The Story of a Quirky Cocktail

When Laurie and I are dining out and order a cocktail, we tend to order ones crafted by the bartenders themselves that are unique and creative, and that make use of unusual ingredients you won’t find in your typical home bar. But when we’re at home enjoying a drink by ourselves or with friends, we usually enjoy cocktails made from ingredients we can easily find in our local liquor store. The rare exception is when you have a neighbor who has hundreds of bottles of high-end liquor in his collection, who loves craft cocktails, and who is generous enough to share! Enter Matt and a tasty treat called the Red Letter cocktail!

The Red Letter Cocktail

Cocktail hours in our home are somewhat predictable (in a good way!)! First, they are a daily occurrence because life is simply too short not to enjoy a daily glass of nice wine or a tasty cocktail! Second, we schedule them around sunset, so we can enjoy our drinks and conversation while watching a typically stunning Florida sunset out on our lanai – like this one for instance!

A typical Sarasota sunset viewed from our lanai

Third, we love rotating our cocktails between the classics (such as gin & tonics, daiquiris, Moscow mules and the like) and cocktails we have created on our own and which I share regularly in this blog. And finally, the more the merrier so we often enjoy sharing our cocktail hours with friends and neighbors.

On occasion, we’ll run across a particular cocktail we either read about, tasted at a local restaurant or bar, or heard about from a friend or neighbor that we want to re-create on our own. These cocktails usually contain ingredients that we don’t typically have in our home bar, so I have to go in search of them in specialty stores or order them on-line. Or, if we are really lucky, our neighbors and good friends Matt and Cathy will invite us over to enjoy a craft cocktail they know we will love in their beautiful home bar & lounge.

Which actually happened not too long ago! Matt and Cathy are from Long Island, and they return there frequently to visit friends and family and enjoy some of the local haunts they frequented when they lived there. One of those is the 1943 Pizza Bar in Greenport, which also includes a speakeasy-style bar in their basement called Brix & Rye and which is owned and run by a young entrepreneur named Evan. As the story goes, Matt was attending a party his good friend Chris was throwing at Brix & Rye to celebrate his wife’s 60th birthday. Chris rented out the entire bar for the night and paid a preset amount for an open bar for 40 guests.

As fate would have it, a snowstorm hit that day and the expected crowd of 40 guests ended up being the brave 20 that were able to make it to the bar in the snowstorm. Which meant, 20 people were able to enjoy an open bar with enough alcohol for twice that number of people! Everybody was encouraged to drink up, since the tab had already been paid, and drink they did! Matt did his best to sample as many drinks as possible, including one named the Red Letter.

This quirky cocktail ended up being a favorite for Matt. It was refreshing and delicious, with a completely unique flavor profile that featured exotic and unusual ingredients. Matt asked Evan what was in the drink, and Matt was kind enough to share. In addition to tequila, simple syrup, and fresh pineapple and lime juice, the drink also included two unusual liquors – Sorel and Myris. Sorel is a hibiscus liqueur, while Myris is a nutmeg-based liqueur. While Sorel is more widely available, Myris is somewhat rare and locally made in New York in small batch quantities. Tasted alone, Myris smells of nutmeg and is quite sweet with just a touch of heat on the finish.

On a return trip to Long Island, Matt was able to find a bottle of Myris in a Brooklyn liquor store and brought it home to try and recreate the Red Letter cocktail at home. Try as he might though, Matt couldn’t replicate the drink even though he now had all the ingredients. So, he reached out to Evan and asked him for the recipe including exact proportions of each ingredient. Again, Evan was kind enough to share the recipe with Matt (and Matt was kind enough to share it with me!).

Matt made the Red Letter cocktail for Laurie and I during our most recent cocktail hour at their house, and it was absolutely delicious, one of the best I’ve ever tasted! A quick sniff of the cocktail brought out fresh nutmeg notes and tropical fruit. On the first sip, I tasted spiced pineapple along with floral notes courtesy of the Sorel. The cocktail perfectly balanced sweetness and tartness and showcased subtle spice courtesy of the nutmeg liquor. Matt used one of his “top shelf” tequilas, applying his philosophy that, and I quote, “A great drink gets great tequila!”. I’m already looking forward to our next cocktail hour at Matt and Cathy’s house, where I’ll definitely request another Red Letter cocktail! In the meantime, I’ll take a stab at trying to recreate the drink on my own – wish me luck and cheers!!

Ingredients for the Red Letter cocktail

The Red Letter (makes 1 cocktail)

While this cocktail makes use of a couple of ingredients that can be challenging to find, it’s worth seeking them out and adding them to your home bar. The Sorel liquor is available in well-stocked liquor stores, while the Myris can be found at a few on-line retailers in very limited quantities. Make sure to use fresh squeezed lime and pineapple juices – it really makes a difference!

Ingredients

.75 oz. Sorel

.25 oz. Myris

1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 oz. freshly squeezed pineapple juice

.75 oz. simple syrup

1.5 oz. tequila blanco

Directions

Combine the ingredients into a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass and serve.