With this drink I want­ed to cre­ate a cock­tail that was sum­mer appro­pri­ate and had a vel­vety mouth feel. The fresh­ly juiced can­taloupe com­bined with the egg white gives this cock­tail a won­der­ful­ly rich and creamy expe­ri­ence. Peo­ple always ask, “what does egg white do in a drink”. I tell them it’ll make the cock­tail creamy and deli­cious and not to be scared. 50% of the time they pass and it’s a shame. Raw eggs are in a lot things you eat like desserts and sal­ad dress­ings. Not to men­tion the alco­hol will kill any bac­te­ria you’re con­cerned about.

This cock­tail also includes rum and home made orgeat (you can buy orgeat at the store as a short cut of course). This com­bi­na­tion works well in a lot of tiki drinks, so it’s no sur­prise that it’s a per­fect match here too. You can play around with your choice of rum as well. If you need a more dessert friend­ly ver­sion try a spiced rum. You can even go lighter with a white rum. I chose a mid­dle ground with Mt. Gay, although most gold or amber rums (or even rhum agri­cole) should work­out just fine.

I also like to com­bine a lit­tle spearmint with the pineap­ple mint when shak­ing just to kick up the mint fla­vors. Pineap­ple mint is on the milder side, but is a beau­ti­ful garnish.

the Carmen Miranda

• 2 oz Mt. Gay Rum
• 1 oz fresh­ly juiced cantaloupe
• 1/2 oz house made orgeat
• 1 egg white
• 4 spearmint leaves
• 4 pineap­ple mint leaves
• 1 pineap­ple sprig garnish

Incor­po­rate egg white first with­out ice. I use a hand­held frother. Give your 8 mint leaves a good spank and shake with the rest of the ingre­di­ents with ice. Dou­ble strain into a chilled cock­tail glass. Gar­nish with one pineap­ple mint sprig.

HOW TO MAKE ORGEAT SYRUP

Ingredients

• 7 oz blanched sliced almonds (no skins)
• 18 oz of water
• 2 oz of vodka
• 3 cups of sugar
• tea­spoon of rose water
• 8 dash­es of Post Pro­hi­bi­tion Orange Bitters
• 1/2 tea­spoon of almond extract
• 1/8 tea­spoon or less of xan­than gum (very light dusting)

Directions

1. In a bowl cov­er almonds with water and allow to soak for 20 min­utes. Strain and dis­card water.
2. Then add the 18 oz of water and the 2 oz of vod­ka, allow­ing to soak at least 3 hours or over night. I add vod­ka at this point to help extract the oil from the almonds. Plus the vod­ka will help pre­serve the syrup. If you are using the orgeat for some­thing oth­er then cock­tails feel free to omit the vodka.
3. With a food proces­sor or hand blender, blend the almonds to release their oils.
4. Strain almonds through cheese­cloth and a sieve and col­lect the water in a sep­a­rate bowl.
5. Squeeze the almonds in the cheese­cloth to get all the liq­uid out.
6. Now take your almond water and sug­ar and bring to a low boil on the stove until the sug­ar is com­plete­ly dissolved.
7. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
8. You will notice the almond oil and the water tend to sep­a­rate, this is where the xan­than gum comes into play. With a whisk or hand blender incor­po­rate the xan­than gum.
9. Add the almond extract to taste. This will kick up the almond fla­vor and is not total­ly nec­es­sary, but I think it’s a nice touch. Also, add the rose water and orange bit­ters. You could use orange flower water here instead of a com­bi­na­tion of the orange bit­ters and rose water. Be care­ful with orange flower water because it is very strong and if you put too much your syrup will taste like perfume.
10. Bot­tle in ster­ile bottles.