Ramost

I recently completed an article for Out Magazine in which I was naming new brunch cocktails that are in vogue or at least should be. When I was pondering what to include, the Ramos Gin Fizz sort of popped onto my radar. In the next two weeks, the drink came up in conversation randomly or at the mention of brunch six different times. Everywhere I looked I'd see it, sort of like when you learn a new word then start hearing that word all the time used by strangers on the bus. So I decided it needed to be included. When looking for a recipe for the drink to include, I researched newly-released cocktail books to quote from (this is called a "news hook" in the magazine world). The one that popped out is Southern Cocktails by Denise Gee. But her recipe is definitely not standard. She calls for a full ounce of orange flower water in the drink, whereas most other recipes call for two or three drops. She also only uses lemon juice, as opposed to both lemon and lime. She serves the drink over ice, which some people do but most I've seen don't. So in the end I went with Dale DeGroff's version from The Craft of the Cocktail. But then in the final version of the story the drink and recipe got cut out! All that work for nothing. Except inspiration- I'm going out brunching at The Alembic this weekend just to get one.