A Drink to Soothe the Stomach (& the Nerves)

As the cocktail year winds down, the author of my daily drink calendar seems to be running out of ideas. More often than not the recipes are 3rd tier, from the take 2 sips and throw the rest in the sink class of cocktails.

I made a couple this weekend like this: one with brandy, applejack, and sweet vermouth. The vermouth was strangely muted, but then so was the overall taste of the drink.

Another one called for Fernet Branca, which has odd, menthol-like notes. It may work in some drinks or as an aperitif - I need to play around with it one of these days - but it doesn't work with creme de menthe and brandy.

One cocktail that came close was supposedly a favorite of Bond author Ian Fleming's and the British garrisons in the Raj, who used it to soothe their stomach after an encounter with a man-eating tigger or a native.

You swirl bitters in a glass (they used a sherry glass; I used a miniature A&W rootbeer mug), dump it out, then straight gin, with a glass of water on the side.

I only took a few sips, mainly because I was liquored out from my tasting the other drinks, but I can see how this would be a nice after dinner drink sitting out on the terrace at Goldeneye (actually the name of Fleming's estate in Jamaica). A better gin (I was using Calvert's) and maybe orange or Peychaud's bitters would make it even better.