Our fridge is constantly occupied by various syrups, shrubs and infusions in varying degrees of freshness. This cocktail was inspired by last week’s Grape & Ginger Syrup and a hankering for something with brandy.
What resulted is a cocktail vaguely reminiscent of a Dark & Stormy – but with brandy as the base spirit and the ginger coming from our syrup instead of ginger beer. Unsurprisingly, this drink is dangerously drinkable – though without as much of the ginger “bite” you’d expect from ginger beer.
I also liked how the grape syrup played up the grape flavor in the brandy. I’m a big fan of pairing spirits with syrups made of their fruit origins – so perhaps that’s no surprise.
So we’re calling this one “Tempête Sombre” – which is (according to Google Translate) French for “Dark Storm” – pretty close to “dark and stormy”, at least. (See what I did there?)
Tempête Sombre
Equipment
Ingredients
Cocktail Ingredients
- 2 oz Cognac We used Courvoisier VS
- 0.75 oz Grape & Ginger Syrup
- 0.75 oz Lime Juice
- 4 oz Soda Water
Grape & Ginger Syrup Ingredients
- 1 cup Grapes
- 0.5 cups Sugar
- 1 pc Fresh Ginger Thumb-sized
Instructions
Cocktail Instructions
- Shake all ingredients except soda water to chill and dilute.
- Then fine strain into a collins glass with fresh ice and top with soda water.
- (Optional) Garnish with a lime wheel.
Grape & Ginger Syrup Instructions
- Macerate grapes with sugar.
- Allow to sit in the fridge overnight and fine strain mixture to separate the solids.
- Next add syrup and 1 thumb sized piece of ginger to a blender and puree mixture for 1 minute.
