MxMo: New Orleans (Ambrosia)

Having just arrived back home from Tales, I was extremely tempted to offer the following for my Mixology Monday, New Orleans themed “cocktail”:

PAIN, PAIN GO AWAY

18 oz slightly chilled water
4 Tylenol extra strength
1 can Red Bull
1 bottle Gatorade (any flavor)
place two Tylenol in mouth and follow with chilled water
breathe
place the remaining Tylenol in mouth and follow with Red Bull
breathe
sip Gatorade as you scavenge for food: STAT!

Fearing that our congenial host Paul Clarke, might not have approved, I thought better of leaving you with the above recipe, and began to research something more befitting of the New Orleans cocktail moniker. Trolling the hazy depths of my besotted memory for drinks consumed in the past week, and realizing that someone, somewhere was going to discuss the Sazerac, Ramos Gin Fizz, Vieux Carré, Hurricane, Pimm’s Cup, French 75, Brandy Milk Punch, and/or the Café Brûlot, I decided to crack open the books and dig up something a little different (hopefully).

From Stanley Clisby Arthur’s, Famous New Orleans Drinks & how to mix ‘em, we find the Ambrosia. Our good author goes on to say that “Ambrosia is popularly supposed to have been the drink concocted by the Greek gods on Mount Olympus, and was calculated to put sparkle in Grecian ladies’ eyes and hair on Grecian gentlemen’s chests. At Arnaud’s, one of the better French restaurant’s in New Orleans’ Vieux Carré, a modern version of the Mount Olympus is served. We have it from the proprietor, Arnaud Cazenave (“Count Arnaud” to his familiars) that the ambrosia he brews is one the lovely Hebe might well have served Juno, Jupiter, Ganymede, and the balance of the Olympus crowd. We who have sampled it agree.” It should be noted that Jupiter is actually a Roman god and that our dear author had meant to say Zeus, but because this potation is just so darn tasty, we’ll forgive the transgression.

Gather about the following ingredients and elevate yourselves to the status of a Grecian god(dess) by having your servant concoct this fabulous nectar, befitting of a palate as noble as yours:

AMBROSIA

1jigger (1 ½ oz) Cognac
1jigger (1 ½ oz) applejack (I used Laird’s 100 proof Apple Brandy)
1 dash Cointreau
1 lemon (juice only) (½ oz)
champagne
Mix all but the champagne and pour into a thin 6 oz glass. This mixture will half fill the glass. Pour in the champagne to the brim. Drink while sparkling.

Full of winter flavor, but brightened by the addition of lemon and champagne, it is easy to see how the Ambrosia was a hit at Arnaud’s, regardless of the season. Hopefully the bartenders at their French 75 Bar will one day tire of making (incorrect) French 75’s (they use cognac, which makes it a French 125) and begin offering their guests this lovely concoction instead. I won’t hold my breath.

Ambrosia

Picture by:
Jamie Boudreau
Cocktail Whisperer

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~ by Jamie Boudreau on July 27, 2008.