French Bond
Recipe:
- 50ml cognac (preferably Grapediggaz VSOP or Pierre Ferrand 1840)
- 20ml amaretto (preferably Adriatico)
- 1 bsp runny honey
- 6 drops truffle bitters (preferably The Seventh Sense Alba Bitters)
Stir everything over ice until sufficiently chilled, strain over a large ice cube into a rocks glass, optional garnish: lemon zest.
A few weeks ago, we received some nice samples of Adriatico Amarettos and thought long and hard about which drinks to try. The best known is probably the classic Amaretto Sour (especially thanks to Mr. Morgenthaler) and then possibly the controversial Godfather, which exists in dozens of variations, which is always a bad sign. Scotch whisky, Amaretto, done, at least in the classic version.
So it's probably the original counterpart to today's drink, which is based on the "French Connection". A drink that appeared somewhere at the beginning of the 1970s, named after a film and no one knows who was originally responsible, a classic origin of the 60s to 80s cocktail world.
Like the Godfather, it has only spirit + amaretto, but in this case cognac. As with the Godfather, in some cases you see questionable proportions, like 1.5 to 1, in case you want to get diabetic particularly quickly. In addition, both drinks and the amaretto cocktail category in general suffer from the problem, which is also seen with other more special liqueurs: If there is only one really widespread brand and, according to serious bartenders, it is not suitable for craft drinks, no good drinks come out of it, a vicious circle (cough Midori cough).
So I dared to make the French Connection anyway, as it seems more sensible to me than the Godfather and changed the ratio a little, as well as adding 2 small additions that raise everything to another level, truffle bitters (chef's kiss) and a touch of honey, to round things off and also as a suitable flavour extension, without taking anything away from the 2 stars.
In addition, in my drink, the French Bond (no, not 007, "Bond" as in synonym of "Connection", because it builds on it), I would advise a lighter, fruity-fresh, slightly floral cognac with quite a bit more %, for example a Pierre Ferrand 1840 or the new Grapediggaz Cognac VSOP, which doesn't get overwhelmed by the other ingredients.
Source: Creator of the original "French Connection" unknown, appeared first in the early 1970s
