Powerful Baritone

Sother Teague, Amor y Amargo | New York City

Powerful Baritone Cocktail

To explore the overlap between the worlds of drinks and music, we challenged bartenders to translate a song of their choice from a given era into cocktail form. Here, Sother Teague of Amor y Amargo takes on grunge.

In creating this drink, Teague explains: “I chose the song ‘Even Flow’ from Pearl Jam. It’s about the plight of a homeless man who likely also suffers from mental illness. Classic chicken-and-egg story of which came first, the homelessness or the illness.

“My drink harkens back to my youth. When I would go to punk rock shows as a young man, we’d always drink Cutty Sark. Among my friends, we still refer to it as ‘the punk rock Scotch,’ so it seemed fitting to use in a grunge-related cocktail.

“This cocktail is a riff on the Sammy Ross neoclassic Penicillin. Bold Scotch plus floral Strega and … Becherovka, all tempered by the juiciness of Montenegro.

“In ‘Even Flow’, the man chases away his thoughts like butterflies; the atomized Scotch atop the drink is representative of something critical to the whole, but is somewhat unobtainable. The name is a simple descriptor of Eddie Vedder’s unmistakable voice.”

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 1 1/2 ounces blended Scotch, preferably Cutty Sark Prohibition
  • 1 1/2 ounces blended Scotch, preferably Cutty Sark Prohibition
  • 1/4 ounce Strega
  • 1/4 ounce Strega
  • 1/4 ounce Becherovka
  • 1/4 ounce Becherovka
  • 1/2 ounce Amaro Montenegro
  • 1/2 ounce Amaro Montenegro
  • 2 dashes 18.21 Bitters Lemon Ginger Tincture
  • 2 dashes 18.21 Bitters Lemon Ginger Tincture

Garnish: spray of peated Scotch, such as Laphroaig, and a lemon twist

Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a double rocks glass.
  2. Add a large ice cube and stir to combine.
  3. Garnish with a spray of peated Scotch, such as Laphroaig, and garnish with a lemon twist, expressed and inserted into the drink.

Tagged: easy built