This drink is inspired by a riff I made on a Blood & Sand cocktail featuring smoked blood orange juice. When blood orange juice came back into season this year, l found myself craving this cocktail. The original Blood & Sand cocktail was created in the 1920s, inspired by a silent film by the same name. Both the movie and the drink have been met with mixed reviews. Equal parts blended scotch, sweet vermouth, orange juice, and Cherry Heering. My previous riff featured smoked blood orange juice. Then a rebalance of the blended scotch, sweet vermouth and Cherry Heering to make the drink more balanced for the modern palate in lieu of the original equal parts recipe. This final boss variation of the Blood & Sand cocktail strays farther from the original recipe and instead is inspired by the flavours and profile of the drink. Much like the directors cut of a movie, adding extra scenes and layers of detail, I added a layer of depth, texture and flavour to the Blood & Sand.
1.25 oz Monkey Shoulder Scotch Whisky
0.5 oz Meletti Amaro
0.25 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
0.75 oz Blood Orange Juice (acid adjusted)*
Mist in the glass of Bowmore 12 Scotch Whisky
Clarified with coconut cream
Garnished with Blood Orange Foam**
Clarified batch recipe:
Add below ingredients into a large measuring jug.
26 oz Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
10.5 oz Meletti Amaro
5 oz Luxardo Maraschino
15.5 oz blood orange juice (acid adjusted)
Add 1 cup coconut cream to a large container, and pour the batched cocktail into the coconut cream slowly. Let this mixture sit, and curdle for at least 2 hours. Strain mixture through mesh sieve, and filter or cheese cloth until clear. Tip: it is helpful for the coconut cream to be room temperature.
*Blood Orange Juice (acid adjusted):
700ml blood orange juice
12 g Citric acid
2g malic acid
Pinch salt
**Blood Orange Foam:
2 cups blood orange juice
4 oz simple syrup
.25 oz lemon juice
8g gelatin powder
2 oz egg white
Add all ingredients except egg white to a sauce pan, let the gelatin bloom for 5 minutes. Heat mixture and come to a light boil for at least 1 minute (gelatin needs to get to at least 90 C to activate). Stir thoroughly, and let cool. Once cooled, add egg white, and add mixture to a chilled whipping siphon. Seal tightly and shake to combine ingredients. Charge with 1 NO2 charge, shake hard for 10 seconds, remove empty NO2 charge, and charge again, shake well. Let this sit in the fridge on its side for an hour to set. Tip: give a good shake, and a quick gentle release of the gas before using it to garnish your drink to release built of pressure. Once finished top your cocktail just like whip cream.
Pour 3oz of clarified cocktail into a mixxing vessel, add ice and stir for 15 seconds. Strain into Bowmore 12 misted cocktail glass and top with blood orange foam.
