Airmail Cocktail

Some cocktails have rock solid recipes which can not be deviated from if they are truly to be called a correct version of that cocktail (for instance, a Dark and Stormy HAS to have Gosling's Black Seal rum in it, otherwise it must be called something else). Others are left open to wide interpretation - ingredients in some cocktails may vary by quantity, composition, proportion, and sometimes even base spirit. Looking up how to make the Airmail, I saw a pretty wide variation in the suggested recipe. All were rum based, but after that it got a little dicey - recipe for the honey syrup? Lot of different honey/water proportions. Garnish? some, none, and gray areas in between. Champagne or prosecco? Simple syrup or no? And appropriate glassware? All over the place - highball, champagne flute, champagne coupe, cocktail glass. I'm surprised there wasn't one which called for drinking out of a shrunken monkey head.

Given the defacto wide latitude being granted to me in creating this cocktail, I cobbled together a recipe from a number of sources. Although I couldn't find a history of the origin of this cocktail, given the call for "rhum" and champagne in most recipes I found, I would imagine it had its origins in the French-speaking Carribbean countries. Rhum agricole, or "agricultural rum," made from straight sugar cane as opposed to mollasses, is most popular in these countries. Given that, options such a Italian prosecco don't seem to make as much thematic sense as French champagne.

The results were just pretty good - I can see why this cocktail made it on Anvil's list, but I think the lime proportion I used was a little too high (recipe below reflects downward adjustment). Refreshing, sophisticated, not overly sweet - I would imagine that this would be fantastic sipped on the beaches of Martinique (since it was pretty good sipped in my kitchen.)

Airmail

1 1/2 oz. rhum agricole
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. honey syrup (1 part honey/2 parts water)
1 oz. champagne
2-3 drops Angostura bitters
mint leaf for garnish

Combine rum, lime juice, and syrup in shaker. Add ice, shake vigorously. Strain into glass and top with champagne. Gently drop 2 drops of bitters on top of cocktail. Garnish by dragging mint leaf through bitters to create an attractive design, then laying mint leaf on top.

The Esquivel

The concept of "lounge culture" has always amused me - I find it funny how much effort, money and stress goes into looking like you're cool, relaxed, and sophisticated. Although I really enjoy the music associated with lounge style (shout out to DC-based Thievery Corporation), it was pretty clear I was never going to be able to afford having a wardrobe which would even qualify me to get in the door at any establishment that strived to call themselves exclusive. Also, given the fact that I was not of European / Latin American / Middle Eastern descent, I was starting off with two huge strikes against me right there.

The very few times I have been in a lounge-type setting, I felt really, really out of place. On my first outing to the 18th Street Lounge in DC about 12 years ago, I was amazed that they let me in - I had heard it was extremely exclusive, and if you were a solo guy (or worse, a group of guys), you were not getting past the doorman. When they let me in, I felt all good about myself - figured I had on nice enough clothes and looked good enough to qualify as "one of the elite." It wasn't until a couple of years later that a friend, who WAS cool and good looking enough to be one of the elite, told me they let me in almost certainly because I got there early, and figured I would leave before it got really crowded and the "real good looking people" showed up.

I wasn't too crushed by this - at the time, paying $8 bucks for a skunked Heineken bottle wasn't my idea of a good time anyway (not that it is now - $3 tops). And you wonder just how much money people have when they can go to a "lounge," rent an exclusive table in a velvet rope secured area for $1500, and that doesn't even get you any drinks. That's another $300 per bottle for "bottle service" - which just means you can pour your own drinks. From a bottle. Just like you do at home. Hell, I can grab a bottle of Thunderbird, lock myself in my bathroom, and crank up some Eddie Money - THAT'S exclusive, my friends.

The whole point of this is that this cocktail, the Esquivel, is named after what many consider to be the founder of lounge music, and thus lounge culture - Juan Garcia Esquivel. A prolific musician from the late 1950's through the late 1960's, a compilation of his music came out in 1994 on a CD entitled "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music." Whether this kicked off the lounge music resurgence, or whether this came out as a result of young hipsters suddenly drinking martinis, smoking Cohiba's, and longing for the good old days of three martini lunches and bomb shelters, I don't know. But this cocktail is perfectly named - it is at once familiar, exotic, modern, retro, International, but yet also very American. That it's delicious is just a bonus - far more importantly, you LOOK good drinking it. And isn't that the whole point?

The Esquivel

2 oz light rum
1/2 oz Kahlua
1 oz pineapple juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters
champagne
cinnamon and orange twist to garnish

Combine the rum, Kahlua, pineapple juice, and bitters in a cocktail shaker and shake for 20 seconds. Strain into a shilled cocktail glass. Top off with champagne, and sprinkle cinammon on top. Garnish with orange twist.