In my neck of the woods, Spring has been fickle so far this year. Flitting in and out so as soon as you get a glimpse of mild temperatures and vivacious green pushing up from the ground, the temp plummets back down to lower double digits.
The end of winter seems to come in fits and starts these days which, at least for me, has the effect of making winter just seem like it's two months longer. It can be a blow to morale for those of us who have spent the winter imagining getting outside to begin to plant gardens, or planning the hikes we want to take, or pining for the return of grilling season. So what are we to do when the mercurial early spring weather gets us down? I’d say the best option is to enjoy a nice cocktail by the fire. And if you don't have a fireplace, then probably just a cocktail will do.
I set out wanting to create a cocktail with two goals in mind. The first was to create a cocktail using one of my favorite cordials: a stone pine liqueur called Zirbenz. If you’ve never tasted it, just imagine a sweet cordial that tastes like taking a big bite out of a Christmas tree. That may sound unpleasant, and for sure some people find it to be so. It can be a divisive spirit. But if you are into the flavor (as I very much am), it is some kind of magic. However even with a love of the inherent flavor of Zirbenz, it can be a struggle to find ways to use it. I used to just drink it by itself on the rocks, but as I’ve grown older my palate has less interest in such overpowering drinking experiences. When I've tried to mix it into cocktails in the past, the flavor either gets lost, or the tannic nature of the Zirbenz proves too much of a challenge to balance.
The second goal was to create something that sort of has a foot in both warm and cold seasons to mirror the way spring has felt so far, and hopefully to be a reminder of the warmer weather that is I hope right around the corner. To me, the cocktails that best suit warmer weather are the citrusy shaken drinks. Conversely colder weather calls for the more bitter, spirit forward, stirred libations. There is, however, a modern classic cocktail that spans both worlds, combining the frothy body and citrusy refreshment of a shaken drink with the bitter depth more associated with boozy stirred drinks, and that is the Paper Plane.
The Paper Plane is one of my favorite drinks, and if you don't feel like reading through the above linked post here's a real quick rundown of the drink. It's a shaken cocktail made with equal parts bourbon, lemon juice, Aperol, and Amaro Nonino. Created fairly recently by cocktail standards at the Chicago bar The Violet Hour (a wonderful visit if you’ve never been, by the way), but quickly growing in popularity to become a modern classic.
Given the herbal bitter depth of the original drink, I figured I might be able to tweak the formula a bit to accommodate the pine forest flavor of Zirbenz. I would keep the 1:1:1:1 ratios of the original, but swap the typical bourbon for gin (with its juniper flavors, gin seemed the obvious choice to help underscore the coniferous flavor profile I was aiming for), and replace the Amaro Nonino for Zirbenz. Initially, I was concerned that keeping the measurements the same would throw the cocktail out of balance since Zirbenz has none of the bitterness of the Nonino it's replacing. Upon tasting a version with 33% less Zirbenz and 33% more Aperol, I felt like the pine flavor I was looking for was just a bit too muted, and that the tannic quality of the Zirbenz could, to some extent, stand in for the bitterness of the Nonino it was replacing. That said, this cocktail would be easy to tune to your preferences. If you want more bitterness you could increase the Aperol or even switch to a more bitter option like Campari or Bruto Americano, if you want less sweetness, just dial back the Zirbenz or Aperol, etc.
After dialing in the measurements and finding it quite agreeable with a robust yet controlled piney flavor, the only left to figure out was a name. I settled on Spruce Goose.
With the preamble out of the way, let's take a look at preparing the actual drink.
Spruce Goose
0.75 oz Gin
0.75 oz Aperol
0.75 oz freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
0.75 oz Zirbenz
For equipment, you'll need a set of shaking tins, a citrus squeezer or reamer, a Hawthorne strainer, a fine strainer, and a 0.75 oz measure of some kind (I use a Japanese style jigger).
Measure your liquids into the shaker and top with ice.
Shake with profound vigor.
Double strain into a chilled 5-ounce coupe or Nick and Nora glass (personally I prefer the Nick and Nora).
Enjoy!
Hopefully this cocktail helps to shine a little light into your extended winter, and for more bitter seasonal cocktail excitement I recommend checking out our upcoming Cocktail Happy Hour. Cheers!
