Ginger or Mary Ann

• 1.5 oz. bonded apple brandy (Laird’s)
• 1.0 oz. Art in the Age Quince and Ginger cordial
• 0.25 oz. ginger liqueur (King’s Ginger)
• 0.25 oz. Cardamaro
• 0.25 oz. St. George spiced pear liqueur
• dash of Scrappy’s cardamom bitters

Stir with ice and strain into coupe. Garnish with dried apple and candied ginger.

I picked up the quince and ginger cordial at Tamworth Distilling this past summer and have been wanting to build a cocktail around it for a while. I started with an apple brandy base (originally Tamworth’s own Old Hampshire, but then I opted to save that as a sipper). To that I added the cordial and some ginger and pear liqueurs to up the flavor. The Cardamaro added a little bit of tartness and the cardamom the bitterness needed. Definitely a sipper that luxuriates in the apple/pear/quince/ginger.

The name came last as I considered the drink was a bit of a play between the sweetness of the apple against the spiciness of the ginger. Which do you prefer?

Century Bloom

• 1.5 oz. blanco tequila (Don Julio)
• 0.5 oz. elderflower liqueur (St. Elder)
• 0.5 oz. Cocchi Americano
• 0.25 oz. Yellow Chartreuse

Stir with ice and strain into coupe.

Here I wanted to create a straightforward tequila drink that really highlighted the base spirit. All of the ingredients for me have worked well individually with tequila, and really add up in combination. If it’s a little sweet, cut back a little on the elderflower, but I enjoy the floral notes it brings.

The agave plant (or the American strain) is called the century plant in the US. It is a misleading name as the plant lives 30-40 years, but of course that doesn’t make as good a name. Surprisingly, there is a not a Century Cocktail that I could find (the 20th Century, one of my favorites, is the closest thing), but this one needed something else to describe its character. The Century Bloom fit the bill. Enjoy it more than once a century (or 30-40 years).