Transcript: The Belmar Cocktail

Cocktails on the Fly
Episode “The Belmar cocktail”

Alberta Strauss: Hi, ok I know we all love Manhattans, I love Manhattan the cocktail. I love Manhattan the city. It is great to be there, and so I made up this drink, you know messing around in the bar. I got no one there, I do a little R&D. I call it the Belmar cocktail; some friends tell me it is a couple of exits before Manhattan. So it’s kind of classic, it is kind of not classic. It is the flighty twist on the classic drink.
And so what we are going to do is we are going to put some bourbon in there, we are going to use Makers Mark. And I am going to put in about two ounces. Okay, yummy, yummy, love that bourbon. And then this fabulous bitter, Amaro, means bitter in Italian. I just found out yesterday, ha-ha. It is a Ramazzotti. It is really fabulous; it’s got a different flavor than sweet vermouth. I really like it. It’s bitterer it really has got a more dynamic flavor.
I just discovered I am totally obsessed with it. So you know this cocktail, you know there probably is an old version of this cocktail exactly. But I haven’t run across it yet, so I am just going to call it the Belmar, the Belmar cocktail, or whatever. If any of you know what it is really called let me know. But ok, so we are going to put in three quarters of an ounce of the Ramazzotti, there we go, yummy, yummy. And then my love, love, love. Oh I love you baby, you’re so good, you’re so red, the Campari. So we are going to match it with Campari, ok?
There we go; the Campari, and then we need some bitters. I am going to use Fee brother’s bitters, delicious and delightful. There we go Fee brothers, doo, da doo. And then I am going to put a couple of little orange peels in there, just a little bit, one two, da, da, da. As I stir it, and then its time I add the ice. I am using big ice cubes, you know why because I don’t want little ice cubes diluting the drinks so much. I want the big ice cubes to get this drink cold as soon as possible, so that I can drink it down with little dilution, and that will give it a nice velvety taste, a velvety texture and a velvety feel.
So what I do, my friend Thomas Wah, showed me he is a great bartender in the city if you go to Range you should check him out. Is this nice little bend in your mixing spoon so what we are going to do is get down there with the big ice and just stir around. And here we go we are stirring, it is kind of whatever. We are just looking to stir this cocktail. But what we are hoping is we don’t want dilution. We want this liquor to be almost liquor.
I mean a lot of times you want the water in your drink, but this time no. We just want a velvety texture and a velvety flavor, nice and ice cold, okay? You got your glass a chilling. I used this old glass as kind of a classic cocktail style. Pouring out the ice, and then I am going to pour the liquor in. This is not the right kind of, you can use this kind if you want, but this is a julep strainer. I just got one of these a few days ago. I super love it. It is the classic way to pour it in a glass.
There we go. Okay so you got your cocktail there, the Belmar. You got your drink now it’s time to garnish it. Flighty is going to do something different. Flighty doesn’t usually do this, but I mean not intentionally that is. I mean I got to tell you every time I cook, I start a fire. I don’t mean to, but you know I had to invest in one of those little grillers those little griller things. You know why, because they keep the flames contained. I do it to keep the people of San Francisco safe. Because flighty, she just shouldn’t be cooking. She shouldn’t be around fire. I am going to try to flame this peel for you. You know why, because it tastes good in a drink.
So what you do is you have got your orange peel. And the point is, is that the oils from the orange will light with the fire and they will add a nice burnt flavor to the cocktail. So we are just going to try to zest it. You see that little flame, that means that the oil is burnt, a little zested. There we go in the cocktail, the Belmar, a beautiful delicious classic version of the Manhattan. Cheers to you and guess what I am going to give this to my boss. You know why because I love it. Oh wait I am going to have a taste first. Okay now I am going to give it to my boss. Cheers boss you’re the best, yeah.
The Belmar Cocktail:
1. Pour 2 oz of Bourbon
2. Add ¾ oz of Amaro Ramazzotti
3. Then ¾ oz of Campari
4. Add a dash of Fee Brothers Bitters
5. Then some orange peel
6. Add big ice cubes and stir
7. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
8. Twist and fire a orange peel garnish
9. Delicious