{"id":691,"date":"2009-05-19T02:48:13","date_gmt":"2009-05-19T02:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cocktailians.com\/2009\/05\/mxmo-submission-the-astoria.html"},"modified":"2009-05-19T02:48:13","modified_gmt":"2009-05-19T02:48:13","slug":"mxmo-submission-the-astoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/?p=691","title":{"rendered":"MxMo Submission: The Astoria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mxmologo\" This month's Mixology Monday<\/a> theme is "Amaro", chosen by none other than co-author Chuck Taggart over at Looka<\/a>. What an interesting topic; there are tons of amari<\/em>, all different and many of them quite mixable. They range from light herbal vermouth-esque liqueurs to real monsters of bitterness, like Campari, Fernet Branca (the legendarily bitter drink that'd be a punchline more than a tipple if it weren't so complex and beneficial), and Mal\u00f6rt<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I picked one somewhere in the middle — Amaro Ramazzotti<\/a>. (I also picked it because it's an ingredient in "Amer Boudreau<\/a>", Jamie Boudreau's replication of the incredibly-hard-to-find Amer Picon. So if I make some of that, then I can have Picon Punches<\/a> and Bywaters<\/a>. I need to get on this, I think.) It reminds me of a good sweet vermouth, like a Vya or Punt E Mes, or Carpano Antica Formula, and that make sense — it's Italian-made, intensely herbal, with a sweet note on top of all the bitter funkiness underneath.<\/p>\n

My first thought was to try something with rye and Cherry Heering, as kind of a Manhattan variation. I was also thinking of chocolate-covered cherries, and kirsch-filled chocolate bars, and decided that it might be really interesting with the Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters<\/a> (which are unique and excellent) but then Chuck posted the wonderful-looking Eagle Rock cocktail<\/a>, featuring rye, sweet vermouth, amaro, Cherry Heering, and mole bitters. Foiled! It was time to regroup.<\/p>\n

Casting an eye over the rack of bitters in my kitchen, I pulled out a few candidates, and after a few false starts and mishaps (like when the orifice restrictor in the bottle of lemon bitters came off with the cap, and I unknowingly poured about two ounces of bitters in my mixing glass — gawp!), I came up with something I liked. I kept going back and forth about which bitters to use: was it better with lemon and rhubarb? Or with lemon and cherry? Cherry and rhubarb? Well, why not all three? (I'm sure the Fee Brothers would approve.) <\/p>\n

And, if Chuck could name a cocktail after his neighborhood, then I can name one after mine. It's pan-ethnic, and a little bit spicy, much like my Queens nabe. (Yes, I know there's an Astoria cocktail in the Savoy Cocktail Book, but it's essentially a dry Martini<\/a>. Good, yes, but not evocative of the place. Perhaps that Astoria cocktail is named after the Waldorf=Astoria hotel, and not so much my corner of northwestern Queens.)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Astoria<\/strong><\/p>\n