I have been fortunate to be invited by Sprits of Italy to visit a bunch of Italian Distilleries in the last year. The most recent trip had me making a cocktail (which happily ended up being more like 50 cocktails) at Beer and Food Attraction.
The parameters of what I had to do with the drink were simple enough; make a cocktail using ingredients made by the sponsors of this (awesome) trade show.
We were in southern Mexico at the time and so didn’t really have access to a lot of the sponsor products. However there was lots of fresh fruit and a well stocked liquor section in the local grocery store.
I love tropical drinks. Creating a balance between sweet and tangy fruit and bitter, spicy liqueurs is what I find most interesting about them. After looking through the (awesome) list of products that I would have access to at the show, A Firm Handshake is what i came up with.
For those unfamiliar, a Toronto Cocktail is like a Manhattan with Fernet in place of vermouth and that’s where I started here, to represent my hometown while overseas. But as mentioned, I wanted something juicy and tangy to really showcase some of the things on offer at the trade show.
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30ml Rye Whisk(e)y
25ml Fernet Branca
30ml Passionfruit Pulp
25ml Grapefruit Juice
10ml Simple Syrup
Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin. Add ice and shake hard for 10-12 seconds. Strain into a collins glass. Top with soda OR if you have access to a really bright, citrusy wheat beer, try that out too.
