At Portland’s traditional Russian zakuski (Russian small plates) restaurant, Kachka, Israel Morales mixes together brandy and rye kvass (a subtly alcoholic Eastern European beverage), which he calls a “natural marriage.”
For this three-ingredient cocktail, he uses Russian-brewed Ochakovskiy, a commercial kvass that tastes of molasses, and keeps it simple with a orange peel garnish. Think of it as the Russian sophisticate’s brandy and Coke.