Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: I’m Melting

Good morning and Happy Friday.

I feel like the dog in the “This is fine” meme  while the entire room is on fire. We’re in the middle of the second stretch of 4 days of temperatures above 95 degrees in the last 2 weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I like summer. I prefer sitting on a beach rather than skiing/snow boarding down a mountain. However this is a bit excessive. To the point where I’ve been slacking in my dinner and overall meal prep because I don’t have central air and the thought of turning on my oven just makes me start sweating. With that in mind I’ve been keeping the cocktailing to minimal prep this week. Think gin and tonics, vermouth spritzes, things like that.

I found an easy cocktail in the Waldorf Astoria cocktail book called the Baco. It fits right in with what I’m looking for. It sounds like its light and easy to make. Let’s find out!

2 Dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters #6

1.25 oz. Bombay London Dry Gin (I used Gordons)

.75 oz. Nolly Prat extra dry vermouth

.75 Cinzano Rosso sweet vermouth

Twist orange peel over an old fashioned glass to release the oils, then place in glass. Add bitters and muddle briefly. Add gin and vermouth to the same glass. Add ice and stir to integrate. Garnish with additional orange peel.

I expect a lot of orange with the twin peel garnish and the bitters. Let’s see

The nose is not what I expected. I don’t get a whole lot of orange at all. I mainly get the vermouths. Mostly dry, but I do get hints of the sweet mixed in there. It takes the initial edge off. I wonder if it will do the same for the flavor.

That is rather nice actually. The sip starts out fairly neutral, but then the orange comes in. But it isn’t an intense orange flavor. The vermouths make sure of that. The dry vermouth especially. That comes through eventually, and ends up being the main flavor by the end of the sip. I get a little bit of a lingering aftertaste of the vermouth which could be a little off putting, but it’s not the worst. I think if the sweet vermouth wasn’t there it would be a different story. That isn’t so much a flavor to be tasted, but one that reigns in a stronger one to keep everything in check. The gin is nearly undetectable in this, which helps make this a very drinkable cocktail.

As mentioned before, I liked the simplicity of this one. No shaking and add everything to the glass is about as easy a drink as you can find. Though at the same time, I don’t know if this would be at the top of my repertoire. If I’m making a twin vermouth cocktail, I think I might default to the Peacock Alley Martinez. While it’s a little more prep heavy, the stronger and I tend to prefer stronger drinks, but you do you. Whatever you do, stay cool this weekend.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)