Make This: North London in Shelbyville
Arsenal lost to Manchester City today. I decided to make a drink to help me forget about the 1-0 defeat. This Old Fashioned won't help, but at least it's delicious. COYG.
In the quirky sports media world that I work in for the day gig, I routinely have Fridays off. This allows me to work on the “honey-do” list, browse the internet for new sneakers (The Nike Air Jordan “Concord” 1s) and browse my favorite bottle shop for hard-to-acquire spirits (EH Taylor Small Batch), and watch European soccer with little distraction.
On this particular Friday, Arsenal played Manchester City in the FA Cup. For the vast majority of you, that sentence means absolutely nothing to you, and that’s fine. For the minority who understands the implications, just understand the following — I briefly considered trying to name my son “Thierry” and I keep a Dennis Bergkamp mini-bobblehead on my desk. COYG.
Anyway, Arsenal lost 1-nil today and it left a sour taste in my mouth. So, let’s find something that can remedy that feeling. Maybe an old fashioned?
I’ve been deep diving into Death and Company’s “Modern Classic Cocktails” book and it is delightful yet rigorous. To be honest, the amount of infusions and special ingredients in the book feel daunting to make and/or acquire, but the chase of making elite cocktails is a joyous pursuit.
Yet, the book still gives me an opportunity to take a few of the simpler recipes and spin them into remixed creations. See my Smoked Apple Jacks cocktail from earlier this month.
One joy of the book thus far is perusing their sections just on old fashioneds. Who knew you could make so many iterations? The one I settled on caught my eye simply because I was down after the Arsenal loss, “North Garden”. (a la North London, the home of the Gunners in England.)
The creator of the drink, Jason Littrell, was asked what inspired him to make North Garden. His response:
“A guest once asked me to make a cocktail that tasted like ‘the great American novel.’ So I combined apple brandy from our country’s oldest distillery with a classic bourbon.”
Fascinating. What novel are we talking about here? Native Son? Invisible Man? 50 Shades of Gray? Who knows.
All I know is, the recipe called for Buffalo Trace bourbon, something I didn’t have in stock. However, I do have this Uncle Nearest Rye I’ve been meaning to experiment with. How would a spicy and potent Tennessee Whiskey stand up to Death and Company’s concoction? I don’t know, but I think I’ve got a cool cocktail name for it.
Recipe: North London in Shelbyville
Serve: In an old fashioned glass
Garnish: No garnish
Ingredients:
1.5 oz — Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy
0.75 oz — Uncle Nearest Rye
0.25 oz — Laphroaig 10-year scotch (any peaty scotch here will suffice)
1 teaspoon — Demerara Syrup
One dash of Angostura bitters
Make North Garden in Shelbyville: Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice. Strain into an old fashioned glass filled with a block of ice. (If you don’t have an ice mold, regular ice is fine)
The demerara syrup here is key. In general, if you want to have better drinks, use better ingredients. Most simple old fashioneds will ask for a simple syrup, but we’re not a simple people, right? I transition from agave syrup, honey syrup and other infused syrups all the time, but when I want to show off, I use demerara. You can cop a bottle on Amazon pretty easily, this one from Cocktail and Sons is $15, and it’s the difference maker here. Some folks think you need the sugar for pure sweetness, but it’s there to balance the beverage. It carries the spirit to the bitters and can even everything out.
This drink is damn good. A bit of smoke. A bit of molasses. A bit of punch. A delicious rebound beverage for sure. Hopefully the next time I make it after an Arsenal game, it’s not in a losing fashion. Long live Thierry Henry. Cheers.