Torres del Paine
Muddle peel in low-ball glass, add ice, build, stir
Torres del Paine is a national park in the Patagonia region of Chile -- bitterly beautiful.
Created for Mixology Monday MxMo LVIII Niche Spirits, June 30, 2011.
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- Bitterness is strong but thoughtfully complex.
- Yet to Try
- A surprising and challenging cocktail.
- I prefer 1/4 oz lemon juice
- Made with Barsol Quebranta Primero, found it quite unbalanced, then it improved a little with dilution and orange/lemon twist infusion
- Pisco- bitter, sour
- Didn't have orange peel, but used a light dash of Regan's orange bitters before shaking, and it came out great.
- Complex, unusual, deep. A good cocktail to contemplate, although it goes unnervingly easily.
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- Hemingway in Latvia — Rhum Agricole, Black Balsams, Maraschino Liqueur, Grapefruit juice, Lime juice
Mixology Monday is a global cocktail smack-down, where bloggers and other writers are encouraged to create a cocktail around a common theme. For June, 2011, Adventures in Cocktails (www.adventuresincocktails.com) is hosting MxMo LVIII, challenging us to create a cocktail using an uncommon base spirit. Bourbon, gin, tequila, rum, and the like -- nope. Reaching deeper into the cabinet I find a neglected bottle of Pisco. That'll work.
I was first introduced to Pisco during a family trip to Patagonia -- hiking, rafting, and sea travel. The sea leg of the trip featured a "motor yacht." That's Chilean for fishing boat. Our Captain taught us the essential toast to Jacquot-- the spirit of safe passage. Standing on the bobbing deck, we held small glasses of Pisco to the sky, spilled a bit for Jacquot, and swallowed the remainder. Facing the bitter sea spray, the fierce Chilean brandy generated a warm ember in our cold bodies. Heartburn, no doubt. The rite worked, as we arrived safe and, but for our queasy stomachs, sound.
Years passed before Pisco became readily available in the US. Whether through a rise in quality or ebb in memory, the brandy is much smoother than my first experience, with a lovely fruit and depth. As a lover of all things bitter, I thought to combine the newly-available Gran Classico's vibrant flavors with Cynar's dark savory flavors -- a contract in bitter. The lemon provides acid to moderate the bitter and tame the sweet. Muddle the citrus peels for a bit more bitter depth and interest.
This is a slow sipping cocktail for lovers of amari. Think of the beautiful towers in Torres del Paine National Park, of adventure shared with family, and of Jacquot, stealing Pisco from every passing vessel.
Dan, this looks lovely, I love the backstory as well. I was quite surprised by the Chilean Capel pisco, enjoy playing with it, and I'm glad you featured it for MixMo. And the choice of amari is lovely as well - I'm off to Cirace in the North End this weekend to get the Gran Classico! This drink will whet my appetite for complex bitter in a sipper.
Thanks for hosting, filip. For the interested, here's filip's write-up on this MxMo: http://www.adventuresincocktails.com/2011/06/21/mxmo-lviii-niche-spirit…