Byrrrrrrh!!!! It's still cold outside!
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Although at the moment I am in Puerto Rico knocking back mojitos made with lemon and Don Q añejo rum, I made up this warming cocktail earlier this winter with the rich and robust french aromatized wine apertif called Byrrh (pronounced like “beer”), another great 19th century family owned “medicinal” concoction that is still made today but is now owned by Pernod. Byrrh is a bit sweet, but also rich and unique with its use of cinchona for flavor and source of quinine, which is great if you have malaria. Coincidentally I just made a cocktail the other day called the “Chinchona” which is an alternate spelling for cinchona, although the cocktail doesn’t have any Byrrh or quinine as an ingredient. But that’s a cocktail for another day. Today you need to go out and buy some Byrrh and try this cocktail. It’s also wonderful with Creme de Cassis or amaretto and a few other combinations… You can look those up yourself – you’ll have a whole bottle to experiment with, but it will be worth it – just Google “Byrrh cocktails” and try a few! In the meantime, try this one:
2 oz. Byyrh
1 oz. vodka (preferably cherry infused)
½ oz. Heering cherry brandy
Mix and pour without ice in tumbler or other cocktail glass of your choice.