one hundred cocktails

drinking with a purpose

The Flying Dutchman

22 Feb 2012

The Flying Dutchman is a hell of a name for a cocktail, and it requires a hell of an ingredient: Orange Gin. To say that Orange Gin is obscure is sort of a nice joke. Supposedly Seagram’s and perhaps Gordon’s still produce an Orange Gin, but I sure as hell couldn’t find the stuff.

Making orange gin.

When in doubt, make it yourself! I got a small bottle of Beefeater, mixed it with four oranges worth of peels, four oranges worth of zest, a couple oranges worth of juice, and let it steep for a couple of weeks. I strained it and added some simple syrup. It’s not a precise recipe, and I’ve no idea if it’s anything authentic, but the resulting product tastes like Orange-flavored sweet gin, so I pronounce it historically accurate.

The Finished Orange Gin

So, we combine that with some other citrus stuff and a few dashes of bitters for good measure.

The Flying Dutchman Ingredients

It tastes like, well, cheap gin and too much citrus. I suppose that makes sense, since there’s cheap gin and too much citrus involved. I guess I’m bored by the concept; if one really likes citrus I guess the right balance could be struck, but I feel like this is just another anachronism that doesn’t warrant further effort. Citrus-dominated winners like daiquiris and corpse revivers seem like better examples of the genre.

The Flying Dutchman

Another dud for me. Shame.