Sugar & Spice Makes Everything Nice – None but the Brave

Full disclosure, I made three of these to get it right and I didn’t just throw the other attempts out when they weren’t perfect.  I was pretty happy with my previous attempts.  I just knew I could make it better and get a better balance and find the right recipe to make this drink amazing.  This drink is like taking a deep inhale in a cabinet full of fresh spices.  It’s challenging and entertaining and will leave you sneezing… but maybe that’s just the congestion that I can’t seem to shake.

The original recipe for this cocktail shows up in a 1956 book called the “Official Mixers Manual” and it bounces around into a few different books before landing on the one I liked from Stan Jones’ Bar Guide.  The recipes vary widely from the original which included something called Jamaican Ginger, a highly alcoholic ginger extract, which I couldn’t seem to locate anywhere in Seattle.  Other recipes turn the drink into a highball with a float of ginger beer on the rocks.  For tonight though, I wanted a cocktail.  I tried out the Stan Jones recipe but added a garnish to return the drink to something closer to the original recipe.

None but the Brave

1.5oz Brandy

0.5oz Allspice Dram

0.25oz Simple Syrup

0.25oz Dark Rum

0.25oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Garnish with lemon peel & crystallized ginger

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Mix ingredients over ice in a shaker.  Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe.  Garnish with lemon peel and small piece of crystallized ginger.

The resulting drink is quite good.  It’s spicy with cinnamon, allspice, and ginger at the forefront.  But it’s also sweet with a little bit of citrus kick to it.  Another variation was a little overpowering as there was just a touch too much allspice dram.  It’s a powerful ingredient and balance is key to this drink.  I like this drink a lot in this proportion.

Just a note on the garnish– The lemon twist should be peeled from the lemon over the glass to make sure that the oils being released when you peel land on the rim and in the drink.  I also twist the lemon over the already made drink.  After you’re done, you just drop it right in.  The crystallized, or candied (whatever you call it), ginger is available at my local QFC and fairly cheap.  To be honest, it didn’t make an appreciable difference in the drink.  It just made me feel classy and like I was doing justice to the original drink.

Stay classy Seattle.

Cheers!