Alcademics

In Gary Regan's weekly cocktail newsletter, he shares with us Neyah White's recipe that won the Vinos de Jerez cocktail competition. The recipe is below. It sounds easy because it's only two ingredients, but naturally one of those two ingredients involves seven other ingredients and takes two weeks to make.

To see the recipes for the runner-up winners by Nate Dumas of the Clover Club, Joel Baker of Bourbon and Branch, and Daniel Eun of PDT, you'll have to go to Gary's website. They're a pretty amazing variety of drinks.

Sherry Shrub

Adapted from a recipe by Neyah White, Nopa, San Francisco.

Winner of the 2008 Vinos de Jerez Cocktail Competition

22.5 ml (.75 oz) House-Made Shrub*
60 ml (2 oz) La Gitana Manzanilla sherry
1 lemon twist, as garnish

Stir over ice and strain into a small sherry glass.  Add the garnish.

*House-Made Shrub

Adapted from a recipe by Neyah White, Nopa, San Francisco.

1 quart fresh elderberries, trimmed from stems

1 cup fresh huckleberries

5 cups evaporated cane sugar

1 quart cider vinegar

1 oz kosher salt

5 brown cardamon pods

1 oz. jigger of white pepper corns

In a large bowl, mildly press fruit with bottom of shaker tin till every berry is at least bruised.  Muddle spices in a mixing glass till all the corns are at least cracked.  Add sugar, cover and let sit 5 hours or until a good syrup has formed (this should happen in a cool place, refrigerate if not available.)  Add salt and vinegar and stir till salt has dissolved, cover and return to cool storage and let age for at least a week.  Then filter successively through a china cap then a cheesecloth.  Bottle in clean, sterile bottle leaving a few inches of air under the cap.  It is now ready to use, but another week of aging allows for a deeper, more lingering flavor.  The beauty of this cocktail is seasonality and custom flavors.  It must be stressed that this is a seasonal concept and it should be made with whatever produce is peaking the week you make it.