Tenement Yard (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

I'm on the lookout for vegetable cocktails that really scream spring. This one really hits that mark. The recipe calls for snap pea-infused gin. I one-upped that recipe with asparagus-infused homemade gin. I made it according to my recipe for homemade bathtub gin with the addition of three asparagus stems. The asparagus adds earthy vegetable notes to the gin without overpowering the juniper and gin goodness.

The rest of this recipe is super straightforward. For once, I'm using Genepy because it is called for in the recipe. This French alpine liqueur has bright herb and citrus notes similar to Chartreuse. 

One final note: Death & Co. makes their own orgeat by cooking a syrup with almond milk and toasted almonds, which is a great method. Though I have a bottle of Liber & Co. orgeat, it is full of my homemade orgeat. (I couldn't make this without mentioning the hard work that went into it.) This orgeat is made from the soaked almond and hand-pressed method that takes days and a lot of almonds. I don't recommend doing this for restaurant work, but feel free to try it at home. It's kind of on the order of installing your own appliances or making your own shoes. If you do it right, you will have the satisfaction of having achieved something few others do.

The experience of drinking this cocktail is the enjoyment of fresh floral notes from the Genepy and orange blossom in the orgeat, then sipping and picking up toasted almond and green sprouting asparagus cleared away with bright citrus. It's kind of amazing, really, that so few ingredients pack so much flavor.

• 2 oz. sugar snap pea-infused Plymouth gin (homemade asparagus gin used)
• 1/2 oz. Dolin Genepy
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. orgeat

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass.