This recipe is adapted from Bartender’s Pantry Jim Meehan, Bert Sasso, Emma Janzen, A cocktail book that delves deep into the origins, cultural significance and production of cocktail ingredients. The book collects recipes for homemade staples, including the special coffee brew by coffee expert Michael Young used to create this cocktail. For your convenience, local alternative options are also included in collaboration with Meehan.
Falling Water
This mesmerizing cup was created for the short-lived Chicago bar Prairie School. It was made with Leah Neri’s Four Letter Word coffee, brewed using a Kyoto-style slow-drip cold brew method. The name “Falling Water” alludes to Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous home and literally describes the cold brew method, which helps preserve the stone fruit aromas in Ethiopian coffee. The brewing equipment is big (and expensive!), and Leah brews it in her roastery and delivers it to us by the quart, along with whole beans. To recreate this drink, use a Kyoto-style cold brew tower (if you have one) or Japanese-style flash-brew iced coffee. This is one serving.
material
1 1/2 ounces of flash brewed coffee (concentrate brewed directly over ice), either homemade or sourced locally from Electrica
1 1/2 ounces Cardamaro Vino Amaro
¾ ounce Rhinehall Plum Brandy or Clear Creek Blue Plum Brandy
¼ ounce simple syrup (equal parts white sugar and water mixed together or gently heated and mixed together)
1 large egg
About 2 cups of ice
3 coffee beans for garnish
procedure
- Add coffee, Cardamaro, brandy, syrup, and eggs (yolks and whites) to a Boston shaker (a metal or glass cup placed upside down over the rim of another cup to create a vacuum). Shake for 10 seconds without ice, then add 1 scoop of ice (about 2 cups) and shake for an additional 10-15 seconds. The first “whipped” shake is to emulsify the egg proteins and create texture, while the second “hard” shake is to chill, thin, and aerate the mixture. The shaker is properly chilled when the outside is coated with frost and it feels uncomfortably cold to hold.
- Strain twice through a Hawthorne (a spring-bottomed paddle-shaped device that comes with cocktail shaker kits) and a fine strainer into a chilled coupe. Float 3 coffee beans in the center of the drink.
