Curry Derby
Another drink that I mixed at my parents' house, this one by request. My father had visited Crave in Cincinnati, and ordered this drink, and he asked me to recreate it. If you follow the link, you will notice that their menu is cheesy; too big, too full of flavored vodkas, too full of names like "Kinky Heat". As much as I want this menu to be ironic, we all know it's serious.Whatever. Coconut and turmeric is a flavor that I have enjoyed in at least one Indian curry, and I have long been intrigued by the possibility of turmeric in drinks, so I was eager to try this recipe. When asked, the bartender provided the following helpful instructions:
Kentucky Derby1.5 oz Bourbon (Maker's Mark)1 oz of Coconut water.25 oz of ginger infused simple syrup.25 oz Monin Coco syrup.25 teaspoon of turmeric powderShake vigorously over ice and double strain over ice into a rocks glass. Rim the glass with cinnamon sugar.
That's all well and good, but the drink was too sweet as formulated above, so we opted to omit the coconut syrup and the cinnamon sugar rim. In retrospect, a bit of cinnamon would have fit the curry theme nicely, but this business with the sugar on the rim... is an indulgence best left to the ladies. Campari on the rim--that's more my style! But I did not do that. Plain cinnamon is anhydrous and unpleasant in the mouth, so it ought not to be used for a rim. No, to put cinnamon in this drink, a cinnamon stick garnish, as yesterday, would be ideal.
Curried Derby1.5 oz Bourbon (Woodford Reserve)1 oz of Coconut water.25 oz of ginger syrup.25 teaspoon of turmeric powderHard shake and double strain over ice. Garnish with a cinnamon stick (dehydrated fig).
Powdered turmeric sucks every bit as much as every other powdered spice. Don't use it, unless you want your drink to have a slightly powdery texture, no matter how much you shake it. Real gangstas of cocktailia run some fresh turmeric through a juicer, and make turmeric ginger syrup. YES! Turmeric ginger syrup, and cinnamon-infused bourbon, that is the Curried Derby that my heart truly desires.Make a syrup using a cold process, i.e., mix the pure juice with equal parts of sugar and shake it in a sealed jar until the sugar is fully integrated. I don't know how strong the turmeric juice will be in flavor, but I would start it with equal parts of turmeric and ginger juice, and taste until balanced. As for the cinnamon bourbon, only infuse it for a couple of hours, lest the cinnamon completely over take the whiskey. I will take these thoughts, which I have had just now as I was writing this post, and report back.Astute readers will also notice that we dropped the completely boring and nondescript name, and everyone involved is better for it.