Lafayette

I can see where this drink is going, and it all looks good on paper. Like the French martial hero in the American revolutionary war, this drink was supposed to combine French and American spirits. Dubonnet rouge and bourbon pair well together, so it would seem that a rich egg white bourbon cocktail would be the perfect combo.

Sadly, like actual wars, things are not always so clear cut, nor are all the best laid plans the most successful. Egg white covers the scent that Dubonnet gives to cocktails, making it smell a little too much like dairy and not enough like spice. Doing the drink on the rocks also means that the foam on the drink is obscured, defeating the point of the egg white. I can see trying this with half an egg white, or one for two drinks, and serving it up in a coup glass. That way there would at least be a foam to sip through without pushing around ice cubes with your lips.

• 2 oz. bourbon
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet rouge
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• egg white

Shake all ingredients on ice and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass.