21 November, 2013

A Pair of Pisco Tinctures

Posted in : Cocktail Recipes, Pisco on November 21, 2013 by : The Gourmez

I have a pair of cocktails to share with you today. Each features the trio of pisco, orange, and a Royal Rose simple syrup. As you may recall, Royal Rose sent me a sampler of their organic, small-batch syrups a while back (meaning it was free!).

I’ve been slowly sharing new cocktail recipes that feature them as I experiment. I also relocated cross-country in August, so what I have to experiment with is limited right now, and thus the reason for the use of orange and pisco in both drinks, lest you think I’m actually put together enough to aim for a theme.

I’m quite proud of the first drink, and if I, or you, took the time to infuse the pisco with the fennel, I think it would be even better. I’m naming it the Jurong, because I imagine it would be amazing after spending the day at a national park in East Asia. Or, you know, on the patio after work. It’s a bit involved, but I’ve included a short-cut recipe at the end of the description.

The Jurong

2 oz. pisco
¼ of a large orange
A large handful of fennel fronds
1 oz. Royal Rose tamarind syrup

Chill your glasses. Muddle the orange quarter with the fennel and the pisco, saving a few fronds of fennel for garnish. Muddle that sucker until you can see many specks of fennel floating around. Fill the glasses with two large ice cubes each. I chose wine glasses because they show off a layered drink well. Also, I only had so many clean glasses. Strain your muddled mixture, shake with ice, and pour into the glasses. Using a spoon against the side of the glass, pour the tamarind syrup into the bottom of the drink. Ooh and ah at how pretty it is before swishing it all together—it’ll taste better that way.

The tamarind syrup is sweet enough to even out the alcohol, but it also gives the drink weight. Without it, the Jurong would be light enough to blow away on the breeze.

Shortcut: Shake the pisco with two ounces of OJ and the syrup. It’ll be tasty without the fennel too.

Drink #2 is simpler than the Jurong, but it has quite a kick! I actually made it with twice as much syrup the first time, but it was too spicy for me—and I don’t say that often! My husband came up with the idea of adding white wine to be a unique buffer for the spice, and it turned out really well. I’d recommend a sweeter white wine like Riesling or Gewürztraminer. It might even be interesting with the Southern grapes of Muscadine or Scuppernong and their unique smokiness.

The Fiery Grape

1 oz. pisco
¼ oz. Royal Rose Three Chiles Syrup
2 oz. orange juice (from ¼ of a large orange)
1 oz. white wine
orange zest

Shake the ingredients together and sprinkle some zest on top. This drink isn’t shy; you’ll either love it or you’ll put it aside for a smoother concoction.

I’ve worked my way through almost all my Royal Rose sample simple syrups (say that three times fast), though I may still have something up my sleeve for featuring the rose syrup. Soda spritzers, anyone?

Created 11 November 13 and 19 October 13.