Garret Richard recommends using a stand-up drink mixer, rather than a blender or a cocktail shaker, to make this drink, as it better aerates the honey-butter mixture known as Gardenia Mix and effortlessly incorporates it into the rest of the drink, which builds on gin, Cognac and Pamplemousse liqueur. In a pinch, you can shake it in a cocktail tin, but “it can be a bit of a chore,” Richard warns.
Mystery Gimlet
Garret Richard, Slowly Shirley | New York
Ingredients
Serving: 1
- 3/4 ounces gin, preferably Plymouth
- 3/4 ounces Cognac, preferably Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
- 1/2 ounce Pamplemousse liqueur, preferably Giffard
- 3/4 ounces Gardenia Mix (see Editor's Note)
- 1/2 ounce lime juice
- 2 dashes angostura bitters
Garnish: grapefruit slice, lime twist, orchid
Directions
- Flash blend all ingredients in a drink mixer with 8 ounces crushed ice.
- Pour the mixture into a Pearl Diver glass over 4 ounces of crushed ice.
- Garnish with a grapefruit slice, a lime twist and an orchid.
Editor's Note
Gardenia Mix
2 cups honey
2 cups unsalted butter, cubed
2 3/4 ounces cinnamon syrup
1 1/4 ounces allspice dram
1 1/4 ounces vanilla syrup (1:1, sugar:water, with 2 Madagascar vanilla beans infused for every liter)
Heat the honey in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble and break down into a thin liquid. Do not let it get too hot. Add the cubed butter and whisk until melted and smooth. Let mixture rest for 2 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. Let sit before storing.