Bitterness and Blackberries
Inspired (once again) by what’s in season, this week’s cocktail is all about the blackberries. We started with a straightforward blackberry syrup, then build the cocktail around that.
Brandy as a base spirit, with Unicum to add bitterness and depth. Orange juice and egg whites add body and flavor, and a tiny bit of vanilla extract to round out the flavor.
ROUND AND LAYERED
The result is a fantastic, rich and creamy cocktail that manages to avoid the common pitfall of sickly-sweet berry drinks. The Unicum is a key component that really highlights the herbal side of the blacberries while making the drink a whole lot more interesting at the same time.
I think you could probably skip the orange juice and compensate with a touch more of the blackberry syrup if you wanted to play down the orange flavor, but I wouldn’t skip the egg whites. They really add a lot of body and mouthfeel and finish the drink beautifully.