Thursday, March 22, 2012

east india cocktail

2 oz La Forêt VSOP Brandy
1/2 oz Combier Liqueur d'Orange
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/4 oz Pineapple Syrup
2 dash Housemade Boker's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Twist a lemon peel over the top and discard.

Two Mondays ago, we ate dinner at Deep Ellum; one of the drinks bartender Max Toste made for me was the East India Cocktail. He became inspired by that classic while searching for brandy drinks, and he felt it would make good use of the Boker's Bitters that are part of his bar's housemade bitters program. The spirit that inspired him was La Forêt -- a high quality but affordable French brandy; while it is made in the Cognac region of France, it seems to source at least some of brandy's grapes from outside the region and is thus not a Cognac. I had written about the East India two and a half years ago as I was making my way through the Anvil's "100 Drinks You Should Try at least Once" list; however, I was curious to see Max's take on this cocktail.
The East India Cocktail's aroma contained funky Maraschino and bright lemon oil elements. The sweet and smooth orange and pineapple-flavored sip contained earthy notes from the brandy. The rest of the brandy flavors came across in the swallow along with the Maraschino and spice notes from the Boker's.

2 comments:

marcj said...

I have tried many brandy brands but never tried this one and to be honest this drink is looking delicious to me? Can I try making it at home, if yes then please share the recipe?

frederic said...

Foret is like a Cognac (I believe distilled in Cognac region but with grapes from outside the region), so a basic VS (or VSOP) Cognac would do. A Spanish Brandy might as well here. That bar uses Foret for the quality and the great price point.