Our friends recently launched Seattle-based, Fast Penny Spirits, a distillery focused on the Italian bittersweet herbal liqueur, amaro. Since I started Orasella, there are few spirits I’ve grown to appreciate more than amaro. Amari are generally jam packed with botanicals - Fast Penny’s includes over 45 - so, a well-made amaro can take you on a flavor journey that will end in a completely different place than you began. And, they perform magic in cocktails, taking any drink from flat to interesting in a second’s notice.
This cocktail, crafted by our friend Damon Dhanens, is at once light and complex and incredibly delicious. But, don’t take my word for it. Take a trip to Fast Penny’s Ballard distillery to pick up a bottle of amaro for yourself.
Orasella’s Perihelion
Serves 1
1.5oz Fast Penny Spirits Amaricano Bianca
1.5oz fresh carrot juice*
.5oz mastiha (greek mastic liquor, available at Seattle’s Downtown Spirits or a well-stocked liquor store)
.5oz lemon juice
1 cherry plus bar spoon syrup
2 quarter-inch thick slices ginger
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Muddle cherry, ginger, turmeric in a cocktail shaker. Add Amaricano Bianca, carrot juice, mastiha, and lemon juice. Shake, double strain (strain through your cocktail shaker then through a fine mesh strainer) over big ice cube. Garnish with mint.
* If you don’t have a juicer, you can make carrot juice in a blender. My blender isn’t super high powered, so, I cut baby carrots into 1/4 inch slices and steamed them in a steamer basket until al dente (just enough so that blender could process them). Add the steamed carrots to the blender. Add just enough of the water you used to steam them to make the blender whirl. Process until smooth. Send the carrot puree through a fine meshed sieve to extract the juice.