Trinidad Sour

I’ve got a puzzling “match box” that breaks the rules. What kind of cocktail, I hear you asking, would “match” well with this concept?  Something equally as hard to fathom, as rule breaking, as off putting an idea which in the end, turns out spectacularly well.  To understand how this might relate to a cocktail, you have to understand a bit about bitters.  Bitters, those little bottles of colorful liquid you see in some bars, sometimes going into your drink a drop or two at a time, are like cocktail seasoning.  They are made with pure alcohol, usually grain alcohol or even vodka, which has been infused over time with a medley of macerated herbs, spices, plants, and usually some bitter tree bark for good measure.  Bitters can be made from almost anything, to evoke unusual or creative flavors, such as baked apple or tamarind. They were originally created by pharmacists or doctors, as medicinal elixirs.  They were so bitter and unpalatable that they would usually be mixed with something else tasty, like cognac, whiskey, or gin.  Many of the classic cocktails developed from this and have a few “dashes” of bitters in them.  The bitters bring out flavor and tie the other ingredients together, like adding salt to a recipe.

The Trinidad Sour by Guiseppe Gonzalez

Now that you understand all of this, you must realize that a cocktail would never have bitters featured as one of the main ingredients.   That would completely break the rules, be off putting, and give one serious pause before tasting.  One of the world’s most popular bitters, Angostura, was invented in 1864 by Dr. Johann Siegert as a medicine for Simon Bolivar’s army in the Venezuelan town of that name.  The production moved to Trinidad in 1875 where it remains today.  The “Trinidad Sour” is a paradigm shifting cocktail created by Giuseppe Gonzalez while at Brooklyn’s Clover Club for a cocktail competition.  He pushed the envelope, ignored dogma, left the path – are you surprised that he lost?  The real surprise is that it worked so well, and is a rewarding, delicious cocktail which stays with you in a delicious way.  Cheers to the rule breakers, to stepping out of the comfort zone, and finding something really satisfying.

It's so satisfying to break the rules!

Trinidad Sour by Giuseppe Gonzalez

1 oz Angostura bitters

1 oz orgeat

3/4 oz lemon

1/2 oz 100 proof rye

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass.