seville oranges and cocktails / cocktail ingredients

[will47]

I've got 4 lb of Seville (bitter) oranges headed my way, and while I'm mostly using them for these:
http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/...

I was wondering if there's anything interesting (besides homemade bitters) I can do with the peels or juice of these. I know they're traditionally used for certain infused spirits... maybe just infuse the peels in some high-proof neutral spirits? I don't usually use triple-sec, but maybe something along those lines but less sweet?

[StriperGuy]

Not a cocktail, but their juice is used for a classic Puerto Rican "mojo" for roast pork, and it is amazing.

[Wahooty]

Or Haitian griot. Yum. :)

I posted this in a "cocktail you invented" post ages ago, but it still holds up for me. The Mejito: muddle mint in simple syrup, add a healthy splash of bitter orange juice and tequila, top off with a splash of seltzer. Delicious and refreshing, and SO out of season as it's snowing in Toronto right now...

[will47]

One more, I think my favorite of these 3 so far.... slight variation on a Blood and Sand.

1.5 oz Rye (I used Old Overholt for no particular reason)
1 oz seville (sour) orange juice [I imagine you could substitute a mix of lemon and orange]
.5 oz sweet vermouth (I used Carpano Antica Formula)
scant .5 oz Heering Cherry (you can adjust this to your liking)

Shake, strain into chilled cocktail glass, garnish with brandied cherry and / or orange twist.

[EvergreenDan]

That's rather like my version/bastardization of thee Artist's Special I had last night and really enjoyed:
1 oz Rye (or Bourbon, I tried both and liked both. Rye is a bit dryer, of course)
1 oz Sherry (Fino)
1/2 oz Lemon
1/2 oz currant syrup (I used Cassis)

It's unclear to me how dry the sherry should be, and it obviously makes a huge difference. As written above, it was rather dry. I bet you could sub the sour orange for the lemon and some of the sherry, then use either a fino or a sweeter sherry for the rest. I wish I could find these sour/bitter oranges locally -- they sound like they are right up my alley.

If they are sour and/or bitter, I also bet they would be simply outstanding with Campari, perhaps with some Gin. A 1:1:1 drink sounds about right. Or with Campari and Soda or Tonic. Could try Aperol, too, but it seems redundant.

[will47]

The taste isn't super bitter or sour - there's a little bitterness in the finish, and it's more tart than a normal orange, but I'm not sure the juice itself is unique enough that it's worth seeking out for making drinks.

Did find these links:
http://bostonapothecary.com/?p=12
http://bostonapothecary.com/?p=9

i might try the first item on the first link above, though the author said they weren't a huge fan. I tried a few things to start out with; hopefully can post some pictures later on. I used a 2:1 syrup, but obviously you can use standard simple syrup and just adjust the proportions a little.

1) Sort of like a gin sour, served up. I think this would benefit from some dry vermouth or something.

2 oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz seville (sour) orange juice
.5 oz rich (2:1) syrup (I think I would use less next time)

shake & double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass; garnish with orange peel or flamed orange peel

Tastes Ok, but a little boring.

Second, I tried a whisky sour variation. I think I got the proportions about right - didn't have to adjust the sweetnesss.

2 oz Bourbon (I used Woodford)
1.5 oz Seville (sour) orange juice
~ .25 oz (~ 8 ml) rich (2:1) syrup

Shake, strain into whisky sour or old fashioned glass with brandied cherry.

After having a good mixed-citrus (and whisky) drink with some absinthe at the Varnish recently, I'm thinking maybe a dash of absinthe or pastis might be interesting somehow?

[shellenbergers]

i'm come to really love sevilles and regular sour oranges.

all that stuff i did on bostonapothecary.com was very early in my exploration of them and i've since written about tons more in the "drinks!" thread on egullet.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/...

i'd search the thread. there is probably about twenty drinks.

the triple-sec recipe has worked out really well and i've probably made about 50 liters of it.

[will47]

Thanks - good to see you on here too... I'll try to hunt down the recipes in that thread.

Curious - what type are the kind that have a rougher / bumpier skin? I have seen them referred to as Sevilles also, but are they? Are Sevilles the ones that are used most in Mexico and Cuba, or are those the other kind?