Quarantine

The QUARANTINE is a nine-ingredient cocktail that I admit is worth the gathering of ingredients. Aside from separating egg-white in order to add into the drink, it really only takes ten minutes to prepare. And what better drink for our times? It expands a dry gin martini into a rum punch concoction with a hint of licorice. Complex, interesting, delicious.

REQUIREMENTS:  white rum, gin, dry vermouth, lemon, orange, simple syrup, dry anis or absinthe, egg, lemon peel

Directions for 1 serving/ 2 servings

• 1.5 oz. / 3 oz. white rum
• .25 oz./ .5 oz. dry gin
• 25 oz./ .5 oz. dry vermouth
• .25 oz./ .5 oz. lemon juice
• .25 oz./ .5 oz. orange juice
• .25 oz./ .5 oz. simple syrup
• .25 oz./ .5 oz. dry Anis (or 2/4 dashes of Absinthe)
• 1 egg white
• 1 lemon peel per glass

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Dry shake it to fluff up, then add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

HISTORY:  When the U.S. military moved into the harbor of Manila in 1898, there was already a liquor culture present. The Philippines likely introduced distillation to Mexico and their trade route with Acapulco made them instrumental in the development of tequila.  The U.S. made Philippines an American territory in 1899 and the military was then dispatched to keep it that way.  Where Americans went, a thirst for cocktails quickly followed.

In 1926, an American writer and drink-lover, Charles H. Baker, arrived in the American-controlled Philippines and witnessed how cocktails had adapted to local conditions.  In compiling a list of 17 Filipino cocktail creations, one drink in particular was more popular than the perennial dry martini and a number one favorite:  the QUARANTINE.  The recipe came from the manager of the Manila Hotel, “Monk” Antrim.