A Subtle Champion: The Prado Cocktail

I was recently in the mood to use some fresh farmers market eggs in a cocktail.  I looked at a couple books including the Playboy Bartenders Guide (don't laugh, it's actually pretty useful) that my mother-in-law of all people bought me.  I found an interesting cocktail that I'd heard of before but never tried:  the Prado Cocktail.  Much like the Hotel Haute Savoie Cocktail, it has a lot going on. containing five ingredients plus garnishes.  Typically my rule of thumb is that less than three and a cocktail isn't terribly complex but more than four and it's parts start to blur more than complement each other.  Nonetheless, I gave it a try and I'm glad that I did. 

Ingredients

1.5 ounce of blanco tequila (Milagro)
0/75 ounce of lime juice
1/2 an egg white (regular size)
0.5 oune of maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)
1 tsp grenadine (shamefully... store bought)

Directions
Shake ingredients without ice to mix  the egg white and then with ice.  Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry and lime wheel.

Outcome

The cocktail looks pretty has an interesting appearance.  The grenadine, which I might reduce next time, gives it a pink look, while the half an egg white adds a bit of a frothy look and taste without the milkshake look a full egg white would give.  As for the taste, it's quite good.  Somewhat reminiscent of the  Last Word Cocktail due to the mix of maraschino (probably the dominant flavor in this drink) and the lime.  Unlike the last word, this is not a particularly intense or challenging drink, as blanco tequila is much more subdued  that Green Chartreause.

I found this drink quite enjoyable, with all of the other ingredients holding the maraschino licqueur in check.  It's a hair above my optimal sweet spot, so I might lower the grenadine a smidge.  Nonetheless, this was a tasty cocktail that I'll recommend for my more adventurous guests.

Cynar In Its Own Right: The Undertaker Cocktail

Some spirits seem inextricably tied to others or are otherwise bound by certain drink families.  Sweet vermouth tends to follow bourbon.  Cynar, the bitter, artichoke-based Italian liqueur tends to substitute for sweet vermouth or Campari.  It is as such for the most part bound to what I think of as the Manhattan family of cocktails, which includes Negronis and their ilk as well.  By Cynar is not Campari.  Though similar, it has herbal elements that are unique.  As such, I scoured the internets for recipes that played off the special notes of the Cynar without just making it a substitute.  The result is the horribly named but quite tasty Undertaker Cocktail, which I adapted from a recipe from Kindred Cocktails.

Ingredients
1.5 ounces of bourbon
0.5 ounce of grapefruit juice (I used pink)
0.5 ounce of orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)
0.25 oucne of Cynar
1 dash of orange bitters


Directions
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a grapefruit peal.


Outcome
Before I get into the outcome, I will point out that I changed the original recipe.  I removed the orange twist at the end and replaced it with the grapefruit peal.  I thought having the peal as the same as the drink would improve the internal coherency of the cocktail.  I also added a dash of orange bitters to make the drink a bit more bitter (though Bitter Truth orange bitters are pretty mild).


The Undertaker Cocktail (still hate that name), proved quite good.  The citrus added an interesting twist on the otherwise Manhattanesque cocktail, with the Cynar proving a good bridge between the grapefruit juice and the bourbon.  Other reviews have been mixed.  My wife, who as a general matter isn't a big fan of bitter cocktails, didn't really like it while a friend of mine thought it was excellent.  As a final judgement, I think that this cocktail was a contemplative sipper with a summer flair that I'll no doubt tinker with some more going forward.