Mandarin Madness
Greetings loyal listeners of the W&W, Mark here with my new twist on a drink that’s already a new(ish) twist on an old favorite! This is the recipe for what I call a “Mandarian Madness”, which is just a tweaked Gold Rush. In case you don’t know, a Gold Rush was invented about 25 years or so ago at the Milk & Honey Bar in New York City. To oversimplify, it's pretty much just a Whiskey Sour, but with honey in place of egg whites or sour mix. Now, that’s fine in and of itself, and I do enjoy a Gold Rush now and again, but honey as a mixer has its share of issues. The main one is, honey, love it or hate it, which is an incredibly strong flavor. And no matter what you do, it’s always the last note that lingers on the tongue.
Well almost always. Mixology boffins have figured out that the fresh peel of a citrus fruit, when thrown in the shaker with the other ingredients, will actually attract the sugars and make them attach themselves to the peel, thus saving your drink from a sugary grave. How? I have no bloody idea. It's apparently chemistry and biology and mixology in some sort of unholy triangle. I am but a (not so) humble historian. I don’t understand science. But there are loads of recipes like this out there, so it must work, right? Well, let’s find out.
Many variations use a grapefruit peel because lots of people in America hate themselves apparently. If you hate yourself, you too can use a grapefruit peel, but any citrus fruit will work. Lemon peels, Lime peels, hell you could probably even use an apple peel, although the garnish would be funky. I enjoy Mandarin oranges, so I used that. And it works! The color looks like a whiskey sour, but it's VERY fruity. And being that I used two shots of Maker’s Mark, it was very strong too. There is almost no sweetness at all, the honey basically there for color and as a thickening agent. It is instead a citrus delight with a heavy bourbon burn. I threw two slices of the orange in to complete the look, and they taste good after soaking as well.
Upon further testing, after our podcast was recorded, it’s now 3 for 3. I like it obviously, but my never-usually-drinks whiskey wife also likes it. Although she thinks I make them too strong. Likewise, my old man, who despises fruity “foo-foo drinks” also liked it, which even he admitted was odd. So if our three VERY different palates all agree, why not give it a go? And then share with us your results!
Mandarin Madness
3 oz of Bourbon (your choice, I used Maker’s Mark)
1.5 oz of Lemon juice
0.5 oz of honey (your choice, locally sourced is best!)
Orange Peel (about ¼ of the orange’s worth)
Shake very well with crushed ice
Strain (being sure to leave the peel out of the drink)
Pour over fresh ice
Garnish with orange slice(s)
Enjoy!
A terrible picture, but it reveals the secret to the cocktail, shake all your ingredients with the peel of your preferred citrus fruit.
