Pictures: Preakness cocktails with a twist
A shot of vodka, a shot of whiskey, sweet-and-sour mix, a couple of ounces of orange juice, and a cherry and an orange slice to top it off. You must recognize it. The Black-eyed Susan has been the Preakness Stakes' official cocktail since time immemorial (or at least since the '50s), estimates Pimlico historian Joe Kelly. The drink has not stayed stale. Its creators have reinvented it several times over the years. The current mix: 3/4 ounce 42 Below Vodka, 1 1/4 ounce Early Times Kentucky Whiskey, 3 ounces sweet-and-sour mix, 2 ounces orange juice, and to garnish, an orange slice, cherry and stirrer. But for as long as it's been around, people have complained about dear old Susan. It's "equal parts of rum, vodka, fruit juice and bad judgment," Baltimore Sun reporter Rob Kasper likes to say. Back in 1985, he ran a contest to replace it with something else. In a long-shot appeal to the Maryland Jockey Club to replace a cocktail that's run one too many laps, we asked five of Baltimore's best mixologists and bartenders to come up with a new official Preakness drink. Their instructions were simple: Come up with a cocktail that's refreshing in warm weather, simple to make and inspired by the historic race. Here are the results. -- Erik Maza
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Brendan Dorr of the B&O Brasserie
The Black-Eyed Susan was always meant to be a simple drink, something invigorating but easy to drink while watching the race. But that's precisely its problem, says B&O American Brasserie's Brendan Dorr.
"It's a nothing drink," he says. Its ingredients are too simple. And, he says, "it came at a time when quality ingredients were less available." Now, bartenders have better resources. His recipe uses pricier, more gourmet ingredients. Dorr started out working off the original recipe, which called for light rum, but switched to Flor de Cana, a classic dark rum. He mixes that with a liqueur flavored with cherries -- Luxardo Maraschino, which can start at a little over $25 a bottle. To counter the sweetness, he drops in two dashes of orange bitters, then slowly drips aromatic agave nectar into the mixing glass. He adds orange juice, as in a classic Susan, and finishes it off with grapefruit and lime juice. It is served in a highball glass with ice. "It exudes summertime," he says. "It's so easy that anyone can make it, but it has a little something extra." Cost: $9 B&O American Brasserie is at 2 N. Charles St. Call 443-692-6172 or www.bandorestaurant.com. |
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