Hello and happy Friday yet again. This week I finally got around to making a drink I’ve always seemed to be one or two ingredients short every time I go to make it. It’s called the Lucien Gaudin Cocktail.
Who was Lucien Gaudin? According to the Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails book (where I found this recipe) he was a pretty badass and dominant fencer in the early part of the twentieth century, winning 2 gold medals in the 1924 Olympics, and two more in 1928. I can see where being an international Rockstar (as much as one could be in the late 1920s) would get you a drink named after you. Unfortunately, nobody is sure why this particular mix was named after him. I like to think he walked into a bar and demanded it be made, while brandishing his épée. One can dream right?
Lucien Gauidn
1 oz. Gin
.5 oz. Cointreau
.5 oz. Campari
.5 oz. Dry Vermouth
Stir in mixing glass with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
The Campari is the most noticeable on the nose. The bitter aroma cuts through any vermouth and gin notes, but doesn’t overpower the senses. The orange smell from the Cointreau doesn’t stand a chance against the bitter liqueur. Though the other ingredients do a heroic job in preventing the Campari from total aroma domination.
The sip starts out heavy on the Campari. Almost too much. The Cointreau then really comes and mixes in providing a bitter/orange flavor that I will say works rather well. Those flavors continue to harmonize most of the way through the sip until the end when the Cointreau fades away and the gin notes finally start to make their presence known. The Campari is a constant all the way through the entire sip. The intensity never changes, even with the other flavors ebbing and flowing across the palate. The finish is a bitter mix of Campari and juniper from the gin. There is a bit of a coat left behind by the sip that lingers for a good fifteen to twenty seconds after you finish.
I’m a little surprised by this one to be honest. It is essentially a negroni with dry vermouth and orange liqueur. But it is so much more than that. For one (as mentioned above) the Campari really is the star of the show, so if you’re on the fence about it, maybe skip this one. The orange plays well in the limited exposure the flavor gets, and the gin is, well gin. It rounds out the flavor adding depth and complexity. I would recommend this as a pre-dinner drink, preferably early in the evening.
(Banner image found here)
I’m house/dogsitting for a friend, so I’m separated from my home bar. Having to make do with wine and beer.
No, no, I wouldn’t call myself a “hero,” exactly. But I wouldn’t object to you calling me that.
How ’bout we call you “Ralph Hinkley” for the weekend, will that do?
That fits my lifestyle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg-TqEFYcfM
Nice! Picked out a block of cheese yet?
I’m thinking Havarti
Respekt.
Can you sub Aperol for Campari?
/mailing your bottle of Haskap Gin today.
Possibly? I haven’t experimented with Aperol yet. That’s next after I finish the unopened Campari I have.
Also yay! Picking up the wine/pommeau tomorrow
I’m insulted that a drink named after a fencer doesn’t involve a cocktail spear in some way.
I know right?
Well, it’s not too big volumetrically, so you won’t have to go epee much.
Thanks for the tip about the pervasiveness of the Campari. I can appreciate it as a note in a harmony of flavors, but probably not as the star in the show…
Of course, any cocktail I will be having this weekend will probably be a frozen/blended one, as it’s looking like the PNW will be hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock. Woo.
We are under the same heat dome internet friend! All time records will be crushed.
Gonna crack 70 in Winnipeg, is it?
Well last summer we had a total of 3 days over 30 C. We have had 10 this month already, and forecast is for 35/36 this week. All time record here in the foothills is 36.1
/sir, I left Winnipeg 25 years ago just call me the Hartford Whalers of Western canadia
Mid-80’s? The horror.
Man, when the icebergs melt your oceanfront property is going to be so valuable!
We get 4 days of 90+ here in CT this weekend into next week. That’s like 33 to you Metric heretics. But then we’re supposed to get 90+ in the summer.
High of 78 here in NC. In late June. And it’s not raining. Clearly, fuckery is afoot.
You North Calackity (tm by Hippo Enterprises) bastards stole our weather!!!!
Give it back, dammit!
Cackalacky if you please. I expect we’ll be up to the 90s shortly, hopefully that means you get your weather back.
Apologies for the misspelling & the outburst. Even the prospect of temps over 80 gets us PNW weather wimps all grumpy and out of sorts….
No worries. Peeling skin off vinyl seats will do that to anyone.
Don’t forget the old metal buckles in grandpas Crown Vic.
Good thing he thought seatbelts were a communist plot along with flouride and didn’t make us wear them.
Of course you can sit up front in the middle without a seatbelt. You don’t need that row of teeth right?
What’s the point of worrying about front teeth when that gay communist fluoride is just gonna make ’em fall out anyway?
Not to mention contaminating our precious bodily fluids…