1.5 oz Moletto Tomato Gin
marc rizzuto Spring/summer 2024
0.5 oz St. George Aqua Perfecta
0.5 oz Coco Lopez
0.5 oz Lime Juice
0.25 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
Method: whip shake/dump
Glassware: tulip
Ice: pebbles
Garnish: none
One of the most called for off menu style of cocktails leading up to to the R&D for the spring/summer 2024 menu was a saturn riff(tropical gin cocktail with gin, passion fruit, orgeat, citrus), or high acidity gin cocktail. We had a bunch of sour gin cocktails, but none that really singed your taste buds with acidity. People were looking for that mouth watering sour beer/sour candy brightness. When executing a riff on a hyper specific classic, we would try to keep those key ingredients that make it reminiscent of the classic. In the case of the saturn: gin, passion fruit and brightness(acidity). Trying to balance something with a ph level that will make your tongue numb after a few sips is not easy. Every final ingredient in the Cornicello has some acidity to it. The balance comes from the savory and fat ingredients.
Moletto Tomato Gin is an incredible product for cocktail making. [Prior to using this gin for a savory tomato flavor, we exclusively used Laurent Cazottes 72 Tomatoes. 72 Tomatoes is a tomato liqueur with crazy depth; rich umami notes and fresh garden flavor. There are 72 varieties of tomatoes picked and macerated in freshly distilled Folle Noire eau de vie for 10 months]. Moletto on the nose hits you with a bouquet of fresh ripe tomato skins and vines with a hint of citrus. When tasting this gin you go through floral juniper and ripe tomato, fresh citrus, and then finish with umami and herbs. This gin is hands down one of my favorite gins. I thought it would be a nice way to balance some of the acidic ingredients in this saturn riff by adding this savory-sweet gin.
St. George Aqua Perfecta is a basil eau de vie made in California. This is made with Italian and Thai basil. The flavor profile is vegetal and peppery with some warming menthol notes. What is tomato without basil? When using this ingredent it is always best to err on the side of less is more; it can be quite the palate destroyer. This eau de vie also likes to be paired with coconut and so does passion fruit and tomato. So awaaaaay we go to the hardest part of balancing this cocktail. The amount(s) of passion fruit, coco lopez, and lime were all changed from tsp up to 0.75 oz until the iteration that is listed above.
A few tips for making this drink properly: first, the coco lopez needs to be fully submerged in hot water (while in the can or a squeeze bottle) so it can be prperly incorporated in the cocktail. If this process is not done, frankly it should always be used this way in all cocktails, the coconut makes the drink taste like chalk. Next, you want to add all the ingredients to your mixing tins and add three to five pieces of pebbled ice. You dont have pebbled ice? Use a half of a small cube cracked into shards. Whip all the ingredients in your tin until the ice dissolves. When whipping, shaking or whatvever you are mixing in your tins make sure the ingredients are rotating in a vortex [FIG A] from end to end. This is the best approach to pushing air into the ingredients to create a fully incorporated and tastier cocktail. Now that all your ice is melted and the drink is a touch on the chilled/diluted side, pour the contents of the tins into a chilled glass and add pebbled ice to the brim of the glass. Make sure the ice is level, packed firmly and the wash line has room for dilution. Last step is to add your pebbled ice dome. Take your hands and basically make half a snowball on top of the firm base of pebbled ice to cap off your cocktail [FIG B]. People will argue that this is not an important or necessary step, I disagree. Icebergs.
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