Golden Guru – Ferrand Dry Curacao Yuzu
I heavily anticipated the arrival of the Ferrand Dry Curacao Yuzu. The regular one already is my go-to orange curacao, especially in Mai Tais. Obviously, I had to try the new one in a twist on that classic cocktail!
Pierre Ferrand sources its Yuzus from Morocco (never knew they grew there). This means they can let the fruit ripen longer and only harvest them when they fall to the ground. Afterwards, Ferrand macerates them in brandy and distils the resulting infusion. Next, they produce a second distillate with other ingredients, blend it with the first one and age the mix in oak barrels. In the end, the liqueur is filled in the iconic prism shaped bottle with an ABV of 40 %.
Citrus, Yuzu and brandy
The first sip of the Dry Curacao Yuzu is a bit weird: You get the same mouthfeel and baseline notes of the regular Dry Curacao, but the top notes tase of Yuzu and lemon instead of oranges. However, the taste corresponds to what I have memorized as yuzu taste. You can find some hints of menthol notes, but all in all this gives the liqueur power to stand out in drinks.
A Mai Tai, of course
Yes, I know, everything that messes with the original Trader Vic’s formular, probably should not be called a Mai Tai. Well, I obviously chose a song title as the name, so we are fine here. Apart form using the Yuzu curaco, I also infused the Navy Style rum with milky Oolong tea (traditional method, rapid infusion with the ISI Gourmet Whip did not work). Furthermore, I introduced two types of bitters to lend even more complexity.
1,5 cl Ferrand Dry Curacao Yuzu
2 Dashes Scrappy’s Lime Bitters
2 Dashes Dashfire Chai’Walla Chai Bitters
3 cl Lime Juice
1,5 cl Meneau Orgeat
0,75 cl Simple Syrup
Garnish: Mint – Brandied Cherry; Song: Júníus Meyvant – Golden Guru;
The ‘Golden Guru’ is a dangerously tasty drink. You will find all familiar notes of the original Mai Tai in it, but the individual flavours are twisted a bit. All in all, the drink is on the sweet side, but the additional dilution from the ice used for shaking helps to balance out the drink.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The liqueur was provided by Ferrand Deutschland.
