A Muddled Thought

With Halloween coming up in a few weeks we decided to see what new Lucid Absinthe based cocktails we could come come up with.

The Green Crush

1 oz Lucid Absinthe
1 ¼ oz Cruzan Rum
¾ Vanilla Syrup
½ oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
2 Dashes Regan Orange Bitters
Shake with Ice
Serve in Highball filled with Crushed Ice
Top with Orange Soda (Either Fanta or Orange Crush)
Garnish with Orange Wedge

The Green Crush. A Combination of Lucid Absinthe, Cruzan Rum, Vanilla Syrup, topped with Orange Soda.

An Absinthe a Day…

¾ oz Lucid Absinthe
1 oz Laird’s Applejack
1 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 Dash Peychaud Bitters
½ Calvados

Shake with Ice.
Serve up in Coupe Style Glass.

An Absinthe a Day. A Combination of Lucid Absinthe, Laird's Applejack,Bourbon, Calvados, and Cinnamon Syrup.

Often in reviews of spirits I try and create an original cocktail or three that utilize that particular spirit as a base.

With a tequila such as Cazadores Anejo, it was easy to come up with a few cocktails that worked using it as its base.

Cazadores Anejo is one of those spirits that you find yourself having trouble putting down while making tasting notes. From that first sip, you’re hit with flavors of cocoa, espresso, as well as vanilla bean and orange zest. With the flavors of vanilla bean and orange zest doing a waltz upon your taste buds, you’re then hit with something close to a flavor of orange creamsicle.

Based on the flavors that I observed upon sampling the spirit neat:

Final Score: 9/10

Now for a cocktail with the Cazadores Anejo.

This recipe was inspired by a drink served up by the phenomenal crew at PDT. They currently have a drink known as the Paddington that incorporates orange marmalade, rum, lillet blanc, grapefruit juice, and absinthe.

Thinking about the orange creamsicle notes that I came across in the Cazadores Anejo inspired me to create the “Laren’s Marmalade Surprise”. With the creation in hand being named after a close friend this drink hits just the right balance between both spicy and sweet, much as comes out in this individuals personality on a daily basis. Neither the drink nor the person ever comes off too sweet or too spicy.

“Laren’s Marmalade Surprise”

1 1//2 oz Cazadores Anejo
Bar Spoon of Orange Marmalade
¼ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Vanilla syrup
Muddled Jalepeno
2 Dashes Mole Bitters

Laren's Marmalade Surprise. A Combination of Cazadores Anejo, Orange Marmalade, Vanilla Syrup, Jalepeno and Mole Bitters

To follow up this first recipe, I decided to see what else I could come up with using the Cazadores Anejo as a base.

Taking inspiration from the classic Manhattan, here’s the 54th and 5th Cocktail:

1 ½ oz Cazadores Anejo
½ oz Benedictine
½ oz Carpano
¼ oz blood orange juice
2 dash mole bitter

The 54th and 5th. A combination of Cazadores Anejo, Benedictine, Carpano Antica, Blood Orange and Mole Bitters.

Don Julio Tequila starts off with high quality blue-agave grown in fields surrounding the town of Atotonilco, in Jalisco, Mexico. The Piña once hand-picked is then taken and steam-cooked for seventy two hours, and then grounded up prior to fermentation beginning. At this point, the fermented juices are distilled twice. Once distillation is complete, Don Julio bottles the Blanco immediately while the Reposado is left to age in American white oak barrels for eight months.

These precise steps create impressive representations of both a Blanco and Reposado Tequila, both with a balanced flavor profile that work great within cocktails.

Starting with a nose filled with notes of pepper, Don Julio Blanco marries these notes with tones of soft fruit. This creates a perfect unison of clean spice and sweetness with neither ever overpowering the other.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Mexican Harvest
1 ¾ oz Don Julio Blanco Tequila
1 oz Laird’s Applejack
1 oz Apple Cinnamon Syrup
½ oz Lime Juice
Muddled Jalepeno-2 Rings

The Mexican Harvest. A Combination of Don Julio Blanco, Muddled Peppers, Laird's Applejack, and Apple Cinnamon Syrup.

After being aged eight months in white American oak barrels, Don Julio Reposado is bottled with a perfume of sweet cocoa and agave that shows itself right upon removing the cap from the bottle. This is followed up with a very smooth Reposado offering that intertwines flavors of caramel, cocoa and occasional hints of espresso.

Final Score: 9/10

A Sip and a Blink
2 oz Don Julio Reposado
2 Dashes Mole Bitters
1/2 oz Carpano Antica
¼ oz Lime Juice
Eggwhite

Rinse a chilled coupe glass with a barspoons worth of Mata Hari Absinthe
(Lighter and lacks the heavier anise notes other Absinthes have)

Note:One of those drinks that if not sipped carefully, can go down very quickly.

A Sip and a Blink. A Combination of Don Julio Reposado, Mole Bitters, Carpano Antica, and Eggwhite.