Amber

This is Hendrik Albrecht’s first own drink from Le Lion in Hamburg. It’s well worth trying.

70 ml Milenario Gran Reserva brandy
20 ml lemon juice
10 ml Meneau orgeat
10 ml Lustau Jarana fino sherry
2,5 ml Duplais verte absinthe

Preparation: Shaken. Served in a tumbler with a large piece of ice.

Hendrik originally developed the Amber for a cocktail competition, but for various reasons he was unable to take part. Anyway, we tasted the drink for the first time on 12 April 2015 and were immediately taken with it. This is what winning drinks look like.

The Amber is Hendrik’s first own drink, and Jörg Meyer had an empathetic video produced about Hendrik’s career in this context. Every time we drink the Amber, we have to think of Hendrik’s message at the end of the video, because it gets to the heart of what really matters in life: “Find the job you love. Find the courage to change. And you’ll never have to work again.”

– „Finde den Job, den du liebst. Finde den Mut, dich zu verändern. Und du mußt nie wieder arbeiten.“

So let’s find the courage so that we too can say, “I walked my path and the road led to me. I have arrived.”

– „Ich bin meinen Weg gegangen, und die Straße führte zu mir. Ich bin angekommen.“

While looking through historical books, we found a drink of the same name. This was published once in 1931 and is something like a minimalist martini of gin and vermouth. So it’s quite possible to ignore it.

Here is the video “Liquid Courage” with Hendrik Albrecht on youtube: https://youtu.be/uiYApSea_es

Sources

1. http://www.jrgmyr.com/2015/07/how-to-become-bartender-at-le-lion.html: Jörg Meyer: How to become a bartender at Le Lion. Hendriks way and his Amber Cocktail. 14. July 2015.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiYApSea_es&feature=youtu.be: Liquid Courage – Hendrik Albrecht, Bartender at Le Lion. Uploaded 14. July 2015.

Historical recipes

1927 Maraya Vélez de Sánchez: Cocktails bebidas heladas ponches de todas clases. Seite 38. Amber Cocktail.

Se cortan unas uvas a la mitad, se les sacan las semillas,
se ponen en una vasijy y se les mezclan unos pedacitos de
piña y de manzana, unas gotas de zumo de limón y un
poco de jarabe de piña; se hiela bien y se sirve en copas.

1931 John: „Happy Days!“. Seite 30. Amber Cocktail.

Dash
One-half French Vermouth
One-half Gin
Frappe.

2015 Hendrick Albrecht, 12. April 2015 im Le Lion: 7 cl Carlos I Brandy, 1 kleiner Barlöffel Absinth (Pernot), 1 cl Meneau Orgeat, 1 cl Don Zoilo Fino Dry Sherry, 2 cl Zitrone. Am 18. Juli haben wir den Amber mit Lustau Solera Gran Reserva bekommen.

2015 http://www.jrgmyr.com/2015/07/how-to-become-bartender-at-le-lion.html: ^[1] Amber. 70 ml Spanish Brandy; 10 ml Fino Sherry; 10 ml Orgeat; 20 ml Lemon Juice; 1-2 Dash Absinth; Shake, double strain into tumbler on ice rock.

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