ST. JAMES

This was certainly more of an experimental cocktail that began with something I saw on Instagram earlier in the day, and the first ingredients that seemed like they could work.

While scrolling down my Instagram feed I saw a recipe that included a Guiness beer reduction which sounds like a cool idea to me. When first thinking about what flavors would go well with that I first though of coffee so I brewed a pot of pour over and started mixing flavors with the dry sherry and cognac and I hated it. The flavors just did not work right together, but I liked the flavors together up until I added the coffee so I decided to go with it.

The dried fruity flavors of the sherry and dark and bitter chocolate flavors of the guiness came together to make a fruit cake flavor so I added ingredients to enhance those notes.

The Ginger Syrup adds a bit of spiciness and furthers the fruit cake vibe, lemon juice balances out all of the sweetness going on, and everything gets tied down by the depth of flavor from the bitters.

I will eventually get around to a post on making different syrups but for ginger syrup you can add peeled fresh ginger to a blender with simple syrup and pour it through a strainer.

To make the Guiness reduction add one bottle of Guiness to a small sauce pan with 1 Tbs of Turbinado or Demerara sugar, 1 star anise and a few cloves then reduce by 1/2.

PRINT RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Oz Guiness Reduction
• 1 1/4 Oz Dry Sherry
• 3/4 Oz Cognac
• 1/3 Oz Benedictine
• 3/4 Oz Egg White
• 1/4 Oz Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Oz Ginger Syrup
• 3 Dashes Angostura
• 2 Dashes Fruit Bitters, I used cranberry - (optional)
• 1 Orange Peel - (optional)

Instructions

• Dry shake the egg white (with nothing else in the shaker) vigorously for 15-20 seconds.
• Squeeze the oils from the orange peel into the shaker.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the shaker.
• Fill shaker with ice and shake until chilled, about 10 seconds.
• Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
• If you feel you haven't done enough add a garnish such as cocoa powder.

Tag me at @mydrinkinghobby when you make this!