Santa Barbara’s Ken-Tiki Kentucky
A great wintry, complex and juicy sour for when oranges are in full season or when one’s nuptials are during a period of the year when the sun is hiding and the mood is autumnal. This is The Good Lion’s top-selling cocktail of all time and for good reason. It’s delicious. This bass-note-forward sour incorporates the bounty of local oranges, leans baking-spice-forward and utilizes an exotic “Tiki” cocktail template. Bourbon is the backbone, with added complexity by integrating both Italian vermouth and an orange-forward amaro. Vanilla is an easy addition, being present already in the flavor profile of the bourbon, the vermouth and the amaro. Also, vanilla and orange are a “chef’s kiss” pairing. Bitters zip the cocktail up and voilà!
Ingredients
- 1 ounce bourbon
- ¾ ounce fresh-squeezed, strained lemon juice
- ½ ounce Torino-style Italian vermouth
- ½ ounce orange syrup*
- ¼ ounce Amaro Montenegro
- 1 teaspoon vanilla liqueur (we like Giff ard)
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 1 dash orange bitters
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Shake vigorously for 8–12 seconds, then strain into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig and freshly grated nutmeg.
TO MAKE IT FOR A CROWD
- Scale up all elements of the recipe, except for the bitters. Keep bitters at a 50% level when scaling up (example: a 10x volume increase for all ingredients correlates to a 5x increase in bitters). Add 15% pure cold water. Add more to taste if needed; the drink should be slightly “hot” (needing to rest over ice). Dry-shake and keep refrigerated until service. During service, dry-shake (no additional dilution needed) and pour into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig and freshly grated nutmeg.
ORANGE SYRUP
- Combine 1 part fresh-squeezed, strained orange juice with 1 part organic sugar. Emulsify or blend, then refrigerate. The syrup is good for 2 weeks.
Notes
Photo: Lure Digital
