{"id":736,"date":"2008-11-12T11:17:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-12T11:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cocktailians.com\/2008\/11\/cant-catch-me.html"},"modified":"2008-11-12T11:17:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-12T11:17:00","slug":"cant-catch-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/?p=736","title":{"rendered":"Can’t Catch Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, the good folks at Hiram Walker sent me a bottle of their seasonal Gingerbread Liqueur<\/a>, and asked me to come up with a recipe showcasing the spirit.  They're asking cocktail bloggers to compete<\/a> for the best cocktail recipe — and it's flattering to be among such august company.<\/p>\n

The gingerbread liqueur has a strong flavor, and I was happy to see that they use all-natural ingredients.  I was surprised that the flavor is of gingerbread<\/em>, and not simply ginger (a la Canton<\/a>.)  I don't know how they did it, but there was a certain undefinably bready note in there.  At 30 proof, it's a little watery for my tastes, with a thin mouthfeel, but the flavor is definitely intense.<\/p>\n

I started by thinking about gingerbread, and one of my favorite ways to have gingerbread is with a dollop of lemon curd, so I knew that lemon juice had to figure prominently in the cocktail.  From that jumping-off point, a lot of experimentation followed: I tried brandy, bourbon and rye as base spirits, tried and discarded the additions of lime juice, allspice dram, and some other ingredients, and wound up shaking many, many half-size cocktails before I arrived at the below.  Maple syrup seemed like an interesting idea, and I'd first seen it in a cocktail when I had a Velvet Harvest (pear eau-de-vie<\/em>, apple schnapps, falernum, lemon, egg white, and tincture of clove) at Pegu Club.  It adds a nice fall flavor to a drink.  And when I think of other fall and winter flavors, I think of spicy, warm notes — oranges with cloves, mulled wine or cider, mincemeat — and that led me to using Vya vermouth, which is also spicy and complex.<\/p>\n

Here's what I came up with:<\/p>\n

Can't Catch Me<\/strong><\/div>\n