At home you (probably) don’t have the view of Houston’s downtown skyline that comes for free at Poitín Bar & Kitchen, but with this recipe you can at least re-create and enjoy this craft cocktail by Rochelle Tougas, Poitín’s bar manager.
Want to “brûlée” your lemon? Cut a lemon into ½-inch-thick slices, sprinkle generously with raw cane sugar and caramelize in a hot oven until the sugar bubbles and the lemon slices are lightly charred. Or, if you have one, use a kitchen torch!
*Spiced Demerara Simple Syrup
Demerara syrup makes an amber, deeper and more complex flavor than a syrup made with white sugar.
Ingredients
- 1½ ounces brandy (Rochelle uses Copper & Kong’s American brandy)
- ½ ounce Hamilton Pimento Dram
- ¾ ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- ½ ounce spiced demerara simple syrup*
- 1 cup demerara (or turbinado) sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 star anise
- 1 stick cinnamon
Preparation
A Thing to Remember
Makes 1 cocktail
Mix brandy, dram, lemon juice and demerara syrup in a cocktail shaker. Shake for a minute. Fill a tumbler with crushed ice and pour cocktail over. Garnish with brûléed lemon, cinnamon stick and star anise.
*Spiced Demerara Simple Syrup
Makes about 1½ cups
Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan; reduce heat and simmer until sugar dissolves. Add star anise and cinnamon and simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in an airtight bottle or container in the fridge.
