While most of us are staying at home responsibly nowadays, it means most of us are drinking at home responsibly, too. So, we’re running a special series, What to Drink Now, and checking in with our Tastemakers who travel the world and have some of the best inspiration for food and drink.
The Tastemaker: Yusef Austin, Celebrity Mixologist and Founder of The Cocktail Architect
What to Drink: The Perspective
While most of us are staying at home responsibly nowadays, it means most of us are drinking at home responsibly, too. So, we’re running a special series, What to Drink Now, and checking in with our Tastemakers who travel the world and have some of the best inspiration for food and drink.
The Tastemaker: Yusef Austin, Celebrity Mixologist and Founder of The Cocktail Architect
What to Drink: The Perspective
It’s a drink I created because of our current times. There are so many challenges, which can be your focus, or you can see this as a time to get to get creative, get inspired, and put your positive energy toward what really matters to you. It’s all your perspective.
The ingredients: Dry gin, longan fruit (which comes from Mauritius and Thailand and can be found at a specialty or Asian grocer), simple syrup, fresh lime juice, mint, and blue flowers for garnish.
The recipe is pretty easy as long as you have a jigger, which allows you to measure the ingredients, and of course a cocktail shaker, which is a baseline for making any good cocktail. First, muddle six pieces of longan fruit. Then, add 2 ounces dry gin, ½ ounce simple syrup, and ¾ ounce lime juice, fill with ice, and shake it up. Serve in a martini style rocks glass. Garnish with the blue flowers.
The Tastemaker: Michelle DeFeo, President of Laurent-Perrier US and Certified Sommelier
What to Drink: Champagne Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée NV by the half bottle
It may seem like an odd time to drink Champagne, but it’s become a meaningful nightly ritual for me. I pop the cork on a half bottle, divide it equally into two generously sized flutes, and raise a glass along with my husband as we recount some of the many things for which we’re grateful, even in these dark days. It’s never been more apparent that every day is a gift, and every day is, in itself, a cause for celebration. Laurent-Perrier’s half bottles are the perfect size for this ritual. Sherry-Lehmann and wine.com always have them in stock.
The Galavante House Drink: Christine Drinan, Galavante Founder
What to Drink: Sean Thackrey Andromeda
I found this gem over 15 years ago, at a restaurant on First Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. For the life of me, I can’t remember the name, but they were on the forefront of farm-to-table cuisine and super-special American wines. They did so well that they moved to a larger location on Elizabeth Street, but alas, I lost track of them in the flurry of making finance money in the mid-2000s. I owe them big though because they introduced me to Andromeda, which is one of the most elegant yet quietly powerful Pinot Noirs out of Marin County in Cali. Because of where the vines are situated — right above the fog line — the climate is cooler and windier so the grapes don’t get overbaked by the sun, yet they still get enough to ripen. The result is a wine whose flavor lingers long after your sip. If there’s one winemaker I could spend the day with, it’s Mr. Thackrey. The guy touches nearly every single grape and handmakes his wine, and I’ve heard he’s quite the entertaining character. His cool factor increases for me as he’s renowned in the wine world by those who really know what they’re talking about and don’t just pick the highest-priced wine on the list.
