Babylon Sister
San Francisco show and tell...
Alright, so maybe it’s time to accept this is a 3-4 times a month endeavor as opposed to a 7-8 times a month endeavor. That’s okay. An important part of anything in life, especially any successful thing, is expectation management. And hey, I’ve still got delicious drinks for you to try. And perhaps, the next couple months I’ll look back on the font of inspiration that’s been flowing and realize otherwise. Life is funny like that.
Regardless, it’s been too long since I revisted the occasional motif that has kicked this whole ridiculous wonderful endeavor off: making a Steely Dan-themed tiki drink. I hadn’t put in an order at Bitters & Bottles or K & L in too long (maybe I already have enough rum…no?), and there were a couple other ingredients I’ve been meaning to track down for some of. Sure, different bottles of rum and other such sundries, but also some of the other explicitly named liquors in Steely Dan songs. Like Kirschwasser.
For those of you who have never had Kirschwasser…it’s right there in the name for all you German speakers. Cherry water. Now…as for what it tastes like? It’s ostensibly a sour cherry brandy, but the flavor depends on what you end up getting. You don’t have to break the bank, but avoid the truly cheap stuff. C’mon people, treat yourself right. I wen with a bottle of Schladerer. Do you need a whole 750mL? Probably not! I’m happy to lend you a small amount if you live nearby and you’d like to know. But I already know I enjoy those flavors, and I have no doubt I’ll figure out other ways to work this into future drinks.
“Babylon Sisters” is an…interesting Steely Dan tune. It is a very Californian Steely Dan song, name checking all sorts of West Coast locales (including my home of San Francisco). And near as I can tell, about a couple drag queens coming up to the City from LA. Steely Dan songs went way over my head as a kid lol. So what is the appropriate set of flavors to make this one?
For starters, lime is the most obvious juice here. A natural friend of cherries both with and without alcohol. Though it makes for an interesting challenge, sour on top of sour. Starting with those two ingredients helped me make some other decisions. For sweeteners, I went with some orgeat (almond is a nice compliment here, and ended up pulling out my 2:1 simple as well. I normally balance a little sweet myself, but I figured (rightly) that it would be useful to have that extra sweetness with those starting ingredients. I rounded out the sweetening with just a touch of grenadine at the end.
As for the other liquors? I’ve been playing with form recently, including swapping the liquors in Jet Pilot with those that are in a Fog Cutter (it’s oddly pleasant). I took my inspiration from the Fog Cutter again, and pulled out some gin, brandy, and light rum. To be more specific, St. George Botanivore, Frisco brandy (gotta stay on theme, you know?), and Ron del Barrilito 2 Star. I initially had pulled some white overproof rum, but made a last minute change of mind. With several already punched up components, I don’t think this one needs the extra kick of a white overproof, though you could probably sub any old white rum just fine in the place of the lightly aged Ron del Barrilito 2 Star (though really, just get a bottle of that).
So here’s what happened with all of that.
.75 oz lime
.5 oz Kirschwasser
.5 oz 2:1 simple syrup
.5 oz orgeat
1 oz gin
.75 oz brandy
.75 oz light rum
A couple barspoons of grenadine
Take everything but the grenadine and put it in your trusty mixing tin. Throw in some ice and…babylon sister, shake it (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Strain into a Collins glass. Top with some fresh crushed ice. Take your barspoon and your grenadine and drizzle a couple barspoons over the top. It’ll slowly make its way down into the beverage and leave you with this pleasing color
Garnish with an umbrella with a maraschino cherry speared to it.
As for how it turned out? Not my most successful drink but not my least successful either. I did manage to balance out the sour flavors decently, so I’ll take that as a win. The brandy is a nice compliment, and gin is always a pleasant addition to a tiki beverage. So all in all, I think this one works. It’s no Smoking Banana, but what is?
So next time, let’s spend a little time with my true latest obsession. Scotch in tiki. A little bit a smoke, a little bit of banana, a little bit of Chartreuse, you are on your way to something special.
Until then…happy mixing!
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something once or twice a week (that’s the goal for now at least), 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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