Satan’s Whiskers Cocktail
I believe that it was in October of 1997 that I first encountered the “Satan’s Whiskers” cocktail. The name itself of course held some fascination, but what really caught my eye was it’s inclusion of a simple little ingredient, “orange bitters.”
At that time, orange bitters was next to impossible to locate. Rumor had it, that there was a company still making them, but nobody seemed to be able to find them, or their products. Turns out this was “Fee Brothers” of Rochester NY. Thankfully, not only are their products more available today, but there are also a few other orange bitters on the market as well. But more about that in a future article.
Satan’s Whiskers
- 3/4 ounce gin
- 3/4 ounce dry vermouth
- 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
- 1/2 ounce orange juice
- 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
- 1 dash orange bitters
Shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Using “Orange Curaçao” instead of Grand Marnier turns this into a “curled” version.
This drink has been languishing for many years. Rarely even being found in cocktail books, much less on the cocktail menus of the bars you might frequent. Hard to say why, since it really is an excellent cocktail, and one that is a great one to introduce folks not only to the cocktail in general, but to gin specifically.
If you don’t happen to have orange bitters on hand, Angostura isn’t really an appropriate substitute. I’d recommend simply leaving the bitters out entirely in that case. As a diabolical substitute, what you may want to try (even in addition to the orange bitters) is to “flame” an orange peel over the drink right before serving. To do this:
- Slice a silver dollar sized slice of peel from a fresh orange.
- Hold it between your thumb and fingers, peel side out.
- Hold a lit match between the peel and the drink.
- Squeeze down on the peel, which will release it’s essential oils toward the flame, causing a harmless, but impressive flash of flame.
This little bit of flaming excitement isn’t purely for show, the oils expressed from the skin will add a touch of caramelized flavor to the drink as well.
If you want this drink in a bar, I recommend that you copy down the recipe and take it with you, since your chance of finding a bartender who knows it will be fairly slim. I also always recommend that if you are going to present the bartender with a recipe they don’t know, don’t do this when they are busy.
