22) The Mystery Cocktail

1.5 oz. Tezon Tequila
.5 oz. Green Chartreuse
1 Egg White
1 bar Spoon Powdered Sugar
1/4 oz. Lime Juice
1/4 oz. Cointreau

Place all ingredients in a shaker without ice and shake vigorously (this is known as a "dry shake", and helps the egg white get started on foaming up good), add ice then shake like you've gone mad on American Bandstand for several minutes, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel*.

Welcome to the new year everybody! If any of you are wondering what I did with my considerable time off I'll just say it involved pajamas and movies and leave it at that. Ed had to work, and as I lay wrapped in flannel - My brain slowly turning to grey paste due to lack of use - I felt bad for him. I really did. We did, however, have a chance to crank out another drink to start the year off right. Sort of. See, we're not sure where this drink came from.

I have a little book that I write down all our recipes in, and a few weeks ago I was flipping through it and found this recipe scrawled in it. I initially thought that perhaps either myself or Ed and I had been out drinking one night and came up with this recipe to try the next time we got together. The part where drinking was involved would explain why it was summarily forgotten. On the other hand the recipe was surprisingly detailed. Normally when we're talking about new drinks to try we just (try to) memorize or write down the ingredients we want to use. Neither of us has the presence of mind to write down such paltry things as measurements!

Regardless of its origin it looked good so we decided to give it a shot.

First things first - Do not fear the egg white! If you are one of those who finds the idea of egg whites in your cocktails revolting I am here to tell that I was once like you. I would silently chortle into my Manhattan as some poor fool at the bar placed an order for a Pisco Sour. Didn't they know how foul that is? This was until I was sort of forced into drinking a drink with egg white in it and it was a damn revelation.

There's a fantastic essay over at The Art of Drink that should quash any fears you might have of egg whites in your drink, and the frothy, creamy texture they give a drink is fantastic.

The Green Chartreuse and Tequila matched surprisingly well with the spiciness of the two liquors making fast friends. Likewise the Cointreau and caramelized orange from the flamed zest added nice top and bottom notes of orange. This is definitely a drink I will be drink a lot more of once the sun returns to San Francisco. Seven months from now.

* I'm stealing the description of how to flam an orange peel from Chuck Taggart's excellent blog because he does a far better job than I could ever do. "To flame an orange peel, cut an oval-shaped piece of orange rind, approximately 1 by 1-1/2 inches, leaving a ring of about 1/4" of zest around the circumference of the peel, with the white pith in the middle. Light a match; hold the peel gently by the edges, hold the match between the peel and the drink, slightly closer to the peel. In one motion squeeze the peel so that a spray of orange oil cascades over the lit match and ignites, while moving the peel slightly closer to the flame."

If you happen to know of this cocktail do please let us know either through the comments of via e-mail at drinkaweek [at] gmail [dot] com.