Who’s Down With The R.B.C.?

Today’s post will continue with the “wine-tail” theme of late, but this time we will be using a Muscat dessert wine.

Dessert wines are a natural fit for cocktails as they are not only adding the fortified “grape-y” flavours of vermouth, but also the sweetness of a liqueur. The Muscat that I chose was from Australia, a luscious example with great raisin-y characteristics and sharp acidity, ensuring that this dessert wine wasn’t too “sticky”. I’ve always found that guests bring dessert wines for dinner parties, so this is an excellent way to use any that may be left over.

Ladies and gentlemen, break out the can-openers and Cognac and prepare a:

R.B.C. (Rutherglen’s Border Cocktail)

1 ¼ oz Cognac
¾ oz Muscat
½ canned pear
2 dashes Angostura bitters
shake hard and fine strain into a cocktail glass

This libation works well both as a cocktail to match with dinner or a liquid dessert. While the Muscat adds some sweetness, I was careful to choose one with high acidity and the addition of Angostura bitters helps balance out the drink. Be sure to use pears that are packed in their own juice and not syrup, as you don’t want any extra sweetness added to the drink.

As a reminder to all, fine straining is the act of straining the liquid from one’s Boston shaker and Hawthorne strain into a second strainer, like this one, before the liquid hits your cocktail glass. This will ensure that your creation is smooth and clear, and that none of the pear chunks will escape into your glass, leaving you with all of the flavour of the pears and none of its texture.

R.B.C.

Drink and picture by:
Jamie Boudreau
Cocktail Whisperer

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~ by Jamie Boudreau on December 8, 2008.