Splash!
This all started last winter when my housemates made a Black Forest kirschtorte, and ended up with a lot of leftover kirsch. The solution, obviously, was to get a bottle of cognac and make Black Jacks, except it turns out I'm terrible at that, so I've been looking for a good cognac cocktail ever since. Last night I came across Sother Teague's Airliner, and it looked great, but who's got hibiscus liqueur lying around? And what the hell are "bitters"? Undeterred by my lack of ingredients and applicable skills, I forged ahead, and ended up with a surprisingly delicious glass of boozed-up grapefruit juice, which I share with you now in the hope that you find it as clumsy and adorable as its namesake.
The Seaplane
1.5 oz cognac*
2 tsp Richard's spice syrup†
A grapefruit
Pare a strip of zest off the grapefruit and save it for later. It doesn't have to look pretty: it's not there for show. Squeeze the juice out of the grapefruit (there should be about 4 oz in there) and strain it into a cup. Add some ice, stir in the cognac and syrup, and strain the ice out again. Hold the zest strip over the drink, roll it up tightly, and drop it in. As you roll it up, you'll feel the zest get all wet and glossy from the oils seeping out. Yum!
* Ours is Decourtet VS, a detail I include only in case this one is somehow special and different from all the others and if I don't remember it I'll never be able to make this drink again.
† Getting your hands on this ingredient might be tricky: Richard is a dude who used to live with my housemates who left a jar of spice syrup in the fridge when he moved out. It looks like it's made of brown sugar, and it smells like cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, or something like that. It's really good.
The Seaplane
1.5 oz cognac*
2 tsp Richard's spice syrup†
A grapefruit
Pare a strip of zest off the grapefruit and save it for later. It doesn't have to look pretty: it's not there for show. Squeeze the juice out of the grapefruit (there should be about 4 oz in there) and strain it into a cup. Add some ice, stir in the cognac and syrup, and strain the ice out again. Hold the zest strip over the drink, roll it up tightly, and drop it in. As you roll it up, you'll feel the zest get all wet and glossy from the oils seeping out. Yum!
* Ours is Decourtet VS, a detail I include only in case this one is somehow special and different from all the others and if I don't remember it I'll never be able to make this drink again.
† Getting your hands on this ingredient might be tricky: Richard is a dude who used to live with my housemates who left a jar of spice syrup in the fridge when he moved out. It looks like it's made of brown sugar, and it smells like cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, or something like that. It's really good.