Tradition holds that Balthazar was the name of one of the Biblical wise men. Thought to be a Arabian scholar, Balthazar presented Jesus and his family with a gift of myrrh, a tree resin traditionally used in the embalming of the dead. But enough of that depressing crap...let's make a drink!
Myrrh has a very complex scent, described by some as smelling of earth and anise. This informed our creation of Balthazar's cocktail. One liquor that has a prominent anise flavour as well as a strong tie to the earth (wormwood) is absinthe. And, of course, absinthe factors prominently into the classic Sazerac cocktail. We decided to do a variation of the Sazerac by introducing a little chocolate flavour.
Now, we each had our own ideas about how to introduce that chocolate flavour. One of us just wanted to add some creme de cacao and the other wanted to muddle the bourbon with cocoa nibs (we won't tell you who wanted what). Both are quite tasty and directions for each are below. The chocolate adds to the richness and rarity (well, rare for BCE times) of the drink while pairing quite well with the absinthe.
Balthazar Cocktail (easy peasey version):
- 2 oz bourbon
- 1 oz creme de cacao
- absinthe (enough to rinse the glass)
- Dillon's DSB Bitters or Peychaud's Bitters
- Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate bitters or Whiskey bitters
- 1 tsp sugar
- rocks glass
Put a few ice cubes into the rocks glass and fill half full with water. Set side to chill. Place the sugar and three dashes of either the DSB or Peychaud's bitters into a cocktail shaker. Muddle to combine and slightly dissolve the sugar. Add a couple of ice cubes, the bourbon, creme de cacao and orange rind to the cocktail glass. Stir until the cocktail is chilled and the sugar is dissolved. Pour out ice and water from rocks glass. Pour a little absinthe into the glass and swirl around the bottom and sides of the glass. Discard any extra. Strain cocktail into the glass over ice. Add either of the Fee Brother's bitters, if desired.
Balthazar Cocktail (slightly more work version):
- 2 oz bourbon
- absinthe (enough to rinse the glass)
- Dillon's DSB Bitters or Peychaud's Bitters
- 1 tsp cocoa nibs
- 1 tsp sugar
- rocks glass
Put a few ice cubes into the rocks glass and fill half full with water. Set side to chill. Place the sugar, cocoa nibs and three dashes of either the DSB or Peychaud's bitters into a cocktail shaker. Muddle to combine and slightly dissolve the sugar. Add a couple of ice cubes, the bourbon, and orange rind to the cocktail glass. Stir until the cocktail is chilled and the sugar is dissolved. Pour out ice and water from rocks glass. Pour a little absinthe into the glass and swirl around the bottom and sides of the glass. Discard any extra. Double strain the cocktail (to catch any bits of nib) into the glass over ice.
Cocktail Notes:
Because we're all about the bitters, we tried three options (in addition to the required DSB):
- Fee's Aztec Chocolate - Kate's favourite. Really brought out the chocolate plus an interesting kick on the end w/ the chili in the bitters pairing with the absinthe.
- Fee's Whiskey - Drew's preference. Smooths out the chocolate and the absinthe.
- More Dillon DSB - unnecessary. Doesn't really make it a more interesting drink.
We tested these with both the easy-peasy and the slightly-more-work versions of the cocktail. Interesting, the additional bitters don't enhance the slightly-more-work version. The nibs add enough variety.
We also experimented with a Green Chartreuse rinse instead of an absinthe rinse. This is an adequate substitution. It's smoother and a little sweeter than the absinthe (plus, it too is green). So, try it if you don't have any absinthe laying around.
Inspiration:
To answer your question .. Yes, really, another version of "We Three Kings". But WHAT a version! This piece is f'ing AWESOME! It's Edgar Gabriel's StringFusion group. Wow.
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