бабы симина микстура (Baba Sima’s Tonic) Recipe

Servings: 1
Prep time: 24 hours (to infuse the brandy)
Total time: 10 minutes to make the drink

for the Earl Grey tea brandy:
¼ cup loose-leaf Earl Grey
créme tea (if unavailable, standard Earl Grey will do)
1 750-milliliter bottle of brandy (we use Korbel)
1 ½ teaspoons maple syrup

for the tonic:
2 ounces|60 ml Earl Grey tea brandy
¼ ounce|7 ml simple syrup
1 sugar cube
¼ ounce|7 ml overproof rum (we use Gosling’s 151)
2 orange twists (use a vegetable peeler to take off nice big strips)
5 ounces|142 ml (scant ⅓ cup) boiling water

1. Infuse the brandy: Place the tea in a quart-sized mason jar and pour the brandy over it. Reserve the brandy bottle for the finished product. Screw on the lid and let steep for 24 hours in a dark, cool place. After steeping, carefully pour the maple syrup into the reserved bottle. Strain the brandy from the tea into the bottle using a fine-mesh strainer and funnel. Discard the tea. Freeze for at least 1 hour before serving.
2. Make the cocktail: Place the brandy and simple syrup in a warmed hot toddy glass. Balance a spoon over the top of the glass, and place the sugar cube on it. Carefully pour the rum over the cube, and then light it on fire. Flames! Carefully wave 1 orange twist over the flame for a few seconds, then squeeze the twist into the flame to express the oils. Fireworks! Carefully tip the flamey cube into the cup so that it ignites the liquid in the glass. Pour in the hot water, extinguishing the flames and stirring everything together. Squeeze the second orange twist over the drink to express the oils, and place the twist in the drink. Serve hot.

Excerpted from the book KACHKA by Bonnie Frumkin Morales. Copyright © 2017 by Bonnie Frumkin Morales. Reprinted with permission from Flatiron Books. All rights reserved.

Get recipes like this and more in the Munchies Recipes newsletter. Sign up here.