Happy Friday my socially distant friends. Have we all gone stir crazy yet? Were we already crazy to begin with? I think if you’re here reading this, the answer to either of those questions is probably yes, so we might as well make the most of our collective insanity and enjoy a drink.

This week while perusing my library of cocktail books, I came across the World Famous Quarantine Cocktail from “The Gentleman’s Companion”. I waffled a bit on making it this week, with all the quarantini jokes that are STILL flying around, but, in the end I decided I would make this for you this week, since it actually takes some effort to make, and is much more than a drink you have alone.

World Famous Quarantine Cocktail:

1.5 oz. Bacardi

1 tsp. Gin

1 tsp. Dry vermouth

.75 oz. Orange juice

2 tsp Lemon juice (1 tsp if using concentrate)

Sugar to taste (I used 1 sugar cube, broken up with a muddler)

1 tbsp. Egg white

1-2 drops Anise liqueur

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with cracked ice. Shake and pour into a cocktail glass

No nose to speak of. I’m not very surprised at that, since the most fragrant forward ingredient, the gin, only has a teaspoon in quantity added. The first impression upon tasting is a flavor palate that is mellow, clean, and bright, with a good mouthfeel from the egg white. The rum flavor comes in after the egg white diminishes a bit, with a hint of gin underneath the rum. Those two give way to the lemon & orange flavor combination, which does an admirable job of  smoothing out the rest of the sip.

Going back to the small gin amount, I get why the teaspoon is the preferred amount. There is a lot of soft flavor going on here, between the rum and egg white, and the minute amount of citrus. Any more gin and that would absolutely throw off the delicate balance of flavors this drink is comprised of.

This cocktail is not very strong at all, but it is rich. As I’ve said in this space before, I prefer stronger drinks to milder ones, but what this one lacks in a booziness punch, it makes up for in its body. I would say this cocktail is a good early afternoon drinker, or pre-dinner happy hour mix. I would advise against making this one after dinner.

As well as not having one after dinner, I wouldn’t want to have more than one in a sitting. Maybe two if we’re not going anywhere for a while. Wait, I’m not going anywhere soon…

(Banner image found here)