Taste My Blues

I haven’t been doing “show” drinks in a while — since La Cage a year ago, and that was the only group that year. I don’t think I’ll likely return to the point where I am doing constant collections, and instead I will simply — and occasionally — post a single drink here and there, when inspired. (I do have one more old collection to post, from a 2011 production of Assassins, which was the first collection I ever did, once I get around to remaking the drinks and taking pictures.)

I am inspired at the moment, for a production of The Wild Party that I am excited to be a part of, with Moonbox Productions in Boston. I was actually in another production of The Wild Party in 2012, for which I made a collection of drinks, but that was actually another version (famously, there were two productions of The Wild Party in New York presented at the same time — one on Broadway and one Off). This is the Michael John LaChiusa version, and, interestingly enough, I am playing the same role, that of the violent and unbalanced Vaudeville clown Burrs.

In one song, “Gin,” when Burrs is reaching his breaking point and cutting loose, he sings the lyric “Don’t give me no whiskey ’cause I need more than booze. Just pour me the real stuff so I can taste my blues!” Thus:

tasteMyBlues

Taste My Blues

  • 1.5 oz. Magellan Gin
  • 1.0 oz. Hpnotiq
  • 0.5 oz. Dolin Blanc vermouth
  • 2 dashes Yuzu bitters
  • 1 pinch salt

Stir ingredients with ice, then strain into cocktail glass and top with 2.0 oz. Champagne and lemon twist.

On the surface, this has many similarities with the Out of the Blue drink I did for the other production. But as the other one takes the blue-hued gin and takes it in the direction of vanilla, this one takes the gin (of course, had to be gin) and adds tart and sweet fruit through Hpnotig, evens it out with the vermouth, and adds the Yuzu bitters and salt to temper the sweetness and create a little more depth. We end that with Champagne or sparkling wine for some bright and popping indulgence.

I think we’re due to have a wild party. Hotchizadee!

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