I made this smoky, fruity, herbally, wonderfully wonderful (if I can say that ‘umbly), lots of ingredient having, good in late summer, double base spirit (!!), globe-trotting, full flavored, curvy, talkable, sippable, not too strange even if it looks sorta strange, shaked up but not over-shaked, dreamy in the afternoon (but also in the evening, and maybe even at brunch), delightfully friendly tipple for the first time a ways back. I think it was in honor of all the electricians who put the cables and cords into my various houses (though maybe it was in some sort-of smoky way a doubling down on smoke during one of those Seattle days when there are sadly fires on the east side of WA, bringing smoke our way, as this has a double smoke shot), but if not, then hey, have it, and toast to your favorite electrician. Some, or one (the Chase Smoked vodka, from the UK) of the ingredients might not be super easy for all to get, though the internet is a smashing (and scary) place, but trust me: it’s worth it.
We recently here in the wondrous Seattle, W-A went through (as did CA and OR) some awful, deadly, smoky air (as if everything else in 2020 wasn’t enough of a shitestorm), leaving most stuck in inside, as walking outside was anything but safe. At least at my house we were stocked up on booze and streaming TV and books and peanut butter, which I can’t do without. And during that timeframe, I utilized the first in that list to make this here drink, which aligned in a way with the smoke – I think I felt if I could drink the smoke a bit, perhaps it would lessen it in the sky; perhaps I felt since my nose and throat were getting smoked out, I might as well go with it. Either way, it ended up being a pretty neat sipper, if I can be so bold. And I was going to name it after the smoked-out skies in some way, but then I didn’t want to give the smoke the honor of being attached to this drink. During this trying smoky time, while being stuck inside, we also needed some wiring and such fixed up, so called in a friendly electrician, and so I decided instead that this dandy cocktail should be named after them.
So, how to build a drink for such a smokocalypse? Well, I didn’t want it to solely smoky, because the earth is still growing and all that, which led me to leaning fruity, too, but how to balance, and what fruit? Pomegranate seemed the ticket after a little picking and grinning (or testing) so I went with Pama, a tangy pomegranate liqueur, combined with a smoky, savory duo: mezcal, and Chase Smoked vodka (which you can read more about in the A Kindred Spirit cocktail recipe). But that wasn’t it (though I do like a good three-bottle drink). Because it was a bitter time, I decided some bitter notes were needed, coming via Breckenridge Bitter (which isn’t a “bitters” as you might think of, but a bitter herbs and rootsy aperitif) and old charmer Peychaud’s bitters (which is a “bitters” in exactly the way you know). To curve the edges of the various ingredients, a drop or three of simple syrup. In hindsight, maybe those drops made it a stitch sweet, but, hmm, on the other side, maybe not. You decide!
