The Curious History of an Early Spirit
It went like this, but wasn’t. Some four thousand years ago in Mespotamia, the perfumers at the court of King Zimrilim created a technique to separate the essential oils of precious woods and flowers from the woods and flowers themselves in order to embalm their dead. Originally, this probably involved soaking flower petals in warm water and capturing the fragrant oils that rose to the surface. What they called this method is lost, but other cultures refined their work into the art and science now known as distillation.
Many ancient scientists ran up against this phenomenon. In the fourth century BCE, Aristotle realized that seawater could be made drinkable by distillation, and that the process could be applied to wine and other liquids, though there is no record of his actually distilling wine. To the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, distillation must have seemed like magic, and their knowledge was guarded from unknowing eyes.
A major advancement in distilling came between the 3rd and 4th century CE with the invention of the alembic (from the Greek ambix – a cup, typically made of glass) by Zosimos of Panopolis, an Egyptian. Having two vessels, one with the liquid to be distilled and one to catch condensed vapors with a tube running between them gave much more control and finesse to this delicate process. With a few modifications, this device is now known as a pot still.
Funky & flavorful
Turns out an amaro margarita works great
Alpine lake.
I took the Averna down to 3/4oz and bumped the aquavit to 1.5oz. Less sweet and a little more caraway forward.
Sother Teague’s cited book does indeed have this as equal parts (1 oz each), while the more recent Imbibe page citing him moves the balance away from Chartreuse which I agree does seem sensible. If I had to guess, perhaps early on he borrowed the ratio from the Bijou (which the book cites as inspiration), and more recently decided to adjust the spec. I’ve curated the recipe to conform to what appears to be the latest version.