#vitae gin

[jollybartender]

Coronado

This tropical cocktail is all about cherry, tropical scents and garnishes. It looks like a rocks sipper and a tiki cocktail rolled into one. I wanted to choose spirits that did the drink justice to Coronado's tiki roots. First I used real kirschwasser over cherry brandy or liqueur because it tastes exotic and boozy. The small amount in this drink is noticeable and does not change the color like a cherry brandy would. The other thing I did was use America's only molasses based gin, Vitae Modern Gin. I also threw in Vitae orange liqueur where the recipe calls for Curacao because it is also rum based like a Curacao and very dry. I figured that the pineapple juice was all the sweetness this drink needed and I was right. People don't like sugary tropical drinks anymore, for good reason. The Coronado is reclaiming tropical drinks when made this way.

See the recipe on my website.

[jollybartender]

Red Lion

I've been waiting to do this cocktail since making it's brother, the White Lion, a few years ago. It is really awesome and especially tasty when it's constituent parts are local and share the same base spirit. O.K. It is really only possible to use Curacao and gin from the same distillery with the same base if you use Vitae Modern Gin and Vitae Orange liqueur. The effect, though was strong. The orange liqueur is twice as strong as most triple sec and contains almost no sugar. It is flavored with natural oranges, including Virginia's hearty orange--so it is bitter, not sweet. That's a positive change for this drink, which I imagine would be very sweet with a sweet triple sec or Curacao.

See the recipe on my website.

[jollybartender]

Pancho Villa

The raider of New Mexico was deadly and so is is namesake drink. There's so much booze in this cocktail that I wondered if it was a misprint. There's 2 oz. of rum, one of gin and about another 1.5 oz. of miscellaneous spirits and almost no juice, that you know not to mess with Pancho. I took the opportunity to try out the new Vitae spirits I bought from Charlottesville, Virginia. Vitae makes a platinum rum with great flavor that tastes much like fresh cane juice. It is an excellent tiki cocktail addition. Then they have the only molasses-based gin in the U.S. with a fun aromatic scent and the flavor of local hardy oranges. The drink is further exoticized with apricot brandy and cherry brandy. I opted for kirschwasser for the latter for color consistency and the rummy flavor of kirsch that sweet cherry brandy doesn't have.

See the recipe on my website.

[jollybartender]

Tango Cocktail

I chose Vitae modern gin for the Tango cocktail because it is a rum-based gin with 17 botanicals, and an understated juniper flavor. This is a pretty soft tasting gin with a thick mouthfeel that reminds me of an aged or malted barley gin, but Vitae is a rum! This cocktail too was a wet Martini with lots of vermouth and a sizeable smack of Cointreau to make it citrus-forward.

See the recipe here.