Horse’s Neck

On a quiet summer afternoon, there is nothing better than a refreshing, unpretentious drink to cool body and mind. The Horse’s Neck is definitely one of these. Simple to make, it also has that little bit extra flavour-wise that makes an interesting drink.

In it’s essence, the Horse’s Neck is just a normal long drink — booze and mixer. However, there are a couple of unusual features. For starters, it calls for brandy, a spirit that is usually taken straight. There is a good reason for this, since the nuances of brandy are usually lost if mixed with something as intense as Coke.

However, we’ll be mixing the brandy with ginger ale, a much gentler mixer generally. Note that using a strong ginger beer would probably ruin the drink altogether, the weak Schweppes-like stuff is what we’re after here.

Finally, the Horse’s Neck calls for a dash or two of Angostura bitters. The bitters make this drink, enhancing and combining with the brandy like a pinch of salt can make or break a meal. Removing the bitters makes this just another mixed drink, and using rum or bourbon instead of brandy just isn’t the same.

Recipe:

2 oz. Brandy
1 or 2 dashes Angostura bitters
fill with Ginger Ale

Build in the order given in a tall glass over plenty of ice.

Notes:

I always use spanish brandy. If I’m looking for a French Cognac-like brandy, I’ll use one of the bottlings from the Catalunya region in north-east Spain. However, I usually use sherry brandy, from the southern province of Cádiz, and this drink is no exception. I find that the additional sherry flavours work very well.

Also, I like to be liberal with the bitters, but your personal preference may differ…

Rating:

- One of my summer favourites.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2007 at 11:52 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.