Secret Santé – Different Speed
The mad Drinkstagrammer Matthias Soberon started a little thing called Secret Santé five years ago on Instagram. If you join, Matthias assigns you a fellow cocktail enthusiast for whom you create a drink in the spirit of secret Santa. It is my first time participating and I am very happy that I drew Slow Mixology as a Santé. So, I started right away with creating a cocktail for her. Just a slight spoiler alert – it’s a Negroni variation.
A Nordic Negroni variation
I like Nanda’s take on cocktails, they are elegantly simple, but with an intriguing twist. Often she uses some crazy infusion, like blue-cheese infused cognac. However, I thought I keep things a bit less umami and came up with a Negroni twist. Since, Nanda currently lives in Denmark, I thought I capture this Nordic spirit with – a Nordic spirit (No pun intended). Therefore, I infused aquavit with cacao nibs for three days. Instead of Campari, I used Cynar for the bitter part. I kept the sweet vermouth, but something was still missing from the recipe. So, I also added a splash of Chartreuse and a few dashes Creole bitters mix (50 : 50 mix of Peychaud’s and The Bitter Truth Creole Bitters).
3 cl Cynar
3 cl Gölles Rosso Vermouth
0,75 cl Chartreuse Verte
Stir – strain – chilled Old-Fashioned glass over ice cubes;
Garnish: Dried Orange Wheel;
Song: Oliver Tank – Different Speed Feat. Ta-Ku;
Cacao flavoured Trident cocktail
The drink starts off with notes reminding me of Robert Hess’ Trident cocktail. However after the initial sip, the cacao shows and takes the drink in a slightly Christmassy direction. Furthermore, the Chartreuse also does not hide and brings its unique herbal spiciness to the mix. The vermouth and the bitters linger on in the back and give the cocktail more depth of flavour. All in all, I hope you enjoy this creation Nanda! Cheers to you, Matthias and all the fellow Secret Santé participants!
