October Drink of the Month - Arancia Julius

Terror of the Deep

I hosted the third edition of "cocktail club" a gathering of friends (and now spouses/significant others, and even a 10 month old) to share recipes, try new things, and work on our drinking palettes on Tuesday night of this week. Longtime collaborator (and friend of the blog) Zack and I were on tap to provide drinks for the evening, and I decided I wanted to go with something really out there. Zack wowed the crowd with his "Terror of the Deep" tiki drink, featuring two rums, falernum, blue curacao, and lots of fresh juices. He won the "drink of the night" from the crowd, so I'll give credit where credit is due, and share the picture he sent to me, to show the "blood in the water" effect he made sinking grenadine in the finished drink. It was a fun drink, and the rums and juices made a sweet, pleasant sipper.

I went another direction, after reading a Imbibe article on their top 10 brunch cocktails. The first drink on the list was the "Arancia Julius" (arancia is orange in Italian) that featured 1.5 oz of Galliano. Woah! I was floored. The only drink I've ever used Galliano for is a Harvey Wallbanger (and our riff, Harvey's Firecracker). But a traditional Harvey only uses 0.5 oz of Galliano. I was already intrigued by the first ingredient. The bartender who created the drink was angling to create a riff on the classic Orange Julius frozen orange drink, while using Harvey Wallbanger ingredients. They subbed genever for vodka, and added pineapple juice and half and half to make it creamy like a shake. I have to say that the result was incredibly refreshing, if a little watery. The recipe calls for a 1/2 oz of soda water on the bottom of the glass when assembling, and another 1/2 oz on top. We decided omitting the soda water helps the drink immensely.

Arancia Julius

Given that small modification, I can happily recommend the Arancia Julius for brunch any time! Here is the recipe for you to make it at home, even if it didn't win drink of the night (although it did beat out a Mary Pickford for second place, so that's something!):

In a mixing tin, combine the following:

1.5 oz Galliano
0.5 oz genever (jonge)
0.5 oz pineapple juice
2 oz orange juice
0.5 oz half and half

Shake over ice, strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Garnish with an orange wheel and/or pineapple flag. If you choose, top with 0.5 oz soda water, but we recommend omitting.

I hope you enjoy your Arancia Julius!