Friday Cocktail Hour: For Whom the Sun Rises

For Whom the Sun Rises, a new cocktail from Cure. Photo by Kevin O'Mara

Back to New Orleans, where cocktails seem to be bursting from the seams. While Michael is carousing in Vegas, this week's Friday Cocktail Hour is a guest post from Bellocq's sister saloon Cure (@cureNOLA), which is also located in New Orleans. Cure is yet another creation of the cocktail minds of Kirk Estopinal and Neal Bodenheimer. It was inspired by the historical period when cocktails grew out of medicine and home remedies. Their concept is to have their guests step a bit into the past while they have a libation and a quick nibble that are both healthful and enjoyable. With the fall arriving, Neal Bodenheimer wanted to share with us his creation, For Whom the Sun Rises, which is a twist on the Hemingway Daiquiri.—EJ

By  Neal Bodenheimer

For Whom the Sun Rises started out as a thought experiment about turning classic cocktail formats on their head. The first part of the idea was based on the interaction of grapefruit, bitter, and salt. I started thinking about classic cocktail formats that would work with this flavor concept and how to interpret a very classic format from a different perspective. Normally you would flip out a few minor ingredients for some other more obscure ingredients, and the flavor of the classic drink would be mostly intact. However, the idea for this drink was to swap the base of this cocktail out for another completely unrelated base. For example, normally the logic would be to swap the white rum out for another base spirit like gin, but here the idea was to use a modifier as a base, so I chose Varnelli Amaro Sibilla. Sibilla is deeply bitter and powerful, so the idea of using 1.5 ounces of it seemed far-fetched for a cocktail intended for our everyday cocktail list. [Sibilla is an Italian liqueur in the Amaro category, so it is bitter, like Cynar.]

A peek inside of Cure.

The general ideas of For Whom the Sun Rises:

• Hemingway Daiquiri classic format.
• Grapefruit, bitter, salt flavor combination.
• Base of the drink swapped out to something that at first glance would seem poorly chosen.
• Salt to counteract the bitterness of the base and let the herbal notes come to life in the drink.

Result: materially a Hemingway Daiquiri, but also a far different experience that drinks juicy and low-proof with a far more bitter yet pleasing finish. Italian aperitif in flavor, Cuban Classic in format.

Cheers!

For those who don't have access to these fluids but still want a fallback suggestion to look forward to, Michael recommends the Key Lime Daiquiri or the classic Hemingway Daiquiri.

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