A Jigger of Blog

I’ve written a few times about how I receive a lot of emails from PR firms that represent liquor or beer companies, along with quite a few for non-alcoholic mixers, hangover remedies, and bar or restaurant openings. More often than not, PR firms will send out emails with cocktail recipes to go along with promotional language for their product. And, sadly, more often than not, the recipes included therein are crap. They often include things like sour mix, flavored vodka, or ingredient ratios that anyone who had ever touched a drop of liquor to their lips could tell will taste awful. I’m used to it and long ago stopped holding out hopes that liquor companies will start promoting their products with interesting, complex, and well balanced cocktail recipes.

I got an email today from a woman named Cortney who had information about a cocktail recipe Bacardi is promoting around Valentine’s Day. Oh, that’s the other thing, around holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, July 4th, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc) the volume of emails promoting special holiday cocktails reaches a fever pitch. Anyway, I got an email from Cortney with the subject line, “Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a Naked Lady (cocktail)!” While I have a girlfriend and I look forward to celebrating Valentine’s Day with her, I wasn’t exactly looking for advice about what particular seasonal cocktail I should make for her this year. But I have the bad habit of reading 99% of the emails that enter my Inbox so away I went.

It’s very rare for PR firms to promote their client’s spirits with classic recipe. But that’s exactly what the recipe for a Naked Lady Cocktail is – a classic. Not made up this winter to put in glossy magazines or on the menu at college night clubs. A classic, with classic ingredients.

Bacardi Naked Lady Recipe

1 2/5 parts BACARDI® Superior Rum
1 2/5 parts Noilly Prat® Rouge
1/5 part Apricot brandy
1/5 part Pomegranate Grenadine (monin)
1/5 part Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Cubed ice
Lemon zest to garnish

Step 1. Put all ingredients into a shaker.
Step 2. Throw in the ice.
Step 3. Shake that baby until the outside of the shaker gets very cold.
Step 4. Double strain into a chilled or frozen glass.
Step 5. Garnish with the lemon zest.

Two things stand out about this recipe. First, these are some of the strangest ratios I’ve ever seen in a cocktail recipe. Second, this recipe has much more rum, sweet vermouth, and grenadine than a traditional Naked Lady Cocktail. Nonetheless, it’s a pretty interesting take of a classic recipe. Good on Bacardi for using a classic, somewhat obscure drink with craft ingredients to promote their product. And good on Cortney for sending it my way. This, unlike the bulk of the recipes I’m sent, actually makes me want to break out my tins and shake up a drink.