Best Of Humboldt 2012
[
{
"name": "Top Stories Video Pair",
"insertPoint": "7",
"component": "17087298",
"parentWrapperClass": "fdn-ads-inline-content-block",
"requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
}
]
When the North Coast Journal asked me to suggest a cocktail for its "Best of" issue, I thought, "Humboldt in a glass. What does that taste like?"
Well, it has to taste like our fantastic local beer. It just so happens that beer cocktails were all the rage this summer at Tales of the Cocktail, the big annual booze industry extravaganza in New Orleans. A recipe first published in Imbibe magazine puts Humboldt's hoppiest brews to good use. The hops add just the right note of bracing citrusy bitterness, and the beer gives it a little fizz. After a taste test with friends, Wendy Petty, the Eureka Theater bartender and board member who will be pouring at the North Coast Journal's Best of Humboldt party on Friday, customized it a bit. She replaced the magazine's suggested Cherry Heering with blackberry liqueur to honor a local fruit, and she cut the suggested two ounces of beer to one ounce to maximize the blending of flavors. Let's call the Humboldt version:
The Lost Coast Fizz
1 ¾ oz Hayman's Old Tom Gin
½ oz blackberry liqueur
½ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice, or the juice of about half a lemon
½ oz simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, heated so the sugar melts)
1 oz Lost Coast Brewery IPA
Fill a tumbler or a tall, skinny Collins glass with ice and set aside. Shake all ingredients except the beer over ice. Strain into the glass and top with beer. (Note: Old Tom Gin is an older style of gin that is much sweeter than a modern dry gin. I tried substituting a dry gin, but the drink totally loses its charm.)
