Beauty Spot Cocktail

Another twist on the Bronx.

Beauty Spot Cocktail:

• 1 oz. Gin
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1 tsp orange juice

Shake and strain into 3 oz. cocktail glass with dash of grenadine in the bottom.

A few things to learn from this one. First, it's maybe my favorite variant of a Bronx, being basically a "perfect" Bronx cocktail with some grenadine thrown in. Here, "perfect" is shorthand for having equal parts dry and sweet vermouth, rather than one or the other. As you'll probably see if I ever get around to it, it's a pretty common term. But the dash of grenadine is a nice touch, adding both in terms of presentation and flavor profile.

Next, and I can't stress this enough, fresh orange juice. The difference between just taking an orange, cutting it in half and squeezing out a bit of juice, versus using the preservative-and-sugar-laden store-bought stuff or the stuff from concentrate is, well, incredible. Something gets lost in translation when you use the frozen concentrate stuff, and the juice from a carton tastes like an approximation of orange juice. What it lacks in flavor, it makes up for in sweetness. Both of which are not strong qualities in a cocktail ingredient. So use fresh juice whenever you can swing it, which, in North America, is pretty much year-round.

And lastly, you'll find the Bronx is fine. It's not my fave, as I tend to find a drink that includes orange juice to be somewhat lacking, but this one came together nicely. Probably a 4 out of 5, if you'd like an arbitrary ratings system....