Toasty Tuesday: The Evergreen

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.“

-Ecclesiastes 1:9

Whether you endorse the Bible as factual or not, those words hold validity.  There are very few things that are truly new; most are just versions or renewals on that which already existed.  This especially holds true in the world of bartending; trends in this industry are as cyclical as the universe in which we currently hold residency.

Cocktail recipes and techniques are mostly iterations of popular drinks that have existed since the dawn of the concept itself; which exploded into existence back in 1586.  To invent a new cocktail is to draw on something that has predated it.  As far as I’m concerned, the most important thing we can do as bartenders is to recognize this fact and acknowledge your source material.  With that in mind I give you my personal take on a cocktail which saw its invention by a man, whom I greatly admire, named Jamie Boudreau.

His original drink is called The Rubicon, and it is where I drew my inspiration for cooking herbs in spirits to release their essential oils, a technique which I now use in several of my own inventions.  The idea is that when you cook the herbs in the vessel which you intend to deliver your final product, you not only put on a good show for your guests, but you also impart the flavor of that herb plus smoke into the base of your concoction.  As a nod to Jamie and to the inspiration he “lit” in me, I give you the very first drink that I created in attempting to emulate his theory.

{ Please be more patient than I usually am, and allow this thing some time to load before watching. }

Watershed Distillery // “Evergreen” 30 Seconds DC2 from Focal Blu Films on Vimeo.

The Evergreen
a drink so refreshing it can be sipped year round

0.5oz Green Chartreuse
Rosemary Wreathe
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2oz Watershed Bourbon Aged Gin
0.5oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
0.25oz Lime Juice

• Add Rosemary Wreathe and Chartreuse to the base of the glass, allow to soak while you build your other ingredients in the cobbler
• Add all other ingredients to the cobbler, light Chartreuse and begin to shake your cocktail
• Shake until chilled, while you’re shaking you should begin to smell fumes from the cooked Rosemary
• Douse flame with the mixture from your cobbler
• Top with crushed ice and add a Rosemary Sprig as garnish

Jamie opted to use a gin which gave the drink just a bit of its input, but allowed the other ingredients to share the spotlight.  That’s not my style; I want to taste my base spirit.  Especially, when its one as complex and as beautiful as the All American Corn style Gin distilled by the folks at Watershed Distillery in Columbus, OH.  This gin is literally a true original, as they were the first folks to unleash a bold gin and age it in bourbon barrels.  Being an original is rare enough, but to be one this delicious is other-worldly.

When sipped straight, it hits your pallet with the faint flavor of lemon peel, which is quickly mellowed out by flavors of barrel resin and a mid palate so smooth you would swear you were drinking America’s native spirit.  Light pine and rosemary notes permeate your tongue like the smell of a Southern forest on a road trip through the pines.

Yet as soon as you think you’re about to settle into that smooth dark whiskey that is bourbon you find what you thought would be an all too smooth finish being assaulted by lemons.  Which makes sense because the gin they aged is called Four Peel.  So much citrus.  I say, don’t cover it up, embrace the lemony goodness.

First off, Thanks to the folks at Watershed for making something too interesting and delightful to ever want to cover up.  Secondly, thanks to my friends at Codec for making me look so damn good.  Hey everyone, come see how good what they shoot looks!

Yours Truly,
Ryan