Thursday, March 3, 2011

culross

1/3 Lillet (3/4 oz Cocchi Americano)
1/3 Daiquiri Rum (3/4 oz Smith & Cross)
1/3 Apricot Brandy (3/4 oz Rothman & Winter)
Juice 1/4 Lemon (3/4 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added a lemon twist.

On Sunday night, we were in the mood for a nightcap and I found the Culross in the Café Royal Cocktail Book. With the equal parts spirit, fruit liqueur, Lillet, and lemon structure, it reminded me of the Hoop La so I figured that it was worth a shot. The Culross pre-dates the 1937 Café Royal and appears in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, although I am not sure if there is an older reference than that. The recipe seemed like it needed a full bodied rum to really make this cocktail shine, so I opted for flavorful Smith & Cross over a something I would consider more "daiquiri rum" in style.
The Culross presented a lemon, apricot, and rum aroma. On the sip, the lemon and apricot were rather strong with hints of the Cocchi Americano rounding out the fruit notes. Next, the apricot continued on in the swallow where it mingled with the rum's heat and funkiness. Strangely, I found the drink's balance rather quizzical as it alternated between sweet and tart on different sips.

4 comments:

erik.ellestad said...

3/4 oz for a quarter of a lemon? You must have some mighty large lemons out East, Fred.

...Kidding...

I do like this drink, but think it is waaaaay better with Apricot Eau-de-Vie than it is with Apricot Liqueur.

frederic said...

Well, if it was a 2 oz drink, then a 1/2 oz of lemon would be about a 1/4 of today's lemons and an equal parts drink. Since the recipe was scalable on everything but the juice, I made the call to use a balance on the tarter side that I preferred.

Alex said...

The original called for pre-embargo Cuban Bacardi, so I used some Havana Club I had on hand. I think this would be better with something funkier, like the Jamaican S&C you used, some El Dorado.

sc'Que? said...

Enjoying one now with Bonal gentiane-quina instead of Cocchi. I also opted to split the different on the rum by using half-ounce each of Havana Club and Smith & Cross. With some tweaking, it is certainly menu-worthy.