The Spirit World

I am careful to caution bartenders about stepping into “recipe creation” mode too quickly. It can be awfully tempting to simply start mixing things from different bottles and think that you are actually creating a cocktail, the problem however is that attempting this too early is about like tossing a typewriter into a roomful of monkeys.

One of my dictums is that cocktails represent a form of cuisine, and a bartender should take their craft just as seriously as a chef does. When a chef is learning their trade, they spend long hours studying the fundamentals of their craft. The classic methods, techniques, ingredients, and sauces represent the foundation upon which the modern culinary arts are built, and these need to be perfected and understood before anything new should be attempted. Likewise, a bartender should grasp the fundamentals of the classic cocktails. Not just blindly following a recipe from a book, or a process that was passed down to them from a previous bartender, but really knowing and understanding why a particular recipe is presented in one form or another.

Which is why I usually focus more on re-introducing people to classic cocktails than creating new ones. However there are times when I feel the need to roll up my sleeves and try to come up with something that is both original, as well as reflecting the fundamentals of the classics. I participate in the “Tales of the Cocktail” event in New Orleans each year, and usually end up creating a few new cocktails specifically for this event. This last year I was asked to come up with a signature cocktail to serve at their Cocktail Hour event. This would be attended by folks who might not have much real experience with cocktails, so it was necessary to focus on something that would be approachable to a broad range of people. So I decided to try something with rum as it’s base, and not just an ordinary rum drink, but a Tiki inspired one as well.

Always one to try to include some slightly out-of-the-ordinary ingredients, I experimented with various combinations that included things like Campari, Licor 43, Chartreuse, Cynar, and various other interesting products. What I finally settled on was using Benedictine and falernum, which is a rather hard-to-find ingredient that was once fairly popular for use in these Tiki style cocktails. Fortunately there are a few different products gradually making their way onto the market, including an excellent one from “Fee Brother’s”.

I wasn’t just picking these ingredients out of thin air, but was trying to incorporate them by building up a balance of flavors based on traditional foundations of mixology. For normal “Tiki” drinks, this usually means utilizing a fruit/citrus juice of some sort, and then balance that with some sweetness, along with a flavoring component that will offer a bit of mystery in the background. Lime juice is something that always offers a tang that gets your attention, with the Benedictine and falernum bringing both sweetness and spicy complexity to round things out in a rather unique fashion. To this I added a couple dashes of Angostura bitters because they would nicely bridge the difference between the falernum and Benedictine.

The Tiki craze of the 1940’s and 50’s centered around the notion of these restaurants being sort of a mini-vacation, so I chose to name this new drink “Voyager” to play upon that notion… and the fact that I’m a Star Trek fan played a small role as well.

Voyager

• 2 ounces rum
• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ounce Benedictine
• 1/2 ounce falernum
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice. Strain into an ice filled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

If you can’t find falernum in your area, you can either order it from Fee Brother’s, or you can attempt to make your own. Here is a recipe that Dale DeGroff uses, and is pretty good:

Falernum (recipe by Dale Degroff )

• Zest from 10 limes
• 10 cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 liter white rum

Marinate together for 24 hours. Strain and store in a cool place.

Mix 8 oz. of above rum marinade with 1 quart of simple syrup.