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

1 part Strawberry Syrup and Maraschino, half and half 

2 parts Lemon Juice 

8 parts Brandy 

Shake with cracked ice. 

Another cocktail called the Harmony consists of 1 part Forbidden Fruit, 2 parts lemon juice, 2 parts gold label rum, 4 parts gin, with a dash of grenadine to each drink. 

In both the Knight and the Harmony the lemon juice can be omitted, the liqueurs slightly increased, and a few dashes of orange bitters to each cocktail used in place of the lemon juice.

So, I went for the classic recipe which was ok. The flavours mix nicely, and the maraschino comes through very well giving the drink a couple of interesting edges to the makeup. Its nothing special though, its almost as if by using several great ingredients the sum ends up a little less than the parts themselves which was a little disappointing. I think one of the problems is that the recipe doesn’t quite have enough sweetness, it’s a constant problem with Embury’s recipes, he tries a little to desperately to stick to his golden ratio, but sometimes the liqueurs and syrups have different sugar content and just don’t quite manage to balance everything as well, as they should. This drink could do with about 5ml of sugar (when making the drinks 1 part is 10ml, this makes for very strong cocktails, but greatly increases the ease of build so I’ve stuck with it) and then I think t would be excellent. Yet another project for another day, maybe in 2019 my resolution will be to go back and remake all the drinks I promised to……