Back in November, under orders from my friend Sean, I purchased Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. In it, there is a recipe for the Brooklyn cocktail. Now, I have a very personal relationship with the borough of Brooklyn. I love the Dodgers, and I never really understood why. I have a weird fascination with Park Slope. The only reason I can think of is that I lived there in a past life, from about early to mid 1940’s to 1960-ish. I am serious as a heart attack about this theory. It is only natural that I *had* to make the cocktail named after my favorite borough.

So, ok. Brooklyn cocktail. 2 ounces rye, 3/4 ounce dry vermouth, 2 teaspons Amer Picon, and 2 teaspons Maraschino. Rye? Check. Dry vermouth? Check. Maraschino? Check. What in the world is this Amer Picon? Long story short, it’s a French orange liqueur. The problem is that 1) It’s sold in France, and I’d have to order it online. 2) They changed the recipe in the 1970’s. They lowered the proof and the orangeness. Torani makes a substitute, but it’s still nowhere near the same. After some googling, I found Jamie Boudreau’s Amer Picon substitute, the Amer Boudreau. Who’s Jamie Boudreau? One of Seattle’s best bartenders. God bless you, Seattle. You have given us not only the Amer Boudreau, but Murray Stenson of Zig Zag brought back the Last Word, my favorite drink. I read The Stranger on a regular basis. I love you so much, Seattle. You’re so classy. You’re the best city in the whole wide world. I wish I was there right now and not in this trashy sauna called Austin.

Back on topic again, I set out on a quest to make Amer Boudreau. First step – eating a lot of oranges and saving the peels. I used California Navels. I ordered the Ramazzotti Amaro from Crown Wine and Spirits in Florida because Texas conspires against liquor. Two months later, I had my very own batch of Amer Boudreau.

Oh man is it ever delicious straight. The other night, I concluded my journey. I made the Brooklyn. It was totally awesome. Hands down my favorite rye-based drink. The vermouth is balanced out, and very hidden. The intent is for it to be a supporting spirit, and it plays the role wonderfully. The rye, I used (ri)1, is beautifully tamed. The star of the drink is, of course, the Amer Boudreau. Even though it’s only two teaspoons, it is very present and very forward.

Just think. You probably will never see this on the menu at a bar. And if you did, I seriously doubt any bar would go through the trouble of making the Amer Boudreau. They’ll probably order the shell-of-its-former-self, the Amer Picon, or the American substitute, the Torani Amer. Shu Chow recommends you partying like it’s 1899 by going through the Amer Boudreau process. You’ll learn a lot about yourself. Then make yourself a Brooklyn. Well worth it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 20th, 2010 at 12:46 am and is filed under Booze. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.