Heart-Shaped Box (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This is a recipe that showcases what Death & Co. does really well: making use of unusual ingredients like balsamic vinegar to balance fresh ingredients like strawberries and citrus. I loved the way this cocktail upends the Strawberry Daiquiri with flavors more akin to strawberry vinaigrette. 

Otherwise, the cocktail is pretty straightforward. Strawberries are muddled in the shaker tin. Crushed ice is in the glass. The recipe calls for cinnamon bark syrup, which I've done a lot in a work situation, but I don't bother to make for single servings at home. I use MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey and plain simple syrup for this. A 1-1 ratio of rich simple and cinnamon whiskey will usually do the trick for single servings. (Obviously if you wanted to make a lot of cinnamon simple with MurLarkey, I would use one oz. cinnamon whiskey per cup of simple syrup.)

• 2 oz. cognac (Martell single distillery used)
• 3/4 oz. St. Germain (homemade used)
  
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon bark syrup (simple syrup and MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey used)
• 1/2 tsp. aged balsamic vinegar 
• 1 strawberry for muddling 
• 1/2 strawberry as garnish

Muddle one strawberry in the shaker tin and add all liquid ingredients and ice. Shake and strain into a double old fashioned glass full of crushed ice. Place the strawberry on top of the ice in a tribute to Nirvana.