Recipe Description
I recently discovered Drillaud Apricot Liqueur making a recipe from my favorite book, Smuggler’s Cove. Shortly thereafter, I ran out of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur–I’ve been on a liquor run hiatus in an attempt to wind down inventory as I downsize to a smaller house, so I’ve been running low on many things. Lacking St. Germain, I swapped in Drillaud Apricot in a gin daisy (a gin sour with liqueur instead of simple syrup, if I understand the term correctly) & totally changed the game.
My guests and I had all become a bit fatigued of St. Germain (though I do still love it), and found the apricot a sublime change of pace. It was pretty clear from the start, however, that it’s natural home was in a whiskey sour, so I made a whiskey sour variation with it. Of course, there is nothing new under the sun, so when I googled “apricot whiskey sour”–confident someone had beat me to this invention–I found the Baltimore Bang using close to the identical proportions I had landed on. I feel I could have renamed it since I reinvented it, but why complicate things? After all, a drink by any other name…
Update: Recently my discovery (invention?) was validated when I shared it at a super fun cocktail tasting party. (Thanks for the invite AD!) Guests were invited to submit recipes in advance, so I took the opportunity to turn the group on to this underappreciated apricot liqueur and its elevating effect on an old standard cocktail. The crowd went wild!!
Well, maybe not wild, but the drink was a hit! So here you go…
Ingredients
-
1 2/3 ounce Bourbon
I never mix with low quality bourbon. You might even could use rye--I haven't tried that yet! -
1/2 ounce Apricot liqueur
I like Drillaud, and it's highly affordable. Some people use brandy but I think the liqueur gives it more of an apricot flavor and I also think the brandy makes the drink too "hot"--that is, it imparts a blast of alcohol to your face you might prefer to get from a shot! -
1/2 ounce lemon juice
Fresh squeezed of course! -
1/3 ounce rich syrup
Simple syrup is one part sugar to one part water simmered until clear. Rich is 2:1 sugar:water...let cool before using. If you are in a hurry, make only as much as you need...the measure of the sugar will be the measure of the finished product...you can stir it and microwave it until clear, then put it in a coffee cup or something with a lot of mass (if you think of it, put that in the freezer before you start the cook)--that will start cooling it down immediately--then put that in the freezer while you squeeze the lemons etc.
Preparation
Shake the ingredients with ice.
Service
Strain into an ice-filled glass. (I prefer one giant cube for this.) Garnish as you would a whiskey sour. A luxardo cherry and half an orange slice might be nice.
