Early Autumn: A Spicy Pear and Gin Cocktail
Happy Halloween! Last Thursday night I had the opportunity to attend Whiskey Fest here in Philadelphia, which was an amazing event. Being the gin lover that I am (most of the time) I was very curious to taste Liberty Gin, the offering from W.P. Palmer Distilling Co. in Manayunk. What really intrigued me was the fact that their gin is based on an old Dutch recipe that goes back to the time of the American Revolution and includes only 6 classic ingredients: Juniper, Coriander, Angelica, Cardamom, Lemon Peel, and Grains of Paradise. Lately I’ve been drinking gins that are a lot more botanical so it was a nice change to go with something that was a bit simpler, and was also historically accurate. It was fun to think that George Washington could have been drinking gin based on this very same recipe! Both the aroma and the taste did not disappoint, and I was excited to use it in a Fall cocktail (even though it was 80 degrees today) as I continue to feature Philly Craft Spirits Week here on the blog.
As I began to play around with the ingredients for this drink I quickly realized the challenge involved in combining Autumn’s typical spicy flavors with a spirit like gin. Although it’s very assertive on its own, gin can quickly become overwhelmed by other elements that are just too heavy for it. Gin might be the extrovert at the party, but she’s still choosy about the company she keeps! I knew that I wanted to use Suze because it has a spicy, bitter flavor that’s also very delicate; I felt like any of the Amari would just be too powerful here. To contrast the bitterness, I decided to bring in some St. Germain, which is one of gin’s best friends, and which also pairs so beautifully with Suze in Death & Co.’s Terrible Love cocktail. For the fruit, I was ready for a break from apples and decided on pears instead, and I wanted lemon as my citrus. When I tried the cocktail this way, it definitely needed just a little bit more of something so I reached for the aromatic bitters, only to find that they knocked the entire drink off balance. After some trial and error, I landed on DRAM Apothecary’s Wild Mountain Sage bitters and they added just the element I was looking for. They’re available at the Art in the Age store in Old City. I called it Early Autumn because its flavors are so delicate and because it tastes like there’s just a little bit of summer hanging on.
Early Autumn
1 1/2 oz Liberty Gin
1/2 oz Suze
1/4 oz St. Germain
1 1/2 oz R.W. Knudsen Spiced Pear
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1 dash DRAM Apothecary Wild Mountain Sage bitters
Pear slice for garnishing
Place all the ingredients in the bottom half of a shaker tin and then add your 1 large cube and 2 small. Shake for 15—20 seconds or until cold. If you don’t have any large format cubes on hand, then fill the shaker 2/3 full with regular ice. Strain using a Hawthorne strainer into a bucket glass with one large ice cube. Garnish with the pear slice. Enjoy!
Pictured above are 3 classic cocktails, each with its own story that dates back to the Prohibition Era and beyond. The Diamondback, on the left, was once the house cocktail at the Lord Baltimore Hotel in Maryland. It’s named after the Diamondback Terrapin, the official mascot of the Maryland ‘Terps. In the middle is the Old-Fashioned, thought to have been brought to the Waldorf Astoria in New York City by bartender James E. Pepper in 1880 who had originally crafted the drink for the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Ky. The last cocktail is the Ward 8, which hails from Boston, and has 3 different accounts as to who created it, dated 1902, 1936, and 1940 respectively. There’s something very cool about making cocktails that have been around for so long and have so much history behind them. Think of all the bartenders who have mixed them over the years! That cool factor skyrockets for me when these same drinks are made with handcrafted spirits from local distilleries that are less than 5 years old!
Just in case you’re thinking that bourbon is one of those spirits that is only consumed sip by sip in a very dark bar while you think serious thoughts, I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. And just in case you’re thinking that you’ll never be able to drink brown liquor, I’m also here to tell you that you’re wrong. You can and you should – especially in this drink! I wanted to create a cocktail whose flavors would definitely work for the fall season, but would still be refreshing and fun, and I wanted to illustrate bourbon’s versatility by showing that it does have this lighter, totally drinkable side. The cocktail that I came up with is a slight variation of a traditional bourbon smash, which generally contains citrus, sugar, and mint. (Think along the lines of a mint julep). In my Bourbon Cider Smash, I’ve left a bit of the citrus in, removed the mint, swapped out the sugar for some maple syrup, and added the cider and ginger ale. The result is a totally drinkable Autumn cocktail whose flavors will work from Halloween right through to Thanksgiving. Since Philadelphia is getting ready to celebrate it’s first 