Frontier Mixology: My Dark and Stirred Fantasy

Taking notes while drinking is, on its face, ill-conceived.  The authority of one’s recorded recollections is reduced by the circumstance of their transcription, not to mention the reliability of the transcriber.  Nonetheless, it is necessary when developing a new cocktail.  You have to keep track of what you’ve tried, what’s worked, what has not.  Crafting a good cocktail often takes numerous iterations before hitting on a winner.

This was not the case for today’s cocktail, however.  We’re talking about an improbable shot here.  First try, nailed it.  This fact is no doubt due to the universe-controlling attributes of its inspiration.  I speak, of course, about the Kayne.  Having bought the CD — yes, bought — yes, a CD — I was inspired to create a drink.  Given my penchant for dark spirits, e.g. rye and rum, and stirred cocktails, the name was obvious.

My Dark And Twisted Stirred Fantasy

2 oz. dark rum

3/4 oz. Amaro Cio Caro

1/4 oz. Licor 43

2 dashes Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Stir with ice; strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

I started with wanting to use dark rum.  If you have it, a ½ oz. of a fragrant Jamaica rum (sugg. Smith & Cross) with 1 ½ oz. of a mellower, aged rum works really well.  I then thought about exotic flavorings and just sort of gonzo ingredients.  Using Paul Clarke’s Camerone as a base worked tremendously.  The Licor 43 gives a vanilla note, and the Amaro adds citrus and complexity.  I couldn’t resist the chocolately mole bitters, but you can substitute Angostura  to good effect.  If your efforts at building a still to slow down the time haven’t worked out, a simpler approach might be a few cocktails instead.

Kanye West – “Lost In The World”

Drink up,