this drink is a blatant ripoff of the kaffir fling, by david wolowidnyk of west restaurant in vancouver, bc. his version includes cinnamon sprinkled through a blowtorch which looks and smells pretty awesome.

my mom loves this drink. qed.

thai kamikaze

2 oz vodka
1 oz lime juice
0.75-1 oz orgeat
2-5 kaffir lime leaves
2 coins ginger

muddle lime leaves one at a time in a shaker. add ginger and muddle. add the remaining ingredients with ice, and shake until very cold. pour through a fine strainer.

slacker orgeat

1 part almond milk
1 part sugar
orange peel, pith removed, at least 1″ x 1″ per cup of milk, more if you like

lay the peel pith side up, and use a sharp thin knife to cut away all the pith, as though you are whittling.

bring the almond milk to a simmer, remove from heat. add orange peel. after the mixture cools down a little, pour it into a jar with the sugar, and shake until the sugar dissolves. chill and shake before using.

as mentioned in the intro post, david wolowidnyk makes a cocktail called “pie” which contains pumpkin-infused vodka. so, this would be similar. i’m thinking maybe the infusion could use both raw and roasted sweet potato. or maybe boil and strain some sweet potato, and use the ‘broth’ to make syrup.

let me first say what cocktails often are but should not be: cocktails should not taste like cough syrup. they should not taste like rubbing alcohol. they should not be sickly sweet, nor should they taste artificial. they should not taste of a common commercial product such as Coke, Tang, Froot Loops, or Lemon Pledge. they should not be watery.

cocktails should, instead, taste lively. often complex, yet clean, clear, and bright.

unless you are at a purposefully kitschy tiki bar, drinks are not made better with toothpick umbrellas, fruit wheels, elaborate glasses or bowls or props. they are, however, often improved with rimmed glasses, with ignited or twisted citrus peel, with herbs, spices, or fresh or candied fruit stirred it or floating atop.

key moments from my history of drinkery

margarita from picante. the first time i’d had a margarita with fresh lime juice. my world was rocked. a group of us put away three pitchers. later, someone fell into a pile of tires.

sidecar from michael mina. this was the first time i’d had a non-margarita cocktail that didn’t taste like cough syrup. i felt very old-school sophisticated and $15 poorer.

things from cyrus and west. my current favorite bartenders are scott beattie (formerly of cyrus) and colin macdougall and david wolowidnyk from west. from scott, i love the waverly place echo (mandarin, kaffir lime leaf, five spice) and pelo del perro (grapefruit, coconut, and smoked salt). the latter might be my favorite drink of all time. from colin and david: kaffir fling (kaffir, ginger, orgeat, lime), pie (pumpkin and spice), four o’clock (bourbon, vanilla, orange blossom foam), passage to india (mango, jalepeno, cilantro, curry), and a dozen others they’ve invented on the spot.