Cocktail to try: The marmalade-and-gin drink Mad About Saffron
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
It starts with marmalade, a substance that often turns otherwise perfectly good liquors into vile, sugary creatures.
It starts with marmalade, a substance that, with its various relatives, often turns otherwise perfectly good liquors into vile, sugary creatures. So, needless to say, it wasn’t me who paired Easter brunch at Supper restaurant with the marmalade-and-gin drink Mad About Saffron. Credit my wife instead.
As we feted our risen Lord with hot cross buns, fried chicken biscuits and blue corn pancakes bejeweled with mango, the Saffrons flowed. Supper makes them in pints. My kind of place.
But my kind of drink? I didn’t think so. But I should have known better; Mitch and Jennifer Prensky aren’t bastardizing their Bluecoat gin with some old jar of Smucker’s. When you plan out and commit to a farm’s entire haul (Newtown Square’s Blue Elephant), you’re pretty much forced to step up your canning skills, and Mitch crafts some serious preserves. And while the apricots won’t be fresh for another month, the dried ones he uses make for a sticky — but not too sweet — gold jam with saffron, spiced with ginger and balanced with salt.
The drink was developed by Supper’s former bar manager, Cara Danforth (who still does some consulting for Supper’s cocktail list). The current crew carries forth her formula, shaking a tablespoon of the marmalade with a shot of simple syrup, fresh lemon juice and Bluecoat, straining the elixir over ice. A Jack’s Hard Cider fill adds sparkle, and that’s the Mad About Saffron. I’m not mad at it at all.
Make It:
• 1 1/2 ounces Bluecoat gin
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup
• 1/4 ounce lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon apricot-saffron-ginger marmalade*
• 8 ounces Jack’s Hard Cider
• Fresh mint (as a garnish)
Add all ingredients through the marmalade to shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a pint glass over ice. Fill with cider and garnish with mint.
* Really easy to make at home, just add ingredients to a pot with some water and cook it down until sticky — or substitute any good organic brand of apricot preserves.
