After a brief hiatus (we were both sick :-P), we’re back! Today is Shaun’s birthday, so in honor of that we thought we’d come up with an original cocktail in celebration. For major events we like to do such things. Oh yeah and apparently the Seattle sports ball team is playing a game today. Or so we hear. 😉

The Black Lily is one of our favorite cocktails. Shaun is also a big fan of cognac. 🙂 With that in mind, we started noodling on a riff of the Black Lily. Not wanting to copy Mr. Ford too closely, we started by substituting Branca Menta for the Fernet Branca, curious to see what the difference might be. We kept the Cointreau and added cognac. We then started adding various citrus juices. However, neither lime nor blood orange paired well, and we stopped trying citrus after that. We’re not sure if that’s from the addition of the cognac or swapping the Branca Menta for the Fernet, but citrus did not play well, unlike with the original cocktail. Perhaps a future post? 🙂 We still wanted to add a little more complexity to the mix, so we tried a lime twist, which added some nice brightness. Then we tried some orange bitters, which upped the orange flavor and added a bit of depth. Which to choose? Christa suggested that we embrace the power of “and”  and use both. Perfect! We present the Zimmer Frame, so named because Christa always jokes she’s going to get one for Shaun since he’s getting old 🙂

Zimmer Frame

• 2 oz cognac
• 1/3 oz Branca Menta
• 1/3 oz Cointreau
• 1 dash orange bitters

Stir with ice. Strain into a glass. Garnish with a lime twist.

• Nose: Mint, menthol and orange right off the bat, followed by warm, rich brandy and a little bit of lime.
• Palate: Rich brandy and sweet baked orange on the intro. Lime, mint, and honey sweetness on the mid-palate. The finish is bitter with a bite of refreshing menthol. The sweetness at the middle is a nice counterbalance to the strong finish.

Where ever you are and whether it’s your birthday or not (or if your sports ball team won or lost ;)), we hope you’re enjoying this January and are finding a reason to celebrate with a drink or three. Cheers!