- Julia Thiel
- The makings for four different cocktails
Earlier this week a coworker was nice enough to pass along a bottle of Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur that she’d been sent. Compared with some of the promotional items I’ve gotten, it ranks way up there—better than the box of dirt with six carrot tops I once received, for example. Or the Coors Light samples I recently got in the mail (which I gave to a different coworker, who was actually excited to try them). But the Canadian Mist whiskey blended with peach liqueur I tried last year, which was one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted, didn’t help my already low opinion of liqueurs.
Fortunately, the other drinks were much better. The Bowery tempers Domaine de Canton’s sweetness with lemon juice and a couple dashes of Angostura bitters. It was still a little syrupy for my taste; if I made it again I’d add a splash of tonic water to lighten it up, but this was the cocktail where the flavors of the liqueur came through most clearly. The Gold Rush, with bourbon and lemon juice, tastes like a sweeter whiskey sour with a ginger kick. What surprised me most, though, was how much I liked the Opening Act, which combines the liqueur with Campari and lime juice. I’ve never been much of a fan of Campari, but its bitterness perfectly balanced the sweetness of the Domaine de Canton and lingered in the back of my throat along with the bite of the ginger. It’s a cocktail that would be dangerously easy to drink on a hot day.
