The origins of this beautiful adventure to find the Lost City began with the beautiful adventure of the two creators, in preparation for their wedding.  Like me, they love to make cocktails, and in addition to designing their very own wedding puzzle, they created special cocktails for their special day. The even shared them with me! As if that were not already more than enough, they sent me a very unique bottle of bitters which are truly representative of their home in Luxembourg, the Maagbitter Buff. Of course I had to make a cocktail with these bitters to celebrate Arnauld and Daniela and toast their remarkable creation.

Maagbitter, a potent digestif bitter, is a Luxembourg tradition which dates back to 1876 when it was first manufactured by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Ludwig Buff, a retired Luxembourgian officer of Dutch descent. The Buff family purchased the original recipe from doctor Herman Boerhaave, a well-regarded scientist of the day and professor of medicine at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, who perfected the bitters in 1720 as a stomach relief and digestive aid. Ludwig Buff, who brought the ancient recipe back to Luxembourg 150 years later, won a few gold medals in the 1890s for his efforts. In the 1930s the Pitz-Schweitzer company came into possession of the bitters and have been producing it ever since. Maagbitter can only be purchased in Luxembourg.

A dark, brooding and bitter digestive like Maagbitter, which is produced from a secret recipe of 15-20 herbs and botanicals, needs a strong, spirited backbone to stand up to in a cocktail or it will surely overwhelm and take over the drink. Also, a little goes a long way. I had been searching for a good puzzle to pair up with a classic rum cocktail called “Mundo Perdido” (Lost World) which was created by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry in 2009 for his famous San Francisco tiki mecca, Smuggler’s Cove. It’s full of dark molasses and cinnamon spice, and is a delicious drink. The Lost City from ADnigma provided the perfect setting to revisit this classic, and the addition of Maagbitter augmented the adventure in a wonderfully interesting way. Here’s to adventure – the search for the Lost City is on! Cheers!

The Lost City (adapted from Beachbum Berry)

1 ½ oz Black Blended rum

½ oz Apple Brandy

¼ oz Maagbitter

¾ oz fresh lemon

½ oz Demerara cinnamon syrup

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.