Taste of the Met: Summer Cocktails

Two Summer Cocktail Recipes From Dru Buritica, The Mad Scientist of Canoe Brook

 

Blood Orange Margarita

This crafted margarita is one of the most refreshing I’ve ever had. Swapping out the traditional Triple Sec, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier for Aperol gives it a lighter, lifted citrus profile that complements the blood orange and cuts down some of the alcoholic kick, most welcome after a round in the summer sun.

Dru makes it exactly as follows, but he encourages experimentation at every twist and turn for all his cocktails.  

Ingredients

·       Several slices of fresh blood orange

·       One fresh lime

·       Hella Citrus Bitters

·       The Bitter Truth Grapefruit Bitters

·       Aperol Aperitivo

·       Fortaleza Tequila

·       Ripe Lemon Sour Mix

·       Sea Salt

 

Assembly

·       Muddle blood orange slices in a pint glass

·       Squeeze lime juice into the glass

·       Add ice to fill the glass

·       Add a few drops of Hella Citrus Bitters and The Bitter Truth Grapefruit Bitters

·       Add 1 ½ oz. Aperol

·       Add 1 ½  oz. Fortaleza

·       Fill glass with homemade or Ripe Sour Mix

·       Shake well

·       Rim preferred serving glass with salt

·       Add fresh ice to the new glass

·       Strain cocktail mixture into glass

·       Garnish with blood orange slice   

Bartender’s secrets: Dru typically operates a busy bar and when necessary he finds he gets great results with a pre-made, organic sour mix from Ripe in Connecticut. He also likes to salt only half the rim, giving his members the option to sip from either side. The deep red blood orange garnish is a dramatic touch and there’s nothing wrong with plunking it in your glass to infuse more flavor.

 

Met Golfer “Let’s Get Ready To Rum-ble”

For the second recipe, we challenged Dru the way a Canoe Brook member might, which is to say, “Dru, make me a cocktail.” Rum has been on his mind lately, since he thinks it’s gotten a bad rap from too many overly sweet, insipid Rum Punches and Mojitos. He invented the following recipe on the spot. The result was a dark, brooding summer sipper with the heft of a serious spirit but glowing with muted orange, chocolate and molasses overtones that got richer and more intriguing with every taste. 

 

Ingredients

·       One orange

·       Hella Orange Bitters 

·       Averna Amaro

·       Don Q Gran Añejo Rum

·       “Golf Ball” ice cube

·       Luxardo Cherries marinated in cognac

 

Assembly

·       Muddle orange slices in a pint glass

·       Add fresh ice

·       Add 1 oz Averno

·       Add 2 oz. Don Q Gran Añejo

·       Stir well

·       Place Golf Ball ice cube in a rocks glass

·       Strain cocktail into the glass

·       Add one Luxardo Cherry

·       Cut one generous strip of orange rind for garnish, twisting over the glass first to release some of the oils

Bartender’s Secrets: Canoe Brook uses widely available special molds to create a golf ball-shaped ice cube that fills much of the glass. Besides the visual impact, it melts more slowly than cubes do and therefore there is less early dilution of the intense flavors. For the Luxardo Cherries in cognac, Dru empties half the liquid from the jar, replaces it with cognac, and ages for 2-3 months. Try it for Christmas, he says with a smile.

 

Questions? Dru welcomes questions and comments on Instagram @drus.cock.tails.