Corn Tassel, take 5

In preparation for USQ’s Autumn Cocktail Classic, I’ve been playing around with some cocktails featuring Glen Thunder.  

Brian emailed me this recipe:

Corn Tassel
1.5 oz Mellow Corn 4-year old whiskey
1.25 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz Cointreau
2 tsp orgeat
1 dash of Jerry Thomas’ Own Decanter Bitters

The Glen Thunder plays nicely with citrus, so I decided to use this as a jumping off point.  I didn’t have orgeat (pronounced or-zat, from the Italian orzata, meaning almond), so I woke up this morning with the idea to substitute Velvet Falernum. Sweet, with almond and orange blossom notes, the Falernum also has some fall-friendly spices, like allspice and clove. 

For the event on Saturday, I need something unfussy that I can pre-batch and serve up, without a garnish (though I may break down and go with an orange peel).  Here’s how it went down:

From left to right: Take 1 - following the corn tassel recipe, subbing Velvet Falernum and Angostura: too tart. Take 2 - dialing back on citrus, adding dash of salt and adding a bit more Velvet Falernum: eh. Take 3 - same as take 2, subbing orange juice for lemon juice: getting there. Take 4 - same as take 3, subbing blood orange juice for regular orange juice: almost there. Take 5: same as take 4, dropping blood orange juice to 1 oz. and adding 0.25 oz. lemon juice: bingo.

The as of yet unnamed cocktail:

1.5 oz. Glen Thunder
1 oz. Cointreau
0.5 oz. Velvet Falernum
1 oz. blood orange juice
0.25 lemon juice
dash salt
dash Angostura bitters

I combined all of these over ice, stirred and strained into a rocks glass.  On Saturday, the delivery vehicle will be plastic. 

Sweet and citrusy, with the right amount of spice, here’s hoping it will help sell some booze!