saving daylight

2 oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz Homemade Golden Vermouth
1/4 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1 barspoon (1/8 oz) Cointreau
1-2 dash Homemade Aromatic Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel twist.

Batting third at the Bartenders on the Rise event was Bobby McCoy of Eastern Standard. What surprised me most about his drink was that it did not contain rum which is a spirit he enjoys tinkering with more than most it seems. Instead, it utilized gin in a Martini variation of the old sort -- gin, a healthy portion of vermouth, and a few dashes of liqueurs and bitters -- rather common in older drink texts like the Savoy Cocktail Book. Two of his ingredients, his golden vermouth and aromatic bitters, were crafted in the kitchen. While I did not taste his vermouth apart from the drink, I did get a decent description which could be used to synthesize a flavor profile in one's head. Bobby listed some of the ingredients as a white wine base, brandy, turbinado and demerara sugar, cinnamon, orange peel, gentian, cardamom, star anise, and wormwood. He referred to his bitters as "tiki bitters", and they were a complementary blend of botanicals that include gentian, cinnamon, cardamom, and wild cherry bark.
My photography now seems symbolic with the white and black dichotomy in the background; however, it was a crowded part of the room near the bar and that nook was the most convenient spot at that moment. The Saving Daylight's nose was filled with orange oil and gin aromas, and the drink proved to be a sweet and spicy Martini variant filled with wormwood and other tingly notes. Moreover, it contained floral and orange flavors on the swallow that combined to form a grapefruit-like note.