Earlier this month during the Toronto International Film Festival we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the man behind a rather infamous Manhattan bar, Death & Co. Together with Nick Fauchald and Alex Day, the great David Kaplan has compiled years of recipes from his influential cocktail house into one glorious book called Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails, set for release on October 7th.
If you’re at all into cocktails, this book is one you should definitely add to your collection. Not only is Death & Co one of Manhattan’s most significant bars in the craft cocktail movement since they opened in 2006, it’s also consistently ranked as one of the top bars in America and the world, setting the standard for modern mixology. It’s very exciting for us at home mixologists to be able to try out their recipes without the cost of a flight to New York. The book boasts over 500 of the bars most innovative cocktails and is destined to be the go-to reference on cocktail culture and craft once released next month.
We had a chance to sneak a peek at the book earlier this month and have enjoyed trying our hand at a few iconic favourites including the Naked and Famous, the Conference, and the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. The book has tons more to offer including tips on buying and using spirits, mastering bartending techniques, historical references on the theory and philosophy of drink making, and essays on the characters that frequent the bar each night.
We’re looking forward to making our way through this book in the coming months and are excited to be able to share an exclusive look inside the book at one of their recipes, the Flor de Jerez.
Try making one tonight (if you can track down all the ingredients!) with the below clipping from the book and preorder it here.
FLOR DE JEREZ
Joaquín Simó
Oh, sherry. Sometime around 2009 every one of our bartenders fell hard for this fortified wine because of how its flavors and acidity mingle so well with other cocktail ingredients. (We also loved that it’s a cheap-as-hell base ingredient—you can buy a great bottle for under $12.) Joaquín was particularly smitten with the amontillado style of sherry, which is dry but smells sweet, leaving room for the bartender to add other sweeteners to a drink. In his Flor de Jerez, Joaquín uses rum to bring out the sherry’s darker, raisiny flavors, and apricot liqueur to bring out its fruity notes.
½ ounce Appleton Estate Reserve Rum
1½ ounces Lustau Dry Amontillado
¼ ounce Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
¾ ounce lemon juice
½ ounce cane sugar syrup (see below)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake all the ingredients with ice, then strain into a coupe. No garnish.
CANE SUGAR SYRUP
In a saucepan, combine 2 cups of organic cane sugar (often labeled “evaporated cane juice”; note that this is different from turbinado sugar) with 1 cup of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and without bringing to a boil, until the sugar is dissolved.