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A Spontaneous Libation for your Consideration

Italian Stallion

Created and posted by yarm.
1 oz Aperol
3⁄4 oz Aveze (Suze or Salers or similar gentian liqueur will work)
3⁄4 oz Lime juice
1⁄2 oz Passion fruit syrup
2 oz Soda water (In glass, not in shake)
1 twst Orange peel (As garnish)
Instructions

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass containing 2 oz soda water. Fill with ice cubes, add a straw, and garnish with an orange twist.

Notes

Overall, the drink's appearance and balance is a complex orange soda albeit one with herbal and tropical flavors in the mix.

History

When I was plotting turning over the cocktail menu for Winter/Spring 2016 at Loyal Nine, I needed some new low proof drinks. For inspiration, I started to riff on Michael McIlroy's Rome With a View. Given that we had an abundance of Avèze gentian liqueur, I wanted to include that (instead of Rome With a View's Campari) especially after having tried the Vatican City riff of that neo-classic. Another drink that came to mind for a flavor combination was the Square Root in pairing Aperol, gentian, and citrus. Given how well passion fruit works with bitter liqueurs, I considered taking things in a tropical direction. Finally, the name Italian Stallion came up from thinking about Rome and Italian themes, and a kitchy movie title seemed apropos. In 2020, this drink was placed on the menu at the Paper Plane in San Jose, California, as part of their guest drink section.

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From the Knowledge Vault

Who Makes My Bourbon?

This is the fifth in a series on Bourbon by Zach Pearson. Read them all: Bourbon, Bourbon After the Act, Bourbon: What it is ... and isn't, Making Bourbon, Who Makes My Bourbon, Producer Capsules., Finding the Good Stuff, Tasting the Good Stuff, Neat, Mashbills, Geeky Information and Resources.

About a year ago, GQ exerpted this great picture from David Haskell's The Kings County Distiller Guide to Urban Moonshining. Click the image on the left to see the detail. It’s pretty easy to see from this that there are really only thirteen major Bourbon producers in the United States. These 13 distilleries are owned by only nine companies.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You can’t walk into a liquor store and not see an entire 50 foot shelf of Bourbons with names you’ve never heard of. Some of them are even local. All of them have great stories on the back about how this particular Bourbon was the favorite of Ulysses S. Grant or Al Capone or was made by some hill-William from a secret family recipe only recently rediscovered inside a hollow log in Possum Lick, Kentucky. Like the Templeton Rye label to the left. Click it to expand and read it.

Recent Additions

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Recent Discussion

  • Re The Smartest Man Alive, 1 hour 51 minutes ago drinkingandthinking commented:

    Rye and Suze work great together in this, complementing each other without overbearing and honey adds flavor and not just sweet. The woodiness of the herbs may be challenging for many, including myself, but it's worth it.

  • Re Ivan Drago's Fernet Mule, 11 hours ago illusionistlynx commented:

    Enjoyable as written, and I like the idea of a Fernet Mule. Made it a second time with a splash of Amaro Montenegro and 2 dashes of Peychaud's which provided much more complexity.

  • Re Dead Man's Mule, 22 hours ago illusionistlynx commented:

    Love at first sip. Yes, it's a bit sweet as written, but it's also heaven. Used home made orgeat (Kevin Kos Recipe) which makes it decadent. Reminds me of an Alpine Sour, but with that Allspice Dram flavor added in.

  • Re Wormwood'n stormy, 22 hours 1 minute ago illusionistlynx commented:

    I love this combination of flavors, especially with the Hendrick's Gin. Reduce the ginger beer to 5 oz (one can of Fever Tree) and that improves the balance so that the absinthe and the Suze come through more prominently. Potentially still too sweet even with that adjustment, but very tasty.

    Edit: Made this with Bundaberg over Fever Tree and it was substantially better. The Fever Tree is more acidic and has more ginger bite which detracts from the other flavors.

  • Re Hummingbird, 1 day ago drinkingandthinking commented:

    A slightly sweeter and boozier Americano without the soda. Nothing special.