Last weekend a friend and I got together and cooked for a mutual friend’s birthday party. It was one of those turning-of-the-odometer birthdays, so we went all out. I was charged with inventing a cocktail, and since I’m a fiend for the flavor of yuzu — i.e., Asian citron — I came up with this concoction.
I started with a jar of Korean citron tea — basically a yuzu marmalade that is meant to be stirred into hot water for a beverage. Instead, I pureed the contents of the jar with the juice of 4 large lemons and double strained it, first through a sieve and then through cheesecloth, to get rid of all the fine bits of rind.
A shake in a shaker with some nice, botanical-forward gin, a few drops of Fee Brothers orange bitters and some ice, and we had one helluva cocktail. I really love the unique perfumed tang of yuzu, which is like lemon and jasmine combined.
You can get the citron tea at any large Asian market and the bitters at any good liquor store.