GREEN AND DRINKLY

The Millionaire Cocktail.

When people ask me how I am, I will occasionally respond with, “I feel like a million bucks!  All green and wrinkly.”  (It’s not nearly as amusing after you’ve heard it for the 746th time.  Just ask She Who Must Be Obeyed.)

A few days ago, however, I fixed myself a Millionaire Cocktail, and this one really did make me feel like a million bucks... in the good way.

The recipe comes from Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric’s book Speakeasy: Classic Cocktails Reimagined from New York’s Employees Only Bar. The only major change I made was using Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s recipe for grenadine rather than the one Kosmas and Zaric include in their book.

Millionaire Cocktail

2 oz Knob Creek bourbon (I used the single-barrel reserve version)
¾ oz Grand Marnier
¼ oz Ricard pastis (I used Pastis 51)
½ oz grenadine
½ oz lemon juice
1 egg white

Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Do not let the idea of putting egg white in your drink scare you off: It’s used in many classic cocktail recipes to create a creamy, smooth mouthfeel.

I really wanted to try this one because I wanted an excuse to use some of the fine grenadine I had concocted several days ago.  Not only that, but I had had a bottle of Pastis 51 sitting around that I had not touched in ages.  (Anise-flavored pastis, with a little water added to bring out the louche effect, makes a fine drink all by itself - as befits absinthe’s kid brother.)

Using the 120-proof single-barrel reserve version of Knob Creek made sense, with the other ingredients tempering the impact of the high alcohol level.  Regardless, more than one of these will indeed have you feeling green and wrinkly.  Or drinkly.

Meanwhile, I’m glad I tried the Millionaire... and you can take that to the bank.