Summer of '69 (Original Recipe)

 

Okay, this is a '60s nostalgia cocktail and one that is doubly nostalgic because I named it while the Brian Adams song was playing. I'm referencing 1960's flavors to give you an impression of cocktails from that era. One must remember that grapefruit juice was huge back then. Grapefruit juice and any spirit of choice including moonshine were popular combinations, so I created a liqueur with the bitterness of grapefruit peels and the sourness of the juice. This simple recipe is as follows:

• 1 cup 100-proof vodka
• peel and juice of 1/2 grapefruit

 Allow to infuse for 7-14 days: juice will taste fresh for one month. Store someplace cool and dark. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that Byrrh was a popular cocktail ingredient in the '60s as it is now, but for a long time in between it had nearly disappeared from American bars. So I brought together the bittersweet Byrrh with grapefruit spirit and pitted it against honey. The drink required more acidity so lemon juice brought it back on balance. The review was great! Complex but easy to drink. It helps if you don't think about it too much and just go with it, like the way most Americans survived the 1960s.

• 1 1/2 oz. grapefruit liqueur (Deep Eddy's ruby red grapefruit vodka is a fair substitution)
• 1 oz. Byrrh
• 1/2 oz. honey syrup
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Pour directly into an Old Fashioned glass, but something quirky and vintage is also appropriate.