Venus

Today we are drinking the Venus cocktail.  And thankfully too, I will not be discussing anything on television, or my DVR!  Yay!  Small victories!

Before proceeding to the drink, I do want to list out some events worth checking out, depending on your area:

NYC: The Manhattan Cocktail Classic, May 14 to 18.  From the NYT listing, it is "a series of tastings, gatherings and seminars covering topics like absinthe drinks, craft spirits, vermouth, rum, gin, traditional punches, sherry and single malts, as well as how to photograph cocktails, the best glassware to use, the art of distillation and cocktail myths and legends."

San Francisco: CUESA's farmers' market cocktail tastings at the Ferry Building next week.  Learn more about it here.  And, grab lunch at The Slanted Door while you're at it.

Also in San Fran, check out this list of Top 10 sandwiches in the city.

Sydney: It's world cocktail week, and throughout the city, there are places to go imbibe.  And, if you are a kind soul, please forward me a 6 pack of VB, it's not available in my neck of the woods - all we have is Cooper's and random other offerings.  And I miss it so!!  I can forward you my address, if you're one such kind soul.  :)

Alright, three major cities - hopefully to the benefit of some of you readers.  Now, we drink the following:

Alright, I'll be the first to admit that this cocktail isn't the most appealing looking drink, at least not to me anyway.  Raspberry bits don't make for a quality look (full raspberries are a different story).  But lest we judge too quickly, or on aesthetics alone, let's look at the recipe.

The Ultimate Bar Book, page 206

Venus

2 oz gin
1 oz Cointreau
1/4 oz simple syrup
Dash of Peychaud's bitters
8 fresh raspberries

Shake the liquid ingredients and 6 of the raspberries vigorously with ice.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with the remaining 2 raspberries.

For this cocktail, I'm using New Amsterdam gin, Cointeau, Simple Syrup, and in the place of Peychaud's I am using Angostura bitters.

Unfortunately, for all the raspberries in this drink, the overwhelming flavor is that of an orange.  In many ways, this cocktail tastes like a shaken orange flavored vodka, with a couple raspberries thrown in as a garnish.  Obviously, the Cointreau is a big reason for a prominent orange flavor, though I am surprised that the other ingredients do not impart their own flavors into the mix.

This is a good but not great cocktail.  It's not easy to pull together all of its ingredients, and the end result is an orange flavored drink with little nuance.  I expected more raspberry notes, but they never arrived until I ate the actual raspberries at the bottom of the glass.  This cocktail may require some tweaking to make it something special, but in its current incarnation, I'd give it something like a 6 out of 10.

Until next time, have a great day, and drink one for me!