THE LOCALS COMPETITION

Sense Memory Ingredients

1¾ oz Saint James Cellar Reserve

½ oz Marie Brizard Banana

¾ oz Light Smoky Earl Grey

Orange Oleo Syrup*

1 barspoon Truffle Maple Syrup

3 dashes Bitter Truth Bogarts Bitters

1 dash Bittermen’s Mole Bitters

5 drops 10% Acid Solution** Toasted marshmallow dusted with graham cracker and Abuelita cocoa (for garnish)

Preparation

IN CREATING MY COCKTAIL SENSE MEMORY, a big part of it is just that, using a familiar aspect, like a smell, to instantly take someone to a happy place, such as a toasted marshmallow. I know very few people who wouldn’t find the smell of a perfectly toasted marshmallow transportive, many people have lasting memories that are associated with it, which helps set up the experience, both visually and aromatically, which hold massive value as those make their impression before our first taste and imbues a serious drink with some much-needed whimsy.

A cocktail trend I’ve utilized for over a decade and have even written entire menus around, which is the use of tea in cocktails. Tea offers us a huge flavor library to pull from and can be manipulated in many ways, with different extraction techniques able to make the same tea present differently in different applications. In this case, I did a high-volume extended extraction to draw out some tea tannins that make a lasting impact on the mouthfeel of the drink. And the tea used is also meant to complement the marshmallow: a lovely blend of smoky earl grey makes another tie-in to those campfire memories that are part of the toasted marshmallow experience but elevated and twisted a bit with the beautiful bergamot-tinged notes that are a hallmark of earl grey.

The rhum I chose to showcase, which is the key driver in the cocktail is Rhum Saint James exquisite Cellar Reserve. It’s been a piece of my back bar and my menu for nearly a year, highlighting a standout single batch from the huge stores of aged rhum held in the Saint James warehouses in Sainte Marie. It makes the drink definitively not just a rhum cocktail but a Saint James cocktail, showcasing the pride and passion of Sainte Marie.

Before making the cocktail burn some palo santo to help set the tone for the experience. Place a 2×2 tempered ice cube in a double Old-Fashioned glass, build ingredients in glass and stir 15 seconds to chill, no additional dilution is needed as the light syrup provides the main dilution component. Toast a skewered marshmallow and dust with crushed graham cracker and Abuelita cocoa powder, place over rim of glass. Serve on a leather cocktail coaster. Side Serve with a cup of tea (same as used in syrup production) sweetened with ½ oz. of the tea syrup to 4 oz. tea.

*Light Smoked Earl Grey Orange Oleo Syrup: In a bag combine 350 grams orange peel and 1 liter of sugar, vacuum seal and store in refrigerator for at least 48 hours. Brew 2 liters of smoked earl grey tea (I used rare tea cellars Smoky Regal Earl Grey, if necessary you can use a 50/50 blend of high quality lapsang suchong and earl grey, but the specific tea yields the best results) by steeping 30 grams tea in 2.25 liters of 180 degree water for 8 minutes, strain tea, and add hot water to return to 2 liters of volume if needed, add sugar and peels stirring to dissolve, fine strain final product through a fine strainer and paper filter.

**10% Acid Solution: Combine 1 liter water, 60 grams citric acid and 40 grams malic acid, stir to dissolve.