An ode to humble vegetables
Finally going in on something that's frankly too expensive to mix with but fuck it
Have we done a deep dive on my…healthy love for Reisetbauer’s Karottenbrand? First off, why would you love eau da vie made of carrots? What’s not to love? But more to the point, why is carrot eau da vie so damn good? I don’t know. It’s rare that I think to myself “I want to drink a carrot” but make it 83 proof and I’m all about it I guess.
I first came across this bottle at California Gold, a place where only good decisions are made (I think? I can’t remember). We went there on my birthday and I got the last of the bottle then (and a lot of other fun stuff, they take care of you there! I’ll do a separate San Rafael appreciation thing sometime). It’s only something I’d sipped recently because you’d have to be a little silly to mix with it at the price point it’s at…somehow K&L performed some sorcery and their 375 mL bottles are only $69.99.
But I did see unbranded carrot eau da vie on a menu recently in a mixed drink at Casements and that reminded me I’ve been a) meaning to buy a bottle of it just to have it around and b) screw the price point, of course I’m going to mix with it. Now kids, you don’t have to try this at home, but idk…if you are feeling adventurous or want to go out on a limb or just don’t feel like juicing a bunch of carrots (also a great route I learned recently at Viridian which had a beautifully simplistic drink of carrot juice, gin, and lemon).
One of the aspects of it I truly love about the eau da vie is the nose, so I didn’t really want to disrupt that. I want the damn drink to smell like carrots. And then I started going down some potential paths, and then an idea emerged that it’s a real opportunity to lean into an…Elmer Fudd themed drink?
I kept going back to the phase “hunting wabbits”, which led me down a rabbit hole (all puns intended) of wondering what ingredients compliment this properly. You have carrot eau da vie. What about gunpowder gin? or velvet falernum? I got nothing on lemons, sorry, I just need a citrus that fit the profile.
Had I spent a bit more time keeping the home bar in order recently, I’d have some clarified lemon juice. Alas! I do not and it didn’t feel urgent to make it, though it would improve the aesthetics of this drink and I think the taste slightly though it didn’t bother me too much. I’d also take the lemon juice down a bit next time, but if you don’t mind tart, then .75 oz is just fine. Here’s what I did instead of talking in the abstract
1 oz Reisetbauer carrot eau da vie
.75 oz lemon
Build that up in a mixing glass, put in some ice, and give it a long stir for a minute. Double strain into a Nick and Nora glass. No garnish.
How’s it taste? Dry and tart and carrot-y! There is nothing really sweet in there, so if you don’t like things that balance on that end it might not be for you. Certainly even with the falernum no one is going to mistake this with a tiki drink and the notes could come through slightly better (maybe flip the lemon and falernum amounts next time). But is it good? Yes reader, it is, though I will probably still mostly just sip the carrot eau da vie if given a choice. But if you ask nice, I’m happy to make you one the next time you’re over.
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every couple of weeks (a low volume Substack, I swear!), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
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