to ask: what do you call yourself?

BG: I'm just a bartender. I make drinks. I think if you look up the term "bartender" in the dictionary I think it says ‘purveyor of alcoholic beverages.’

RW: Where did you find your interest in classic cocktails?

BG: Eighteen years ago I was bartending at a country club and I bought Gary Regan's "New Classic Cocktails" and that really inspired me. I was making amaretto sours for people there but adding egg white, and people really looked at me like I was a freak at the time. People started to come around and things really picked up and my interest grew as well.

RW: What sets Pourhouse apart from other bars in Vancouver?

BG: Serving cocktails that are well-researched, well-thought-out, and that we like. There are a lot of cocktails that may be "classic," but they're not that great. We really do what we love here, whether its beer, wine, cocktails, or food. Service-wise, we explain things politely to people and we have a passion for what we do. I think people see that at the bar. We really try to make everyone welcome and share our passions rather than ever talking down to people - not to say that other places are doing that. There are a lot of places you can go to get a great cocktail and a great story and great service. A few years back that wasn't the case. The long bar and the style of the space here is nice and personal as well. The bar is really the focus of the entire place no matter where you're sitting. Plus, you can come in jeans and a t-shirt or wearing a suit and you can be pretty comfy here either way.

RW: Did the owners intellectualize the bar program and atmosphere beforehand?

BG: Definitely. We talked about the golden age of cocktails - from the 1850's to the 1910's - and how it affected cocktail culture and what we drink today. Most of the old drinks we have now are from that age and not really afterwards. There is some stuff that Prohibition affected and that influenced us too, but we just love that particular era. As well, this area in Gastown was really booming at that time, so it made sense to put those things together. I think it was [co-owner] Nick Rossi who really came up with that - it was a lot of his ideas. He had the idea to see where things were going and do something with it.

RW: Everything fits together here. There are many amazing bar programs that seem to be an afterthought to the design and intention of the place, but Pourhouse is different.

BG: There was really a vision at the beginning. There was definitely an angle and everyone worked towards it. I think we're successful in a lot of ways because of that. A lot of people want Caesars and Jagerbombs, and right from the beginning we kind of put our foot down on that. We were very clear right from the start - this is what we do, and if you want those types of things there are a lot of other places you can go instead - but we always tried to do it without talking down to people. It's like being a vegetarian restaurant and putting steak on your menu because a lot of people like steak - that doesn't make sense. Do what you do well and hopefully people will come and enjoy it.

RW: When someone walks into Pourhouse, what would you like them to walk away with?

BG: Just a smile on their face. My favorite thing about bartending is making a drink for someone when it's the first time they've had that drink. I've made it a million times, but it's the first for them and they smile - that's a moment of truth and honesty. People can't lie - you'll know right away if someone doesn't like your drink. That moment of truth when they smile - that's what I love about my job. Doesn't matter who they are or where they're from or anything. Maybe it was just that moment or maybe five years from now they're thinking "Man, I had a drink in Vancouver this one time and it's driving me nuts!" You always remember those special experiences. I just try to share some of the love of what I do.

RW: Where do you see Vancouver's cocktail culture going?

BG: Things change and things become trendy, and the more people know about it the more trendy it becomes and there's usually a backlash because of that. It's definitely becoming more widespread now, and people are expecting bars that didn't do what we do to suddenly serve great drinks. Some people are even walking into chain restaurants and ordering an Old-Fashioned and the bartenders there don't know what to do. In a lot of ways, people move from one thing to another. But people were drinking Martinis and Manhattans ten or twenty or a hundred years ago. If you stay in this business for another twenty years and people are drinking out of test tubes again like in the 80's, then that's what happens. But I really think this current interest in quality food and drink will last because people are becoming more educated about what they put into their bodies.

RW: Did you decide to focus on the one age of cocktail culture that survived all trends?

BG: Definitely. It's like blue jeans - people wore them from the turn of the century until now. The style has changed, but they're still here. Martinis were one to one, so they've changed a lot, but they're still here. They still have an iconic status and still have a flavour that people are drawn to. Some things are trends and some things are blue jeans.

RW: Do you pay attention to the trends?

BG: I think I basically got lucky. The era I was interested in happened to come around with the trend - I think that happened to a lot of us. We were bartending away and making tinctures long before people were interested in it and they thought we were nuts. Now they think we're cool because it's becoming more of a part of popular culture, but at some point they'll probably think we're nuts again. The trend will come and go, but there's something great and fun in the middle of it that will never disappear completely. There may not be the number of speakeasy-style bars that have been popping up over the last five years, but there will always be a place for this type of thing and the iconic ideas that are there. As for finding new ideas, I used to scour cocktail menus from all over the world and see what people were up to. I don't really do that anymore, but it's not because I'm uninterested, I just know what we do here and I'm happy with it.

RW: When you're creating an original drink, where do you start?

BG: Sometimes it's an ingredient, but sometimes it's just an idea. For example, the cocktail we have on the menu right now called "The Testarossa": my grandfather was a red-head and they called him "The Red Lieutenant" during World War II - despite only being a corporal - because he escaped four times during the war, including once in Africa, and eventually made it home. That was the inspiration, and I wanted to create something with Aperol because it's an Italian aperitif, and I wanted to use gin because my grandfather was from Newcastle in England, so those elements came together and I built it from there. Everything is built on old ideas. As much as you like to think you're coming up with something new, it's probably been done. You're influenced by everyone you work with and everyone you know - I've been influenced by every book I've read and every bartender I've worked with. It's a compilation of all those experiences that makes a good bartender. And, this stuff wasn't taught to me so I could guard it against the rest of humanity, it was taught to me so I could share it with everyone I know.

On that note, here is an original cocktail from Brian Grant at Pourhouse in Vancouver, "The Testarossa," featuring the house-favourite Martin Miller's gin.


Testarossa

• 1.5oz Martin Miller's Gin
• 1oz Aperol
• 3/4oz lemon juice
• 1/4oz simple syrup
• 1 egg white

Combine all ingredients and dry shake, then add ice and shake again vigorously to emulsify the egg white. Strain once into a rocks glass.


[Originally published on www.shakestir.com]
[Photography by Rhett Williams]

Aperol & St. Germain

Since hitting the North American market in 2006 and 2007 respectively, Aperol and St-Germain liqueurs have become staples on many a cocktail menu. It's no secret that the latter is ridiculously tasty and is considered by some to be almost cheating because of its ability to make just about anything delicious. Made from elderflowers gathered in France by hand during only a handful of weeks, and transported by bicycle before being gently macerated, the liqueur is not overly sweet for a liqueur. It offers aromas of flowers, peach, pear, grapefruit, and lychee, and flavours just as wonderful. Perhaps the reason bartenders get so excited about it, however, is its acidity, which balances extremely well in a cocktail and even in small doses can round out a drink without ever being overpowering. Aperol, the mildest of Italian amari, originated in 1919 with the intention of being a lighter version of Campari and as such offers lower alcohol content, a sweeter profile, and much less bitterness. It is also much less complex, and has strong rhubarb and orange flavours. It will be bitter for some, but most experienced drinkers will find it quite mild. Modern bartenders have furthered its reputation of being "Campari's younger brother" by swapping the liqueurs in classic drinks such as the Negroni and Boulevardier, or at least mixing the two so as to make these drinks more palatable to the uninitiated.
It is usually fair to assume that putting two awesome things together will create further awesome drinks, and in this particular case this logic yields amazing results. However, it doesn't seem to happen as often as one would expect. There are a ton of options, particularly with gin, and it is worth experimenting. With the hot weather finally arriving in the Pacific Northwest, here is a small collection of some summer afternoon refreshers to evening sippers employing the skills of both of these liqueurs and the magic they create together.

Apparent Sour
(Bobby Heugel, Anvil Bar & Refuge, Houston)

• 1.5 oz Aperol
• 0.75 oz St-Germain
• 0.75 oz lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

These taste amazing and are perfect not only for summer, but also for anyone looking for something low-proof. A perfect and simple example of the great flavour you get from mixing the two liqueurs. Try switching the lime for lemon and throwing in a dash of your favourite bitters.

 
 Primrose
(Jay Jones, Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver)

• 1.5 oz London Dry Gin
• 1 oz Aperol
• 0.75 oz St-Germain
• 0.5 oz lemon juice
• 2 dashes peach bitters

Stir with ice and fine strain into a cocktail glass.
There are a lot of options in sour-territory.

This is a great starting point to play around with the bitters, citrus, or spirit choice. Tone down the Aperol and top with sparkling wine for a lighter drink even better suited for hot weather.



Rye Invention
(Kathy Casey, Small Screen Network)

• 1.5 oz Straight Rye Whiskey
• 0.75 oz St-Germain
• 0.75 oz Aperol

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a flamed orange peel and a cherry.

This one is surprisingly light in flavour and mouth-feel for a whiskey-based cocktail and the rye brings some much welcomed spice to the mix. Using a different spirit with a dry profile might work well here too (such as a slightly high-proof rum, an unaged Tequila, or be very adventurous and use aquavit or a Scotch).

Welcome To The Dark Side
(Colin Turner, Cin Cin, Vancouver)

• 1.5 oz Bourbon
• 1 oz Amaro Averna
• 0.25 oz St-Germain
• 0.25 oz Aperol
• Orange Peel

Lightly muddle the orange peel in the mixing glass, then add ingredients with ice and stir. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a fresh orange peel, squeezing the oils over the top of the glass.

A much darker, heavier drink than the rest so far. The liqueurs offer a lot of complexity and bitterness, but the sugar from each balance everything very nicely. Despite having a whiskey base and using a full ounce of Averna, the flavour offers a lot of fruit along with chocolate and vanilla. Using a dry bourbon is your best bet here to really round things out (Colin prefers Maker's 46).

Article by Rhett Williams; originally published on www.shakestir.com

[[ Photography:
Wall Street Journal (Apparent Sour)
Taste Magazine (Primrose)
Small Screen Network (Rye Invention)
Rhett Williams (Welcome to the Dark Side) ]]

Bittered Sling Extracts: Danielle Tatarin at The Keefer

To kick off the local originals we are heading to Vancouver's Chinatown and visiting The Keefer. Bar manager - and President of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association - Dani Tatarin runs a unique program here that ties modern 'mixology' techniques of infusing spirits and syrups and making bitters in-house with Chinese apothecary medicine. So, at The Keefer, the syrup you get in your gin or whiskey sour variation won't just be a typical fruit or spice, it's likely to be astragalus, ginseng, or another root you probably haven't heard of with health benefits you probably didn't realize. The new cocktail menu (which just kicked off last week) features a little glossary at the back describing each of these herbs and roots and their medicinal uses, so the experience is full of fun and learning. It's one of the coolest-looking bars you'll see, and while the cocktail list is full of outlandish and exciting things you'll want to try, everyone there is talented and can just as easily make you a perfect classic cocktail.
You can see an old review of The Keefer here, along with their contribution to Fernet February.

Dani is one of the handful of bartenders not only working with the Bittered Sling Extracts but also with a cocktail using them on her menu. Today she shares with us the recipe for the "Haokan," a gin sour with some depth and bitterness, and a ton of herbal flavours. The simple syrup is infused with pomelo rose tea (pomelo being a south/south-east Asian citrus fruit similar to grapefruit), not only adding subtle flavours but also a big list of proposed health benefits - as is Dani's way. Kale & Nori's health-forward bitters fit perfectly.


Haokan

2 oz Hendricks Gin

1/2 oz Aperol

1/2 oz Pomelo Rose Tea Syrup

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1 egg white

3 dashes Bittered Sling Crabapple & Cardamom Bitters

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. 

As with any egg white drink (and as I've discussed numerous times before!), add the egg white to your tin first so you don't accidentally get shells or yolks into your booze, and dry-shake without ice first to help the egg emulsify, then add ice and shake again. 

Take a trip to The Keefer and give their new menu a try, and while you're at it, drop by Legacy Liquor and pick up a bottle of the Crabapple & Cardamom extract from Bittered Sling to try something similar at home!

See the Bittered Sling introduction here
See Justin Taylor from Yew mix up some infused and barrel-aged spirits here
See Evelyn Chick from Uva Wine Bar create some twisted classics here

See Jay Jones from Market create a spirit-forward classic here 
See Grant Sceney use his barrel-aged Cointreau here
See David Wolodidnyk's world-wide competition-winning cocktail here

Amaro April: "Intro To Aperol" From Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club

"Forty miles up the Rangoon River in the land of the Golden Pagodas, on the hot balmy nights of the late 1800's, one might find themselves at the Pugu Club," as the website for Pegu Club in New York puts it. Pegu itself is a place of rich history - a battleground in both Burmese wars before being taken over by the British in the mid 19th century - and as Kipling puts it in "Sea to Sea," the club was "always filled with lots of people either on their way up or on their way down." The club had a house-cocktail, as most clubs do, but this one became wildly popular everywhere, landing itself in Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930, and surviving today because of its perfect balance. Fast forward to 2005, when Audrey Saunders opens a new bar in New York with 27 gins and 3 vodkas (which for the record are kept underneath the bar not on its shelves), at a time when, as she puts it, "99 percent of all the bars in New York had at least 20 vodkas on the back-bar and maybe 3 gins," and names it after this gin classic.

Audrey Saunders, whose original background was in cuisine, famously took one seminar from Dale DeGroff on mixology in the mid 1990's - during the dark ages of the cocktail when such a focus was unheard of - and was smitten. She went on to run several famous and award-winning bar programs in New York before finally opening Pegu Club in 2005, a name that consistently ends up on everyone's top bar lists, and greatly contributed to making some amazing products more accessible and better known, including Chartreuse, Punt e Mes, and yes - amari. Audrey's accomplishments and awards, along with those of Pegu Club are way too vast to mention or even summarize here, and my guess is that if you're reading this blog, you probably already know all this anyway.

Audrey is also one of the most influential and earliest "mixologists" in the sense that she was experimenting with infusions and really modern creative ideas from an experimental and culinary perspective. David Wondrich calls Audrey a "research mixologist, applying scientific method to her cocktails," giving the example of infusing vodka with only pith, the white part of a citrus peel that should be removed to avoid bitterness, just to see how bitter her infusion will be. While most bars were still just learning about how to mix Campari or Chartreuse by going backwards to historical cocktail books, Audrey was already infusing them with fruit to see what she could come up with, something that is fairly common practice now, but even five years ago was fairly outlandish. In fact, for a Canadian perspective, it was actually illegal in B.C. to infuse alcohol with anything until two or three years ago. Now look at where we are with places like The Keefer and The Refinery doing what they do.

Needless to say, it is a great honour to receive a recipe from Audrey for Amaro April, and it's a delicious one at that. Aperol first became available in the U.S. in 2006, and since nobody was familiar with it, she created a cocktail to introduce its flavours through a fairly simple but excellently balanced drink. It's an inverted cocktail, in that the Aperol is 2:1 to the gin, and the gin "acts as a spine for the drink and allows it to stand up, avoiding any potential flabbiness," as she puts it. Beefeater is specifically chosen for its citrus botanicals, namely orange and lemon, which match the lemon juice and strong orange character in the Aperol. Finally, Audrey chooses a flamed orange peel to "deepen the essential oil and mellow it, which works well with the overall brightness of the drink's profile."
Aside from being very tasty, this one is perfect for anyone interested but unfamiliar with Aperol or amari in general as it's very palatable, but still has just a hint of the bitter and herbal character that are the staple of any amaro. It's also very easy to make at home, opposed to the majority of what we've seen this month, so it's a great place to start.

Intro To Aperol

2 oz Aperol
1 oz Beefeater Gin
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup (1:1)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Add all ingredients with ice and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass.Garnish with a flamed orange peel.

A quick note on flaming a peel: if you haven't done it before, simply cut a thick and fairly large piece of orange peel and hold it over your glass. Let the flame from your lighter or match touch the peel for a few seconds to heat the oil, then squeeze the oils over the drink like you normally would - through the flame. This will create a small spark of fire (don't worry it's not dangerous). Then drop the peel in the drink.

A big thank you to to Audrey and Pegu Club for contributing; I am most honoured and humbled. If you are at all unfamiliar with her contribution, please just google and catch up, and if you're in New York and haven't been there you should be ashamed and rectify this immediately.


[[ See my post on amaro digestivos here ]]
[[ See my post on amaro aperivos here ]]
[[ See a buying guide for amaro here ]]

[[ See "The One Hit Wonder" from L'abattoir in Vancouver here ]]
[[ See "The Penny Farthing" from Pourhouse here ]]
[[ See an introduction to amaro  here ]]
[[ See "The Imperial Eagle" from Bourbon & Branch here ]]
[[ See "Sevilla" from Beretta here ]]
[[ See "Fallow Grave" from the Toronto Temperance Society here ]]
[[ See "The Black Prince" from Phil Ward here ]]
[[ See "Bad Apple" and "Jackson Ward" from Amor y Amargo here ]]
[[ See "The Four Horsemen" from Jay Jones at Shangri-La here ]]
[[ See Colin MacDougall from Blue Water Cafe here ]]
[[ See "Debbie Don't" from Dutch Kills here ]]
[[ See "Foolish Games" from Russel Davis here ]]
[[ See "Welcome To The Dark Side" from Cin Cin here ]]

[[ Photography courtesy of Pegu Club, and Tales of the Cocktail ]]

Amaro April: "Welcome To The Dark Side" from Cin Cin

Heading north once again to beautiful Vancouver takes us to the heart of downtown, peering over the street lights and night-shoppers of Robson street. Multiple award-winning contemporary Italian restaurant, Cin Cin, has been a big name in the Vancouver food scene for some time, but like Blue Water Cafe, I sometimes wonder if people realize how amazing the bar program is as well. Ignore the misleading "fresh juice martini's" offer on the website and look at the actual bar menu that offers several excellent classics, and some solid and simple originals. Bourbon is a common theme here, and continue scanning down (or continue flipping through, next time you're there) the menu and you'll find pages and pages of grappa. You'll even find it in some of the cocktails, including their signature, the Negroni Cin Cin, featuring Beniamino moscato grappa, Punt e Mes, Aperol, and a few drops of orange bitters, served on the rocks with orange peel. In fact, Cin Cin is awaiting one more shipment that should give it the largest selection of grappa in North America (at the moment, I've been told only one restaurant in San Francisco is ahead).
The man behind this program is one of the true veterans of the Vancouver bar scene, CPBA director, Colin Turner. Bringing experience from over twenty years of being behind the bar in some capacity, Colin is an expert of the craft - and I mean bartending, not just mixology. He creates cocktails that suit your palate while being engaging, entertaining, and informative, making Cin Cin another top choice for a great drinking experience. He will also create something to pair nicely with your meal, believing that cocktails, particularly those of the bourbon persuasion, can work excellently alongside food - a view I very rarely encounter. Should you feel so inclined, the wine list is also award-winning, as is the dessert menu, so there is many a reason to make the trip.

Requesting to meet Colin to discuss Amaro April brought me not only a ton of information, but also some great drinks. I went through some originals he'd been tinkering with, including one with Bols genever, Amaro Ramazzotti, St. Germain, Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter Bitters, and orange peel, and another that I loved with Rittenhouse Bonded 100, Amaro Nardini, maraschino, and Bitter Truth aromatic bitters. Ultimately for his amaro post, I had to go with one currently on the menu, and one that will soon actually be tied around the neck of any bottle of Averna you buy from the BCLS (whenever they get around to bringing some in!) - "Welcome To The Dark Side."
When Colin tried a Black Manhattan, he found it to be terrible (though I argue he had a poorly-made one, because it can be a good drink), but found something in the mix that was worth tweaking. Using, as he puts it, the "full sweetness of Aperol" to pull the Averna and bourbon together, he balanced with just a little of St. Germain, which unlike most other liqueurs, has an "acidity that really cuts through." Adding just one other factor in the muddled orange peel to bring the oils to the full taste of the cocktail and not just the nose, it needed only a name, one he chose in honour of both a bumper sticker in the Cin Cin office, but also the several Star Wars geeks on staff. The sugar content feels quite high after you finish your glass, but it is not at all overly-sweet in your mouth as the bitterness of both amari balance things out and the bourbon provides a full-bodied backbone.

Welcome To The Dark Side

1.5oz Maker's Mark 46 Bourbon
1oz Amaro Averna
0.25oz Aperol
0.25oz St. Germain
Orange peel

Lightly muddle the orange peel in the mixing glass. Add ingredients, then ice and stir. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a fresh orange peel, squeezing oils over the top of the glass.


If you're at all interested in grappa, or perhaps learning about a new spirit if you don't know what it is, Cin Cin is THE place to go, and all the staff are informative. It's not at all a spirit I know well, but I find myself stopping by there lately just to try a new kind. Head to Cin Cin soon if you can for both food and drink because they're both fantastic, or at the very least head there for a drink from Colin and take a turn to the Dark Side.

[[ See my post on amaro digestivos here ]]
[[ See my post on amaro aperivos here ]]
[[ See a buying guide for amaro here ]]

[[ See "The One Hit Wonder" from L'abattoir in Vancouver here ]]
[[ See "The Penny Farthing" from Pourhouse here ]]
[[ See an introduction to amaro  here ]]
[[ See "The Imperial Eagle" from Bourbon & Branch here ]]
[[ See "Sevilla" from Beretta here ]]
[[ See "Fallow Grave" from the Toronto Temperance Society here ]]
[[ See "The Black Prince" from Phil Ward here ]]
[[ See "Bad Apple" and "Jackson Ward" from Amor y Amargo here ]]
[[ See "The Four Horsemen" from Jay Jones at Shangri-La here ]]
[[ See Colin MacDougall from Blue Water Cafe here ]]
[[ See "Debbie Don't" from Dutch Kills here ]]
[[ See "Foolish Games" from Russel Davis here ]]
[[ See "Intro To Aperol" from Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club here ]]

Amaro April: "The One Hit Wonder" from L'abattoir

Let's kick things off with a couple aperitivo-style cocktails using some lighter amari. First, we once again visit Shaun Layton at L'Abattoir in Vancouver's Gastown for a great spring/summer drink using Aperol and Campari, but the latter in an unusual way. Shaun makes a 2:1 simple syrup and adds Campari and a rhubarb stalk to it, adding a bitter-sweet layer of complexity. Rhubarb is a perfect addition as both the Campari and Aperol, the latter in particular, have this flavour and aroma. Tequila holds a steady backbone behind this potent ingredient, as we saw with several of the Maraschino cocktails last month, an overproof rum cuts through with the alcoholic edge, and the lime settles everything down. Wray and Nephew is a good choice as well for mixing with strong, bitter flavours, like we saw with The Pandemonium cocktail from Veneto in Victora during Fernet February. I'm in the process of convincing Shaun to throw a batch of this syrup together, so this cocktail might be making an appearance soon - make your way down to L'Abattoir to find out...

The One Hit Wonder

45mL El Jimador Tequila Blanco
30mL fresh lime juice
15mL Wray and Nephew Overproof Rum
15mL Rhubarb-Campari syrup
10mL Aperol
Grapefruit peel

Add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, fill with ice and shake hard before double-straining into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a long piece of grapefruit peel.

To make the rhubarb-Campari syrup:
Combine 4 parts sugar to 2 parts water to 1 part Campari in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Bring heat down to simmer and add 1 large stalk of finely-diced rhubarb. Let simmer for 30-60 minutes, strain, and let cool. Store in the fridge.

If you don't have a measuring tool with mL's, 1oz is close to 30mL (so 45 ~ 1.5oz, 15mL ~ 1/2oz, 10mL ~ 1/3oz).

(See my review of L'Abattoir here, and search "L'abattoir" in the top right of this blog to see other original cocktails from here)

[[ See my post on amaro digestivos here ]]
[[ See my post on amaro aperivos here ]]
[[ See a buying guide for amaro here ]]

[[ See "The Penny Farthing" from Pourhouse here ]]
[[ See an introduction to amaro  here ]]
[[ See "The Imperial Eagle" from Bourbon & Branch here ]]
[[ See "Sevilla" from Beretta here ]]
[[ See "Fallow Grave" from the Toronto Temperance Society here ]]
[[ See "The Black Prince" from Phil Ward here ]]
[[ See "Bad Apple" and "Jackson Ward" from Amor y Amargo here ]]
[[ See "The Four Horsemen" from Jay Jones at Shangri-La here ]]
[[ See Colin MacDougall from Blue Water Cafe here ]]
[[ See "Debbie Don't" from Dutch Kills here ]]
[[ See "Welcome to the Dark Side" from Cin Cin here ]]
[[ See "Foolish Games" from Russell Davis here ]]
[[ See "Intro To Aperol" from Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club here ]] 

Amaro Aperitivos

Drinks are often separated into categories involving food - aperitifs (French), or aperitivos (Italian), which are served before you eat to stimulate your palate and appetite, digestifs, or digestivos, which are served after a meal to aid digestion or calm your palate, and while you are eating you shouldn't really be drinking a mixed drink, but rather a nicely-paired wine, beer, or just water. This practice of enjoying alcohol through different stages of a meal is common practice in Europe, and one that has been carried over through good, high-end European restaurants here, or just in those with a really good cocktail program (Cin Cin in Vancouver, for example, has the second - soon to be first - largest selection of grappa in North America). Italians in particular have a very, very long list of aperitivos and digestivos in the form of amari and the Italian grape brandy known as grappa, both of which for the most part are enjoyed post-meal, but also sweet vermouths, or rossi, that are enjoyed beforehand. This does partly have to do with how it's being served, for example, making a mixed drink in an aperitivo-style, like a Negroni, using a heavier amaro than Campari like Montenegro makes a very refreshing pre-dinner cocktail, but sipping Montenegro neat is an excellent digestivo. But let's not make things too complicated and just look at some specific products.
First, to whet our palates, are the aperitivos, the most popular of which are Campari, and it's 'younger brother,' Aperol.

In 1860 in a town called Novara, northwest Italy, Gaspare Campari invented a recipe for a new liqueur by infusing alcohol (I have no confirmation, but I assume a grape spirit, or grappa base) with herbs, plants, roots, and fruit. It became so popular among the locals that Gaspare moved to Milano and opened Caffe Campari, where he soon invented Campari's signature cocktail, The Milano-Turino, named after the origins of both his liqueur and Cinzano sweet vermouth. This drink was later named The Americano, and you can see more history on this drink in particular here, plus it's successor, the Negroni, here.
It was common at the time to consume bitters (on the English side of things) or amaro after a meal to aid with digestion, but customers began to prefer sipping their Campari before lunch, which began a popular custom of meeting friends in the afternoon at a cafe for a little aperitivo before the big meals. The aperitivo concept was not new, but Campari made it a much more popular social custom.

The recipe has been claimed to include over 60 components, but nobody at Campari has ever spoken a word as to the ingredients. The disctinctive red colour comes from carmine dye, which originally came from crushed cochineal insects. The flavour is very unique and very bitter, but very light in comparison to other amari such as Averna or Fernet. There are hints of spice and menthol, strong herbal flavours, and bitter orange. There are many exciting and classic cocktails that use Campari, and the more you develop your bitter palate, the more you'll just want to just sip it with soda. The Americano is a good starting point for something light, but if you're more of a whiskey drinker, The Boulevardier is a must, with bourbon, sweet vermouth, and just a bit of Campari.

Aperol came much later, after the amaro boom of the mid 1800's. It was created by brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri with the intention of making an even lighter amaro than Campari in both flavour and alcohol content (only 11%) to be enjoyed as well as an aperitivo. They unveiled their invention at the Padua Exhibition in 1919, but it didn't really become popular until almost 30 years later. The recipe, as always, is a secret, but has supposedly remained unchanged since its inception. One thing did not, however, and that was the colour, which was basically clear, but a year after the original release (1920), the orange colour was added and used as part of its advertising identity. In the 1930's, Aperol started directing its campaign towards women, claiming its low-alcohol content was a great way for a woman to stay lean and fit but still enjoy drinking. In 1950, the signature cocktail the "Spritz" is invented, combining Aperol with Prosecco and a dash of soda, and the 1960's brought about television advertising, and Aperol really took off in Europe. It wasn't until 2000 that it spread to the rest of the world, when Peggy Guggenheim's exhibition in Venice is sponsored by the Campari group (the company that came to own Aperol) where the liqueur had a big advertising presence and Spritz was served to all manner of famous guests. Fast forward to 2006 and Aperol is suddenly available in the U.S. where it has since been not only delicious but an excellent stepping stone for anyone to get into amaro. This is where you need to start if you haven't yet, and this is definitely where you need to start if you don't have a taste for bitter yet. The biggest flavour is a bitter orange, but gentian and rhubarb are very noticeable as well.
While there are no real classic cocktails using it, it can fairly easily be substituted into any Campari drink to decent success. In fact, you'll see a lot of bars doing this, I assume to avoid offending anyone who isn't ready for the acquired taste of Campari. Making a Negroni with half Aperol and half Campari is quite delicious and easier to handle for the uninitiated, and I also find it mixes well with bourbon as is exemplified by an original by Joel Virginillo at The Refinery in Vancouver called "The Boulevardier of Broken Dreams," with 1oz bourbon, 3/4oz Aperol, and 3/4oz Cynar, built over ice.

Speaking of Cynar, I should take a further moment to mention it as it is most often enjoyed as an aperitivo (though also as a digestivo - being both is part of its identity). Also owned by the Campari group as of 1995 (they have quite the monopoly on aperitivos), but much younger, Cynar is an artichoke-based amaro made from only 13 herbs and plants and bottled at only 33 proof. It was launched in 1952 and gained popularity through television advertisements in the 1960's. Drinking an artichoke bitter may sound odd, and I honestly did not enjoy the first few times, but I have come to appreciate what it brings to a cocktail. Speaking of The Refinery, they make a fine Cynar Negroni that's definitely worth a try before you make any judgements on this amaro, and Pourhouse in Gastown has a couple creative Cynar drinks on their menu as well.

Next, we'll look at some popular amaro digestivos, namely Averna, Montenegro, and Ramazzotti.

[[ See my post on amaro digestivos here ]]
[[ See a buying guide for amaro here ]]

[[ See "The One Hit Wonder" from L'abattoir in Vancouver here ]]
[[ See "The Penny Farthing" from Pourhouse here ]]
[[ See an introduction to amaro  here ]]
[[ See "The Imperial Eagle" from Bourbon & Branch here ]]
[[ See "Sevilla" from Beretta here ]]
[[ See "Fallow Grave" from the Toronto Temperance Society here ]]
[[ See "The Black Prince" from Phil Ward here ]]
[[ See "Bad Apple" and "Jackson Ward" from Amor y Amargo here ]]
[[ See "The Four Horsemen" from Jay Jones at Shangri-La here ]]
[[ See Colin MacDougall from Blue Water Cafe here ]]
[[ See "Debbie Don't" from Dutch Kills here ]]
[[ See "Welcome to the Dark Side" from Cin Cin here ]]
[[ See "Foolish Games" from Russell Davis here ]]
[[ See "Intro To Aperol" from Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club here ]] 

Amaro Part 2: Buying Amaro in B.C.

Now that we've taken a brief look at what exactly amaro is, let's take a look at buying it in B.C. While some are actually cheaper here than in the States (well, Washington at least), others are only available at specialty stores where you'll still be paying a lot more, but if you're Canadian, you're used to it. Below I will list the types available to us here in Canada, which are the more popular types you will see in craft cocktail bars. If you're looking to buy for your home bar, Legacy is the place to go, unless you have time to visit Seattle (I've listed both prices so you can compare).

Averna - from Sicily, originally made in 1868 by a man of the same name. Herbs, roots, and citrus are soaked in a neutral spirit, then caramel is added and is bottled at 64 proof. It will run you $48 at Legacy in Vancouver, or $34 or less in the States.
Aperol - bright orange-colour, orange and rhubarb flavour, slightly bitter, low-proof (see my post on The Petruchio), aperitivo. This is the best starting point if you don't know amaro very well, or don't have a taste for bitter. $22 in the B.C. government liquor store, and $25 in Washington (woot!).
Campari - vibrant red colour, citrus and cinchona flavours, quite bitter (see my post on The Americano), aperativo. $27 in the government stores here, and $33 in Washington (woot again!).
Cynar - made from 13 herbs and plants, including artichoke, and bottled at 33 proof. Launched in 1952 and currently owned and distributed by the Campari group. $38 at Legacy, but only $27 in Washington.
Fernet - very bitter, 80-proof or higher (see my post from Fernet February), made in Lombardia. This will run you $30 in both Washington and B.C.
Lucano - fairly bitter using 37 herbs. $40 at Legacy, and not available to Washington stores (score another for Canada!).
Montenegro - from Bologna in the late 1800's, made from over 40 herbs and bottled at 46 proof, strong orange flavour. $44 at Legacy, $30 in Washington.
Nardini - mainly a grappa producer dating back to the late 1700's, they also produce a fairly light and minty amaro. You won't be able to find this in Canada, but can pick it up in Washington for only $28.
Nonino - grappa-based with very herbal but sweet flavour. $50 in Canada, but in the States you can find it for $24.
Ramazzotti - from Milan, bottled at 60 proof, flavour similar to traditional cola. $34 at Legacy, and $29 in Washington.

There are other less popular ones you can get in the Wasington stores like Santa Maria Genova (which is really light and tasty - another good starting point), Abano, and Rabarbaro Zucca, all in the $30-40ish range. I'm sure there are other states and cities, such as San Francisco, where you can find more, because you always can. 

The most typical way to enjoy an amaro is just neat in a liqueur glass after a meal, but often some are suggested to be drunk with soda water and an orange or lemon twist, or on the rocks, again with said twist. No matter how you enjoy it, an amaro is a perfect digestivo, or a perfect ending to an evening of drinking.

I'll be back soon with some information on aperitivo amari, specifically Campari and Aperol.

[[ See my post on amaro digestivos here ]]
[[ See my post on amaro aperivos here ]]
[[ See "The One Hit Wonder" from L'abattoir in Vancouver here ]]
[[ See "The Penny Farthing" from Pourhouse here ]]
[[ See an introduction to amaro  here ]]
[[ See "The Imperial Eagle" from Bourbon & Branch here ]]
[[ See "Sevilla" from Beretta here ]]
[[ See "Fallow Grave" from the Toronto Temperance Society here ]]
[[ See "The Black Prince" from Phil Ward here ]]
[[ See "Bad Apple" and "Jackson Ward" from Amor y Amargo here ]]
[[ See "The Four Horsemen" from Jay Jones at Shangri-La here ]]
[[ See Colin MacDougall from Blue Water Cafe here ]]
[[ See "Debbie Don't" from Dutch Kills here ]]
[[ See "Welcome to the Dark Side" from Cin Cin here ]]
[[ See "Foolish Games" from Russell Davis here ]]
[[ See "Intro To Aperol" from Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club here ]] 

Maraschino March: "The Division Bell" from Mayahuel

I just have to include this cocktail because it's one of my favourites right now (I seem to have somewhat of an addiction to smoke). It is a variation on The Last Word (you can see my full historical post on this cocktail here), but switches up gin for the very hard-to-find Mezcal, and Green Chartreuse for Aperol, giving a totally new complexion adding more fruit, bitter, and tons of smoke, and removing a lot of herbal flavours. It also makes for a very pretty, deep orange cocktail in darkened bar-light. Creator Phil Ward at Mayahuel in the East Village, New York, named it "The Division Bell," after the Pink Floyd album.

Mayahuel is entirely devoted to 'paying homage to the wonderful history of Mexico and honouring her spirit with the finest Mezcals and Tequilas, and the honest labours of their kitchen.' The very serious and obviously passionate mission statement on their website reminds us to "bear in mind some simple truths: Tequila should be sipped not shot, most certainly salt and lime; Mezcal need not encase a worm, or any larvae for that matter; and mixtos are missing the point altogether." The same sentiments I tried to instill through all of my Tequila posts so far. While they lay it on a little thick, I'm actually glad they do, as I appreciate the passion and dedication the team there so obviously has for Mexican culture, cuisine, and the "Agave Goddess." I think a warning like that might still be necessary too, because at some point "drinking Tequila" translated to "doing shots of Jose Cuervo," and I've known so many people who "don't drink Tequila anymore" because they've gotten sick from the aforementioned mixto crap. The more I learned about the Mexican spirits, the more I enjoyed them, and the more I realized what an exciting treat places like Mayahuel or Tommy's in San Francisco are because whiskey knowledge and appreciation, for example, is so much more commonplace, and so much easier to accomplish than that of Tequila or Mezcal. I especially get excited having a very interesting and creative cocktail like the Division Bell, considering how incredibly difficult it is to get Mezcal in Canada, and how limited and over-priced the selection of Tequila is.
Alright, I'm digressing big-time, so let's move on.

The only place I've ever had this cocktail is Pourhouse in Vancouver, but more and more places are getting bottles of Mezcal, so I'm sure you could hit up L'Abattoir or Clough Club (where'd they get all those bottles from?!) and have this made as well. The guys at Pourhouse tell me they make this drink with a 3:1 Mezcal:everything else, but I've also seen a recipe online for 3:2:1 for Mezcal:lime and Aperol:Maraschino. That doesn't sound like it would balance as well, but supposedly that one came FROM Pourhouse, and it tasted pretty awesome to me. I'm going to post the recipe from Mr. Ward himself.

The Division Bell

1.5 oz Mezcal (Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio or Chichicapa preferred)
0.75 oz Aperol
0.75 oz lime juice
0.75 oz Maraska Maraschino (OR 0.5oz Luxardo Maraschino)

Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with grapefruit zest (be sure to get the oils on the drink and around the rim).

For the Maraschino, I've seen both Maraska and Luxardo listed. Yes, there is more than one type. Luxardo is the most common, and the only one I've seen in real life. Maraska, which is made in Zara in the original Maraschino factory, is reviewed as having a more pronounced cherry flavour with a hint of almond. It's much less dense overall and has a shorter finish, stopping it from overpowering other flavours so easily. Changing the type will change the cocktail, which can easily explain why other recipes for this cocktail have popped up. Try all the recipes and see what you like, but again, the one I've listed in bold above is the one actually from Mayahuel.  
 
Thanks to Mayahuel and Phil Ward for an awesome cocktail, and for being so passionate about Mexican food and drink.

If you're reading this and you're in New York, Mayahuel looks amazing from the menu to the decor to the spirit list, and I envy you getting to go there before the next time I'm in New York. So go do it.
Also check out some more fun recipes from their "Magic of Mezcal" event.


[[ see "Oden's Muse" from Tavern Law here ]]
[[ see "The Hemingway Solution" from Vessel here ]]
[[ see the Maraschino March introduction here ]]
[[ see "The Shibuya Crusta" from L'Abattoir here ]]
[[ see "The Unforgiven" from Russell Davis of Rickhouse here ]]
[[ see "Cherry Bob-omb" from Veneto here ]]
[[ see "Primer Beso" from The Refinery here ]]
[[ see "The Rubicon" from Jamie Boudreau at Canon here ]]

[[ photography by Adrian Salonga, Loungerati, and Justin Goodman ]] 

Review: L'Abattoir (plus Fernet February cocktails!)

In the interest of keeping things interesting for the reader, and saving myself a little time and a little redundancy, tonight I'm going to combine the Fernet February cocktails with a review of the same establishment - L'Abattoir.

Gastown has a surprising number of great destinations for food and drink considering the size of the area. Once you're on Water Street, it seems like you can't walk 50 feet in any direction without bumping into a good-looking menu, and once you're greeted by Gassy Jack himself at Carrall Street the options are overwhelming. However, now that I've been to dinner a few times, I can easily say that L'Abattoir has some of the best food in Vancouver, and that should always be at the top of your list for an amazing meal if you're in the area.
Situated adjacent to Blood Alley, and aptly named (meaning "slaughterhouse"), the history of the building is palpable when you step inside. Blood Alley has numerous colourful histories (most of which have been disproved), including public hangings, murders, slaughterhouses, and hangings. The alley is so renowned for its creepy ambience and supposed hauntings that the crew from "Paranormal State" even spent the night there. 
The brick road has sunken gutters that were supposedly used for collecting blood from the slaughterhouse, but of course could have also just been built for rain. The colourful histories are much more exciting, so I like to pretend they haven't been completely disproved. The L'Abattoir building itself is the self-proclaimed site of Vancouver's first prison, and while refurbished with very cool modern touches, it has a dark, decrepid, and jail-like feel. White paint (intentionally) peels off brick walls, and a huge lattice-work of antlers hangs overhead in the downstairs dining area as you sit in wood-design chairs over tile flooring. The whole place is a strange juxtaposition of new decor with warm wood and soft light, and old, harsh brick and tile.
As mentioned, the food is fantastic, and the menu changes often so each time you go you'll have new options. I wouldn't suggest coming if you're vegatarian, however, as every menu option uses meat - but what do you expect going to a restaurant in Blood Alley named "Slaughterhouse." My dinner there this evening alone is making my mouth water all over again - fillet of Pacific cod wrapped in bacon and pork sausage covered in a lobster sauce froth and served with a fricassee of white beans (see photo to the right). Mmmmm...
They have rarities as well, such as sweetbread and escargots.


Now the bar, while very small, is worth the seat you'll wait for. The angled shelves completely covered in interesting glassware, bitters, liqueurs, and a huge selection of whiskey/whisky are almost disorienting (in a good way). The menu, designed by head barman Shaun Layton, has a very classy selection of classic cocktails, including some rarer selections such as The Fourth Regiment and the Hanky Panky (Shaun even sent me an article he wrote on the latter, which I hope to utilize soon), and continues on to some very well-crafted and diverse originals. I've tried almost every original currently on the menu now, and there is definitely something here for everyone. While ones like the Commercial Drive (Cinzano Orancio, Ramazzotti, grapefruit liqueur, lemon, sparkling wine) and the Gastown Swizzle (Plymouth gin, Aperol, passionfruit, lime, Fernet float) lack balls, as I like to say, they are still interesting and balanced. Others, such as the Slaughterhouse (Cognac, Elixer Vegital, sugar, aromatic bitters, orange oil, Chartreuse mist) are well-crafted, deep and complex, and very enjoyable. Other notables include the Meat Hook - a variation on the Red Hook - made with Sazerac Rye, maraschino, Punt e Mes, and Ardbeg 10-year, the last of which adds a very smokey complexion, and my favourite on the menu, the Butchertown Cocktail, which contains bourbon, Banks rum, Beckerovka, Cynar amaro, french vermouth, and tobacco bitters.
The bar has a very different approach than others like The Keefer or The Refinery in that there aren't any outlandish ingredients scattered throughout and there seemingly aren't any house bitters or syrups or tinctures. Like Pourhouse, the focus is very much on classic cocktails, and simplicity in ingredients but diversity in flavour. While I very much enjoy visiting the aforementioned bars and even dabble at home in making my own ingredients (I'm even stock-piling ingredients to make my own bitters right now), this philosophy is much closer to my heart and I appreciate it. For example, I asked Shaun if they make their own Boker's bitters or if he tracked some down somewhere, and his response was "I let the experts who have access to all the right equipment, time, and ingredients make bitters - I'll gladly use them in my cocktails." Again, as much fun as crazy infusions and creative ingredients are in mixology right now, there's all of a sudden something refreshing about that attitude.

On to the Fernet drinks.

First is on the menu. It's very light and fruity, but gets more complex as you stir the Fernet into the drink and more flavours start to play off each other. It's another great example of how well Fernet can pair with fruit.

Gastown Swizzle

45ml Plymouth gin
15ml Aperol
25ml fresh lime
dash simple syrup
10ml passionfruit puree
Fernet float
Build in a collins glass over crushed ice, insert swizzle straw, garnish with lime zest, float Fernet over top of ice.

The second drink I haven't even had a chance to try yet, but don't worry - I'll be back soon for a verdict ;)
At a glance it seems a little insane, mostly because of the banana syrup, but Rittenhouse is one of my favourite ryes and any drink with Boker's bitters is rare.

Improved king Kong

40ml Rittenhouse 100-proof rye
25ml Noilly Prat dry vermouth
10ml Giffard Banana
12ml Fernet Branca
2 dashes Bokers bitters
Stir over ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon twist

So, like Diamond and Boneta, these recipes use mL rather than oz. I won't put a translation this time, but just remember that 1oz = about 30 mL (29.6 to be exact). These recipes in particular are so precise, I suggest you just make your way to Gastown and try them out. In fact, make a night of it and have a nice dinner too - you won't regret it. It's expensive compared to the average, yes, but you usually get what you pay for, and L'Abattoir in particular it's worth every penny and more.

Thank you to Shaun for his contribution to this series and thanks to everyone at L'Abattoir for running an excellent bar and restaurant in this beautiful city of ours.

[[ see the Fernet February introduction here ]]
[[ see the "Chinatown Sour" from The Keefer here ]]
[[ see "Pandemonium" from Veneto Tapa Lounge here ]]
[[ see "The Bittercup" from Pourhouse here ]]
[[ see "The Vested Bartender" from Boneta here ]]
[[ see "The Parliament" from The Diamond here ]]
[[ see "Parliament Hill" from The Hideout here ]]
[[ see "The Lucky Lady" from The Refinery here ]]
[[ see "The Denny Triangle" from Jamie Boudreau / Canon here ]]
[[ see the "Dark and Fernet-y" from Rob Roy here ]]

The Petruchio Cocktail

So here's a great modern cocktail utilizing two interesting ingredients that maybe you haven't tried yet - egg white and Aperol. This is courtesy of Jamie Boudreau, one of the great modern mixologists - or as he puts it, molecular mixologists. He is an award-winning bartender with his own line of bitters, a great blog here, an ambassador of the most delicious liqueur known to man - St. Germain - here, and has an inspiring and very informative show on the Small Screen Network called Raising the Bar. He currently runs the bar at Canon in Seattle, and has definitely come up with some of the more interesting new cocktails I've ever tasted.
(Let it also be noted that I am pasting his photography of his own cocktail here because it's better than any shot I could take).

Egg white is a very old and classic cocktail ingredient, and one that sadly became forgotten or shunned by both bartenders and drinkers over the years. There are some very tasty and old cocktails, such as the Clover Club, that call for it, and even some very well-known ones such as the Whiskey Sour, which in modern times has left the ingredient out. The use of eggs in general actually predates the cocktail age in some cases, and were used for texture. Fizzes, sours, nogs, and flips are just a few examples of the diverse cocktail styles that use eggs.
No, you won't get sick from having an egg white in your cocktail. The chances nowadays of getting sick from a raw egg are about 1 in 10,000, and keep in mind you're mixing it with alcohol (which kills microorganisms) and in a lot of cases with citric acid (from lemon or lime juice). Be sure to get your eggs from good sources, which is something you should always be doing anyway.
If you're still feeling adverse to the idea, I can tell you plainly that you will be missing out on some fabulous drinks. Also, I bet you could be served some drinks that you will truly enjoy without even realizing they contain eggs at all. Just try it!

Aperol is an Italian amaro, or bitter liqueur, with a bright orange colour and mostly orange flavour, but also with rhubard, gentian, and cinchona notes as well. It was originally created in 1919, but didn't see much popularity until years later, and nowadays in a new age of mixology is seeing a real resurgence. Often nicknamed "Campari's younger brother," it has a similar taste and purpose, but is much sweeter and less bitter.

So, for the drink...
First of all, you can see Jamie make it himself on his show here.
Secondly, I should mention that the type of gin will really change the flavour profile here. Making it with Beefeater 24 as Jamie intends (at least according to the Small Screen Network presentation, which could be sponsored by the product) really brings out the citrus, and makes a soft, smooth cocktail.
I had the lovely pleasure of making this with Martin Miller's gin last week with my own personal bottle I acquired for half the Canadian price in Seattle. It made a very different drink, with vegetal and herbal flavours coming to the fore and ultimately making what I feel is a much more interesting drink.

The Petruchio
(aptly named after a character in Taming of the Shrew, by the way, which is based in Padua - the birthplace of Aperol)
1 oz gin (Martin Miller's recommended)
1 oz Aperol
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water, or use 1/2 oz of 1:1 simple syrup)
1 dash orange bitters (Fee's preferred)
1 egg white

Shake all ingredients in a shaker withOUT ice first to emulsify the egg white, then add ice and shake all ingredients again. Strain into a cocktail glass. 
Another way to emulsify the egg, courtesy of Jamie again, is to use a battery operated frappe device, like the ones you use to make a latte at home without a steamer. This is very modern, and I like sticking with the old-fashioned, classic ideas in general, so I prefer shaking.

A final note is about purchasing ingredients.
Aperol is available in the BC government liquor stores for $22 (I went through mine in about 6 months, so that's cheap), orange bitters can be picked up at the Gourmet Warehouse on Hastings St., and the only place I've seen Martin Miller's in Vancouver so far is at the Brewery Creek liquor store on Main St. It runs about $50, so is a real treat, but as I've mentioned in previous posts you can get it in Seattle for $28, or maybe even in the duty free shop.

Salute!