Trebuchet Cocktail †

After much experimentation, I finally settled on the cocktail recipe to match the Pantagruel name. Given the etymology of Pantagruel, I decided to go with exclusively liquors from France, and, as predicted in my previous post, it's cognac based. Later, I thought better of naming a drink after myself, or at least my nom de plume, so I went with another, yet still appropriate, name, the Trebuchet. (In my defense if you think it was preposterous to consider naming a drink after myself, I will submit that at the time Pantagruel was just a word I liked in general, and the thoughts of it being a good name both for a cocktail and an alias were independent, so it was not an act of hubris, a trait I am hardly bereft of, if I do say so myself.) In any case, on to the drink:

Trebuchet

• 1½ oz Remy VSOP Cognac
• ¼ oz Calvados
• ¼ oz Cointreau
• ¼ oz Green Chartreuse
• 1 tsp Benedictine
• 1 dash Peychad's bitters
• 1 dash angostura

Stir and strain into chilled double old fashioned, lay siege with flamed orange twist to garnish. It's pretty hot and can do some damage, so don't be afraid to let it cook for a minute before pouring.

Since the timing was good and I thought it appropriate, I also submitted it to the guys at Thursday Drink Night: New Orleans last week. I thought it fit as similar to a Sazerac with the Peychaud's, especially with the other French ingredients and the fact that Sazeracs were originally Cognac based before tastes shifted and the Rye version became standard.

And because I had fun posting the last video, here's the flamed orange twist in (HD!) action: