This recipe is my adaption of one of the most popular cocktails at a favourite local cocktail lounge in Victoria. Brian Newham created the original version of this delicious beverage by combining the complexity of sweet cream sherry with a bright and flavourful bourbon and balancing it all with the richness of fresh plum, vanilla, and ever-bright Sherry vinegar. Peychaud’s bitters, which were created by a Creole apothecary from Haiti who settled in New Orleans in 1795 and were originally distributed by the Sazerac Company, come from the root of the gentian flower and are sweeter, more floral, and lighter than Angostura bitters.

Mind Over Matter

serves one

INGREDIENTS

½ ripe red plum
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp Sherry vinegar
1 ½ oz Maker’s Mark bourbon
¾ oz cream sherry
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

RECIPE

1. Slice the plum half and place it in a cocktail shaker. Add the vanilla and Sherry vinegar and muddle to extract the plum juices.
2. Top with ice cubes and add the remaining ingredients.
3. Stir, then pour through a strainer into a small glass.
4. Serve with a large round ice cube.

Recipe excerpted from Spain: Recipes for Olive Oil and Vinegar Lovers by Emily Lycopolus and DL Acken. Copyright by Emily Lycopolus and DL Acken, 2018.