Creating original cocktails from scratch is something that’s always been a challenge for me. Where should I start? What spirit should I use? Often, I find myself stuck. So, on the occasion that I’m struck with inspiration, it’s a great feeling. I got that feeling when sampling ALO last week. ALO Elated has a nice green tea flavor and that got me thinking what would work well with tea. My first thoughts were of the classic tea garnish, lemon, but what spirit to use. Then I had a moment that can best be described as a mix between an “aha” and “well, duh” moment. Honey. Honey vodka to be specific. I recently sampled, and loved, Spring44 Honey Vodka so that was the natural choice. Enough blather, here’s the recipe.
Honeysuckle
2 oz ALO Elated 2 oz Spring44 Honey Vodka 1/4 oz Lemon Juice 2 Dashes Bitters
1) Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice 2) Shake until well chilled 3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
The flavors in this cocktail are not unexpected. Subtle notes of honey and tea run throughout the flavor profile. The lemon comes through as only a bare touch of sourness and lemon flavor. The drink is not overly sweet and yet not dry, just right. The bitters add depth and complexity and a lovely layer of spice. Just what this cocktail needed.
I leave the bitters up to you. I used Robert Hess’ House Bitters which were great, the ginger and cardamom flavors play really well with the tea and honey. That said, I think you could use any other aromatic bitter that you like, or even just some orange bitters to play up the citrus.
Since this is one of my first forays into creating cocktails from scratch, I have a request. If you mix up this drink, please let me know what you think. That kind of input will help me improve my cocktail improv going forward.