In Birdsong – Spiritus Rex Rowan
So, I realized that I had some Spiritus Rex eau de vies on hand which I did not present so far. The 10th anniversary of my blog coming up gave me the perfect excuse to present them. This article features the most common one of the three wild fruit eau de vies.
I really enjoy rowan eau de vie. You really have to be an eau de vie nerd to appreciate them, but they deliver a lot of flavour. In this case, Matthias Sievert distils the wild rowan eau de vie from berries growing near the tree line in the Jeseníky Mountains in Moravia. It takes 80 kg of fruits for one litre of eau de vie. In the end, the ‘Rowan’ is bottled at an ABV of 42 %..
Complex wild fruit notes
Until now, I tried quite a few rowan eau de vies. Yet, the Spiritus Rex Rowan clearly is the best one so far. You instantly taste typical wild fruit notes, but at the same time the flavours are balanced with additional complex notes. On top of that, you will find some dried fruit and cherry flavours in the taste.
Negroni instead of a Manhattan variation
For a drink using the rowan eau de vie, I first wanted to come up with a Manhattan variation. In the end, it turned out to be a distant cousin to a Negroni. For the gin, I went with the No. 3 55 % gin. Instead of a Italian red bitter, I used the Goelles Rowan Bitter in combination with Fernet del Frate. Next, I switched out the sweet vermouth for some Cocchi Barolo Chinato. Last but not least, I added some dashes of spiced apple bitters.
2 Bsp. Spiritus Rex Rowan Eau de Vie
1,5 cl Goelles Rowan Bitter
0,75 cl Tempus Fugit Fernet del Frate
3 cl Cocchi Barolo Chinato
Stir – strain – chilled Cocktail glass;
Garnish: No garnish; Song: Everything Everything – In Birdsong;
The ‘In Birdsong’ tastes only half as wild as you might expect from the ingredients. Surprisingly, the two barspoons of eau de vie really shine through. The strong flavours all complement each other and balance each other out. Especially, the Fernet works very well in here. Through its addition, the drink reminded me of a Hanky Panky variation.
Stay tuned for my 10th anniversary post! Just a short teaser – there will be something to win.
*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 eau de vie was provided by Spiritus Rex.
