SUCCESSIVELY APPROXIMATING Cocktails

/

I usually write about my cocktails over on my personal blog, but this was such a journey that I thought I’d share it here first. Plus, Sother Teague said I had to “show my work.” Hold on, this is a long story.

In late 2016, I came up with a cocktail I called the Smoky Topaz. Even in its original form, I had adjusted the recipe at least twice before publishing it.

Smoky Topaz

  • 1.5 oz barrel-aged gin (Tom Cat preferred)

  • .75 oz yellow Chartreuse

  • .25 oz green Chartreuse

  • .75 oz Averna Amaro

It’s on the sweet side, but the woody notes of the green chartreuse balance it all out.

Then, in 2017, we took a Viking River Cruise up the Danube. (It’s just like what you see on the commercials, like being in a Ritz-Carlton on the water.) We extended the cruise with a short stay in Prague, and my research led us to AnonymouS Bar, one of the coolest bars in Europe.

Yes, it’s arch-hipster with a wink and a nod, but the cocktails are primo. The short version of the story behind that last link is that the cocktail menus at AnonymouS are puzzles, little games you play with the staff, and for my third cocktail (no judging!) I played a game of my own: I showed the server the recipe for the Smoky Topaz. I told him I knew the bar didn’t have some of the ingredients, but could he make a cocktail that would please someone who liked the Smoky Topaz?

He could, and he did, giving me the Smoky Quartz.

Smoky Quartz

  • 40 ml Bols Genever

  • 20 ml green Chartreuse

  • 15 ml Amaro Angostura

  • 10 ml Grand Marnier

Rounder, but still with the citrus/woody profile.

So this cocktail has already seen multiple SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATIONS in its lifetime.

Which brings us to the Great Averna Amaro Shortage of 2022.

Recently I was volunteered to offer a Cocktails in the Labyrinth event for a local charity’s silent auction fundraiser. I went for a shockingly low price; it would be better for me just to write a check for what it will cost me to host this thing. (I’m not complaining at all, just observing.)

Naturally the Smoky Topaz was on my list of cocktails to offer during the evening, but I was running out of Averna Amaro — and I realized that not one of the liquor stores I had been to recently had had any on the shelf. A prolonged search in the larger stores in Atlanta turned up nothing.

I messaged Sother Teague on Twitter. Mr. Teague is the proprietor of the fabulous Amor y Amargo bar in New York, the author of I’m Just Here for the Drinks, and an all-round nice guy. He’s the expert on amaros, and so I asked him if he were having issues getting Averna Amaro in NYC like we were in Atlanta.

Indeed, he replied, they hadn’t been able to get it for five months. Oy. (A fellow Lichtenbergian on the Left Coast confirmed that they too had been unable to get it.)

Deferring to Sother’s expertise, I asked what other amaro might serve as a substitute. He suggested CioCiaro, Meletti, or Lucano.

You know what? This post is already long. I’ll finish this tomorrow!