July Drink of the Month - Improved Genever Cocktail (with Brandied Cherries to Accompany)

There's a story behind this month's cocktail, but to be honest, I was mostly looking for something to pair with the beautiful brandied cherries I made last week. South Bend is right on the Michigan border, so gorgeous Michigan cherries are plentiful (and relatively inexpensive) this time of year. That means it was time for me to finally stop buying terrible maraschino cherries and make my own garnishes. If you can afford them, the Luxardo cherries are excellent, but the recipe below comes close (and if you're a brandy fan like me, you can't beat the aroma these cherries put off when you open the jar).

All kinds of Genever - thanks Wikipedia!

But before we dive to hard into the garnishes, we need a cocktail to put them in. Last month, I read the newly published second edition of Imbibe by David Wondrich (find it here). The author goes back to the origins of the cocktail with some help from America's first celebrity bartender in print, Jerry "the Professor" Thomas. It was really interesting to learn more about the roots of the cocktail, and I learned plenty of fun nuggets. For instance, did you know that the gin we drink today (for the most part) is not the same gin that would have been drunk in the early twentieth century? London Dry gin was not popular until the advent of the martini - before that time, the most common gins were either Hollands gin (known as Genever or Jenever) or Old Tom gin. Genever (which is of Dutch origins, as the Hollands gin name would imply) is often barrel aged and has some malty flavor notes. It is still made with juniper berries, but its profile actually rests somewhere between London dry gin and whiskey. Old Tom is the transitional link between Genever and London dry - less malty but still with some heft to it. For our drink today, we'll take Genever as the base in honor of those old-timey drinkers.

More fun facts! Do you know how the Old Fashioned cocktail got its name? As it turns out, while bartenders today will swear up and down about the importance of using bourbon or rye in an Old Fashioned, the original cocktail could have had anything as a base. The simple combination of spirit, sugar, water, and bitters was the original cocktail. Over time, ambitious bartenders began adding all sorts of other accouterments to this simple, elegant recipe: curacao, syrups, fruit wheels, imported French liqueurs, you name it. The grumpy cocktail purists, in revolt, would simply order their cocktails the "old fashioned" way. The name stuck, and eventually became associated with bourbon exclusively. But roll into a bar in 1902 and an Old Fashioned could have had any spirit as a base, including Genever.

Last fun fact: I already mentioned that bartenders tended to "gussy up" the simple cocktail recipe with all sorts of additives. The first stab at improving the classic cocktail recipe led to a whole category of "improved" cocktails in Jerry Thomas' book. What was the improvement, you ask? Maraschino liqueur and a dash of the green fairy - absinthe. Absinthe was a huge part of cocktail culture in the early days, and was put in almost any cocktail to "improve" it. Until recently, that improvement was unavailable to modern consumers, but now absinthe is once again legal to buy in the US, so feel free to improve your cocktail any time!

Put all these fun facts together, and you have the Improved Genever Cocktail. Follow the recipe below:

In a mixing glass, combine the following:

2 oz Old Genever*

0.5 oz simple syrup (1:1 - don't want this one too sweet)

One dash Maraschino liqueur

Two dashes bitters (I bought some Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters, and they go nicely here)

A "martini mister" atomizer

Stir over ice until chilled. Strain into a rocks/lowball glass (also known as an "old fashioned" glass) and finish by misting the drink with absinthe using a cocktail atomizer (one spray should be sufficient). Garnish with a cherry.

*Genever is available both "young" - un-aged - and "old." You'll want the barrel improved stuff. I used Boomsma Old Genever, but Bols is still the standard bearer.

Now that you have your cocktail built, here is how to make your garnish. There are tons on recipes available for brandied cherries (trust me, I went looking last week). I ended up adapting a recipe from Food Republic (here), and I've been pretty happy with the results. The recipe is below:

1) Wash, de-stem, and pit one pound of fresh cherries. Any cherries will work, but sweet cherries work best. Quick note - invest in a good cherry pitter. Pitting cherries is messy business, and big plungers leave ragged holes in your cherries. A good tool helps make sure your cherries don't get torn in half and your clothes are not stained blood red.

2) Dissolve 1/2 cup of demerara sugar into 1/2 cup of distiller water over a low heat. Once sugar is dissolved, add 1 cup brandy and your cherries. I used the newly released Fine Girl brandy from Journeyman Distilleries in order to make my batch truly authentic Michigan brandied cherries.

3) Bring the cherries, brandy, and syrup to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.

4) Add 2 tsp of vanilla extract for flavor, let cool.

5) Once the mixture is completely cooled, place in large mason jar and refrigerate. This should keep for 4-6 months (alcohol is a wonderful preservative).

After an evening in the refrigerator, these babies are ready to garnish your next cocktail. Enjoy them in an Improved Genever Cocktail!