Morning Star – Recipe from David Embury’s ‘The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks’

1 part Sugar Syrup 

3 parts Dry Sherry 

6 parts White Cuban Rum 

1 Egg Yolk to each 2 drinks 

Shake with cracked ice. A pinch of powdered nutmeg sprinkled over each drink.

After yesterdays Sherry Flip, this one jumped out at me a little as I paged through Embury looking for today’s cocktail, it’s essentially a sherry flip only with the addition of a giant helping hand from rum, my favourite spirit, how could it possibly go wrong.

I used an Oloroso sherry for this. Sherry is made several different ways, the younger fresher styles like Manzanilla and Fino allow a layer of yeast ‘flor’ to form on top of the sherry during aging, this flor acts as a barrier to oxidisation and leaves the sherry with a freshness. Oloroso doesn’t let this layer form, and the wine is therefore exposed to oxidisation, which gives it a darker colour, and a rich nutty flavour. I think this is one of the better sherries to use in cocktails as the flavour stands up better to other ingredients, where as I’d much rather have a Fino, Manzanilla or Amontillado prior to a meal as an aperitif, and probably by themselves.

It seems like a very obvious pairing, the richness from a sherry married with the richness of a rum, but I think this is one of the first times I’ve seen it done, and although the drink is essentially just a flip, the result is magnificent, and easily the best ‘flip’ style drink I’ve had this year.