There were a lot of things I wish I’d blogged about in 2007 but never got around to; here’s one of them.
Last summer, while wandering the hallowed halls of eGullet’s Spirits & Cocktails forum, I came across a post in the apricot brandy thread about one of the riffs on the
Fortunately, the recipe was posted — several times, with variations, even in a Mixology Monday thread (thanks, Erik!) — and I wound up enjoying a really tasty cocktail that I absolutely meant to blog about, but always, always forgot when I sat down at the keyboard. That’s a shame, and I assure you I’m hanging my head right now. The Slope is a fantastically enjoyable cocktail; the apricot and Punt e Mes join together in a curiously engaging match of bitter and sweet, while the rye – well, it just keeps the whole thing driving along (Flatiron suggests Rittenhouse bonded, always a wise choice, but Erik recommended Pikesville Supreme, which also gave great results).
As I understand from the thread, the Slope was originally made with Marie Brizard ‘Apry’, about a quarter ounce for the drink; not having that readily available in Washington, I’ve substituted the Giffard Abricot du Roussillon in the same amount, with excellent results, as well as the Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot, which also makes for a great drink. As Erik helpfully pointed out, the Rothman & Winter is drier than other liqueurs, so increasing the proportion is advised; I use equal parts R&W and Punt E Mes, and have no complaints.
All the New Yorkers and eGulleteers who stop by here probably got tired of drinking these six months ago, but I’m still enjoying it, and I needed to scratch something off my “2007 Regrets†list before we got too far into the new year. Consider it scratched.
Slope (a hybrid of recipes from eGullet)
- 2 ounces rye whiskey
- 3/4 ounce Punt e Mes
- 1/4 ounce apricot liqueur (increase if using a drier product like Rothman & Winter)
- Dash Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients well with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Paul:
This looks delicious and I have all bu the apricot on hand. Many thanks for all of the great drinks last year, as well as the superb rye series. New Year’s Eve hosting 8 at my place featured two of your blogged drinks: Cocktail al la Louisiane and Blue Moon, as well as a number of Sazeracs (using Saz 18), a number of absinthe drips, a few brandy alexanders and some regrettable fluff like appletinis and cosmopolitans. However, the Louisiane was a crowd favorite for sure. Frankly, after all of that, I could use a slow start for this year. 😉
Thanks for the shout out!
It is a mighty fine drink, is it not?
I have a hard time imagining anyone getting tired of it!
a great reminder to one of the best cocktails of 2007… i just might have drank more of them than any other one thing…
never got tired of it… just distracted…
As I’m visiting with Stefan this week, I made this with the Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters, and that strong note of gentian really adds to this drink. If w/o these bitters, maybe add a dash of Suze or Salers.
I was at the Zig Zag a week ago and Murray made me one although he substituted the apricot liquor with St Germain. It was delicious.
Thanks for the recipe post, Paul. As usual, it was just the ticket, since I was looking for something Brooklyn-ish to enjoy. Substituted Carpano Antica for the Punt e Mes and Zwack Apricot Brandy, and it was de-li-cious.