Morning Rose – Recipe below from David Embury’s ‘The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks’ 1951

If, in place of sugar in our Daiquiri, we use curacao and grenadine and if we substitute lemon for lime juice , we have the

MORNING ROSE

1 part Curacao or Cointreau

2 parts lemon juice

8 parts White Cuban Rum

2 or 3 dashes Grenadine to each drink

Shake with finely crushed ice and strain into chilled cocktail glasses

Today we visited the distillery and were lucky enough to meet the master blender Allen Smith. We learnt a lot about blending rums, the most fascinating part was comparing rums using aroma and taste, but with very strict guidelines. Nosing one sample for aroma of vanilla, and then the second to then rate the comparable strength of vanilla, and then down through another 20 or so flavour and aroma categories. It was very interesting trying to pick up and then compare the different categories, and then work out if the rum was ready or not, and for which blend. It gave me a new appreciation for exactly how rums were blended to create finished articles.

It was a long day, and to be fair the bartender was in a bit of a rush, but the finished article was several light years away from how Embury would’ve made it. A lot of bartenders here have only a passing familiarity with measuring things, with the bulk of liquids poured straight from bottle into shaker. My next drink was a beer, which was a shame as I suspect this could be quite nice, if measured. A project for later.