The Vowel Cocktail
I saw some kummel the other week. I had only drunk kummel once before (in the since disappeared Berlin restaurant on Mt Eden Rd. in Auckland) but its herbal caraway taste left a strong impression. Since getting into aquavit, also traditionally flavored with caraway, over Christmas I had been wanting to give kummel another try. So I bought a bottle with vague plans of finding an aquavit and kummel drink to use it in.
Before finding my aquavit and kummel drink though I happened upon a copy of Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. It’s a great book and I was pleased to see it contains a couple of drinks that I had found in Ted Haigh’s online cocktail database and enjoyed but never seen written up (e.g. the Blackthorn and the Park Avenue). I will try out some more of the other recipes later, but decided to start with this kummel drink.
The Vowel Cocktail
1 oz scotch
1 oz sweet vermouth
½ oz orange juice
1 ½ oz kummel
1-2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Shake over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
This is an excellent drink with just the kind of taste I was imagining in a kummel cocktail. Unusually for a drink with an ounce each of scotch and vermouth, neither of these powerful tastes comes through particularly strong. Instead the kummel dominates with its heavy caraway scent. I wouldn’t call it one dimensional though. There is still a good balance, with the caraway doing interesting things as it mixes with the smoky scotch and herbal vermouth. It is slightly on the sweet side, but the strong flavors make this not too much of a problem.
Tasting this makes me think kummel would mix interestingly with Genever (though perhaps in smaller quantities). Genever-based Old Fashioneds or Manhattans could be an interesting model for experimentation, perhaps using the anise flavors of Peychaud’s bitters.
