Hello one and all. Once again we made it to yet another Friday. I should have taken today off since I was off all yesterday for Veterans/Armistice day. Going back into work for one day before the weekend makes little sense to me, but that is my mistake.
Anyway.
This week I’m making a drink I mixed up at a friend’s house last weekend. I’ve been sending this post around to my friends for a while so now I’m the go to cocktail guy. Of which, when I started this little project in 2019, I had no idea that it would be such a fun project and turn into a pretty epic pandemic hobby. Last Sunday Mrs. Sharkbait and I were over at a friend’s place watching football and was asked to make something tasty from their well stocked liquor cabinet. I was very excited to see a gin I’ve been trying to find for years. Tanqueray Sevilla Orange gin is finally available domestically. I had some once when the same couple brought back a bottle from a vacation in Europe, and I’ve been hoping it would make it’s way here and it finally has. Using that gin for a base was absolutely required. Not having my library of cocktail books on me, I did some searching on a cocktail app I have, and came across a recipe for a Contessa (Yes, the title is a Food Network joke). I gambled on the flavors working well and I am happy to report that it did, and the orange contessa was a hit.
Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a bottle of the orange gin, so for this week’s cocktail I’m using London Dry as the recipe normally calls for:
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. dry vermouth
1 oz. gin
Lemon twist, for garnish
Combine Aperol, vermouth, and gin in an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass. Squeeze lemon twist over cocktail and then discard.
The nose is mostly gin forward with hints of the Aperol mixed in as well. I Also get some lemon aroma in there from the twist I didn’t discard. I don’t know why you would discard the twist, but whatever, to each their own. The Aperol flavor comes through first and foremost. Aperol is a nice touch here. It provides just enough of bittersweet notes to keep the drink very well balanced. The gin is a secondary player here. It hides underneath from the beginning but doesn’t really make it’s presence known much more than that. In this application I think that is a very good thing. it is very light and can easily get thrown off balance by stronger flavors. The dry vermouth is lost of the way through the sip. I can get faint traces of it here and there, but nothing consistent. I think it mostly acts as a counter to the Aperol bitterness and is a hidden balancer.
The orange gin really does make a difference, especially when there is no garnish available. I highly recommend getting a bottle of the orange gin if you can. Experiment with It. I know I certainly will be getting a bottle the next time I see it.
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Found a funny;
it’s crazy that they only figured out tectonic plates in the 60s. a child in the 50s would say “it seems like south america and africa would fit together” and his mom would go “that’s cute honey would you like a cigarette”
UC’s game this week is now? Oh, this game just screams TRAP GAME.
You, uh, called it.
This drink is not up my alley, could probably only drink 2.
I did take today off, after taking yesterday off for the Don T. New Haven Extravaganza and Paper Towel Exchange, so I spent the morning in my pajamas and Hugh Hefner-type bathrobe, playing video games and consoling my absolute coward of a dog, who was not at all dealing well with the howling wind and sheets of rain.
It was one of the better mornings I’ve ever had, and confirms my belief that people who keep working after hitting huge lottery jackpots are absolute morons.
This Moldova-Scotland game reminds me of that book that Litre suggested about an English guy that bet his buddy that he could beat every member of the Moldovan National Soccer Team at tennis.
It’s a quick and fun read.
Playing the Moldovans at Tennis https://www.amazon.com/dp/0091920353/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_glt_fabc_F0ZVCJJXHYWPZKY50HQ6
I’m way ahead of all of them at the competition that really matters, staying the hell out of Moldova.
Hey, you’re an admin. Could you send an email to Viva and see if he’s ok? He hasn’t been around for a couple of weeks now, and I think he was in the hospital. It’s not like him to be away so long. I’m worried.
Ok, I’ll check on him.
Thanks!
I just emailed him. I’ll let you know when I hear from him.
Remind him of the tWBS codicil and potential penalties for dying without permission
Sevilla orange is a unique flavour that pairs really well in mixed drinks. I’m excited to see what else you use it with!
Likewise. It’s even good neat.
I had a blood orange margarita yesterday that was outstanding.
I think the worst night of Olivia Manning’s life was when she arrived home from dinner with friends to find that Eli had gotten into the Aperol thinking it was orange Hi-C.
Please let this happen for a Manning MNF game
I would LOVE for Eli to drink a Capri-Sun on camera.
DFO would explode and collapse into a singularity, where we would find Otto.
I’m still in a rowboat with BFC and someone named Jerry. A singularity might get things moving again!
That sofa never did come clean. Wound up putting it in Cooper’s garden shed apartment.