Bottle Buy: Apricot Liqueur

I've always wanted this blog to be a resource for people who don't know a lot about making cocktails at home, and part of that has been introducing new ingredients as I add them to my bar and start making cocktails with them. So I was alarmed when I realized I had posted the Periodista without saying a thing about its star ingredient, apricot liqueur. Specifically Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot.

Apricot liqueur may seem a bit specific or obscure if you've only got limited space in your bar, but it's an ingredient that comes up surprisingly often. It appears in a number of recipes from the early 1900's, and in a lot of rum cocktails and Tiki drinks. Like many ingredients we've discussed, the quality and availability of apricot liqueur declined along with the popularity of the craft cocktail during the mid to late 20th century. But now it's back, and there are tons of classic and new recipes to make with it.

I knew apricot liqueur would be a good buy because I've already made - and loved - several recipes that called for a small amount of it. Not having a bottle, I subbed in a bit of apricot preserves, which really did work pretty well.  But for more apricot-centric drinks like the Periodista and the Tradewinds (below), you need the real thing. And now I can go back and make those other drinks right.

Apricot liqueur is often referred to as apricot brandy. The two terms are frequently used interchangeably, but I think certain aspects of how the liqueurs are made may prevent the word "brandy" from appearing on the label - likely the addition of fruit and sugars after distillation, although I'm not sure. The quality apricot liqueurs are essentially fruit brandies or eaux-de-vie - spirits distilled from fruit other than grapes, in this case apricots.

One of the easiest bottles of apricot liqueur to find, and the one that seems to be recommended the most often in my cocktail recipe books, is Rothman & Winter, which is imported from Austria by Haus Alpenz. It's made from Klosterneuberger apricots grown in the Danube Valley. Two of the other most popular varieties, Giffard and Marie Brizard, are made in France.

Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur

Price: $25
Alcohol Content: 24%
Popular Cocktails: Tradewinds, Periodista, Golden Gun, Flor de Jerez, Charles Lindbergh, Hotel Nacional

It's been a while since I made a genuine Tiki drink, but after a couple of recent trips to Tiki Rock in Boston, I was itching to make one at home. I love drinks with coconut creme - Tiki Rock had a Painkiller that was really amazing - and the Tradewinds had been on my list of drinks to make once I finally got my hands on some apricot liqueur. It's an undeniably tasty cocktail, creamy and tart. The traditional garnish is a lemon wedge speared on an inside-out cocktail umbrella (as if the wind has blown it that way), but I thought a mini pinwheel was appropriate.

History: According to Martin Cate in Smuggler's Cove, the Tradewinds originated in the Caribbean in the 1970's. The recipe appeared in Beachbum Berry Remixed.

Tradewinds

1 oz. black blended rum (Cruzan)
1 oz. blended lightly aged rum (Appleton Estate Signature Blend)
1 oz. apricot liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1 1/2 oz. coconut cream
1 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with 12 oz. crushed ice and a 4 large "agitator" cubes. Shake or flash blend and then open pour into a zombie or pilsner glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge speared on an inside-out umbrella, or a little pinwheel. I added some mint as well.

Recipe adapted from Smuggler's Cove.

Periodista

I can trace my love affair with cocktails back to a single evening. I had just found out that I had gotten a competitive NSF fellowship to support me during graduate school, and my husband and I were going to celebrate. Earlier that week I had picked up a copy of one of those free magazines that used to be all over - I think it was Stuff at Night - and they had a feature on the best cocktail bars in Boston. In my mind there wasn't really anything fancier than sitting at a marble-topped bar and sipping a beautiful drink, so we went to one of the places on the list, Eastern Standard. I don't remember what the magazine said that made us pick Eastern Standard, but I do remember the cocktail they featured: the Periodista, a rum drink made with lime juice and apricot and orange liqueurs.

I don't know why the Periodista in that article stuck in my head. I didn't even order it that night - I ended up getting an Aviation, my first one ever, and realizing that there was so much more to cocktails than I had ever known. But I distinctly remember the orangey cocktail pictured in that magazine. I later tried one elsewhere in Boston and found it to be quite as tasty as Stuff at Night made it out to be. Little did I know that the Periodista is a drink with a story behind it.

The Periodista (Spanish for "journalist") is a happy, crowd-pleasing cocktail. Its flavor is bright and citrusy, with tart lime and sweet apricot playing against each other on your tongue. It's like a Daiquiri with a few extra tricks up its sleeve. It's somehow simultaneously perfect for drinking on a tropical beach or in a Boston dive bar in the dead of winter. It's not hard to see why it became so popular here. It's the how that is a bit more convoluted. If you're curious, read on.

History: I could just tell you what is known about the history of the Periodista, but I would be doing you a disservice. Because if you're at all interested in craft cocktails, the people who make them, and the stories behind them, you should read Devin Hahn's Periodista Tales.

Briefly, Devin Hahn is a writer and filmmaker who lives in Boston. He also enjoys a good craft cocktail. In particular, he became a fan of the Periodista after having one at Chez Henri, a now-shuttered French-Cuban restaurant in Cambridge, in 2007. The menu there indicated that the cocktail originated in Cuba, and was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway. An instant fan, Hahn began ordering Periodistas at bars all over Boston, and bartenders were happy to make him one. This was, in fact, right around the same time that I made my pilgrimage to Eastern Standard and learned about the drink myself. It was not a hard cocktail to find.

Unless, apparently, you left Boston. When Hahn traveled out of the city, no one seemed to have even heard of Periodista. Bartenders at places like PDT in New York and The Varnish in Los Angeles had no idea what he was talking about. And Hahn couldn't find the recipe online or in any cocktail books.

So in 2010, Hahn set out on an epic quest to uncover the origins of the Periodista that he chronicled online in the Periodista Tales. It takes him to some of Boston's most beloved watering holes and introduces a cast of characters that I've come to know well as a cocktail lover in the city - people like Jackson Cannon, John Gersten, and Misty Kalkofen. And then Hahn's search expands, and he meets with luminaries like David Wondrich and Ted Haigh, who share their own stories and insights into the craft cocktail renaissance. It becomes a rumination on the craft of bartending itself, as well as a perfect example of how difficult it can be to find out the real story behind a cocktail.

The only thing wrong with it is that it seems to end prematurely. The last installment from 2011 reads like a cliffhanger. I don't know if Hahn has continued his research since, but I hope he updates us at some point.

If you're short on time and really just itching to get to the punchline (the Periodista Tales is a lengthy read), I will spoil the results of Hahn's research here. The real origin of the Periodista remains unknown, but it does seem to hail from Cuba. The earliest mention of the recipe in print that Hahn could find is from 1948, buried at the back of El Arte de Cantinera, a bartenders' manual from the Club de Cantineros de la Republica de Cuba in Havana.

The Periodista came to Boston when Paul O'Connell and Joe McGuirk were building Chez Henri's cocktail list. They found the recipe in a "little tropical cocktail book," one of those pamphlets that spirits brands used to print. Like El Arte de Cantinera, it called for white rum, but they found it far better with Myer's dark rum. It ended up on the menu. From there, McGuirk took the recipe to the B-Side Lounge, one of Boston's most (in)famous cocktail bars, where many of the greats got their start. As they left to begin their own ventures, they took the Periodista with them. And the rest, as they say, is history.

In his account, Hahn includes the Periodista recipes from many of the bars and bartenders that he interviews - a dozen in all, from the B-Side Lounge's version (which specifically calls for "generic bottom shelf" apricot liqueur and triple sec) to Drink's recipe with house-made lime peel syrup. The one that appealed to me most was Brother Cleve's recipe, which uses Appleton Estate Jamaican rum and included a bit of simple syrup to make the drink less tart. The result, in my opinion, is perfection. But if it doesn't suit your fancy, try adjusting the ratios or checking out some of the other recipes.

Periodista

1 1/2 oz. Appleton Estate aged rum (12- or 21-year recommended, I used Signature Blend)
3/4 oz. apricot liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 barspoon (1/8 tsp) simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe and garnish with a lime wheel.

Recipe from Brother Cleve via Devin Hahn.

Almond Brother

Last week I mentioned a cocktail recipe from the Death & Co book that showed me how well tequila and amaretto can work together, so I figured this week I ought to share it! I give you the Almond Brother. I think amaretto is a seriously underestimated cocktail ingredient. Sure, it's crazy sweet, but it can add such great flavor to a cocktail in small quantities. This one ramps up the almond flavor with some sweet, nutty orgeat as well.

Apricot really compliments amaretto, and this isn't the first time I've used them together. Unfortunately I still don't have a bottle of apricot liqueur - I had plans to finally buy some on my last trip to the liquor store, but they didn't have any. Soon! But until then, my usual substitute of apricot preserves seems to work quite well.

This cocktail smells heavenly, like almonds and citrus with hints of vanilla. Kind of like a citrus pound cake. But the nutty angel's food flavor of the amaretto and orgeat is tempered by the tequila and lime for a perfect balance of sweet and sour. It's one of those cocktails where the ingredients really sing.

History: This recipe was created at Death & Co in new york by Jason Littrell in 2011. Though the Death & Co book doesn't specify, it's pretty clear that the name is a reference to the Allman Brothers band.

Almond Brother

2 oz. tequila reposado
1/4 oz. amaretto
1 tsp. apricot liqueur (or 1/2 tsp. apricot preserves)
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. orgeat
1/4 oz. maple syrup (I used Noble Chamomile & Vanilla)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe. No garnish.

Recipe from Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails.

Flor de Jerez

A month or two ago, I finally bought the Death & Co cocktail book, a veritable bible of cocktail recipes and mixology tips from the famous New York bar. I'm still slowly working my way through the first half of the book, which is filled with information on spirits and techniques. I just finished the section on stirring cocktails, and it's so specific and complex that I'm a little afraid to move on to shaking!

In the section on cocktail ingredients, the book goes through all the major spirits and explains what bottles they use behind the bar and why. I was pleased to see that their choices are usually accessible and affordable, and I’m definitely going to try out some of their recommendations. When I got to the section on sherry, an ingredient I’ve never worked with before, I was shocked to read that a decent bottle of sherry could cost as little as $12. For $12, I could absolutely try some sherry. Especially after coming across the recipe for the Flor de Jerez, which sounded quite delicious.

In case you're a sherry novice like me, I’ll give you a quick primer to bring you up to speed, summarized from the Death & Co book. Sherry is a fortified wine made in Spain. There are a number of different varieties that are primarily characterized based on the way they are aged, which determines how sweet the final product will be. The driest sherries are fino and manzanilla, which are made using biological aging, a process during which a layer of yeast prevents the sherry from contacting the air after a certain point. The sweeter varieties of sherry, like oloroso, use an oxidative aging process like other wines and spirits, during which they are in constant contact with the air. And amontillado, the variety I ultimately chose, goes through a combination of these processes - first it undergoes biological aging, then oxidative. That makes it rich and sweet in aroma but actually fairly dry to taste.

I chose amontillado because I feel like I see it used in cocktails most often. My bottle of Lustau, the brand Death & Co recommends, was only $14. Like vermouth, sherry does go bad eventually, so it should be kept in the fridge and used within a few months (connoisseurs will say weeks, but I personally don't notice that much of a difference).

As soon as I got home with my bottle of Amontillado, I mixed up the Flor de Jerez, and I was incredibly impressed. It's bright and aromatic, blending the deeper raisin flavors of the sherry with tart lemon and apricot. The sherry has a really distinct flavor that blends beautifully with the other ingredients. I'm excited to try it in some other cocktails.

The Flor de Jerez calls for an apricot liqueur, and Death & Co recommends Rothman & Winter. This is definitely on my wish list, but since I currently don't have a bottle, I used a bit of apricot preserves to try and achieve the same flavor. I'm quite happy with the result, and I've used this substitution in a few other cocktails since then.

History: This cocktail was invented by Joaquín Simó at Death & Co in 2009. He writes in the Death & Co book: "I was after a light-bodied cocktail that shone forth with fruit and nuts yet remained dry and refreshing." Mission accomplished.

Flor de Jerez

1/2 oz Jamaican-style rum (Appleton Estate Reserve recommended)
1 1/2 oz. Amontillado sherry (Lustau recommended)
1 tsp. apricot preserves (substituted for 1/2 oz. apricot liqueur)
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. cane sugar syrup*
1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass. No garnish recommended; I used a couple of nasurtium flowers.

*Death & Co's recipe for cane sugar syrup is a 2:1 mixture of cane sugar (sometimes called "evaporated cane juice") and water. If you can't get your hands on some cane sugar, Demerara or regular sugar make fine substitutes. But maybe don't tell the folks at Death & Co that I said so.

Recipe from Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails.