It's early in the week and I already feel like I need a cocktail, so I thought I'd share one with you here instead. This drink is an Italian variation of the superb French Pearl cocktail created by Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club. I think it's a great drink for the season. It's not too summery, but not too wintery either - just like spring.
Black Pearl
Small mint sprig (4-5 small leaves)
1/2 ounce Simple Syrup (see below)
1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
fat 1/4 ounce Sambuca (which means over 1/4 ounce, but not quite 1/2 ounce)
2 ounces Plymouth gin
Place all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker; shake well. Strain (with a fine strainer) into a small, narrow martini glass. Garnish by floating an espresso bean on top.
Notes:
1. Only garnish with an espresso bean if the surface area of your martini glass is small (otherwise, it will look like a bug floating around). If your glasses are large, you can rinse the syrup from a Luxardo cherry and drop it in the bottom of your glass; they're so dark that they actually look black.
Another note about Luxardo cherries - They are amazing, nothing like the bright red maraschino cherries that usually make their way into cocktails. If you're serious about your cocktail ingredients, buy them! They're expensive, but worth it. A jar will garnish about 50 drinks (if you can stop yourself from eating them out of the jar, that is).
2. I recommend Plymouth gin for this drink. It won't taste the same with a harsher style of gin.
Simple Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Put both in a saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil; stir again to make sure sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Bottle it and store it in the fridge (up to a month). Use it for cocktails, iced coffee, etc.
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