A recent addition to my drinks collection was a bottle of 7 year old Havana Club; this is a wonderfully dark, rich rum, good for sipping as well as mixing, so I wanted to find a complex cocktail recipe that could match the level of flavour in this drink. I had tried a Palmetto recently, which has been described as a ‘rum Manhattan’, but I thought this rum deserved more. Taking a cue from the Sidecar I made a few weeks ago, I settled on the Embassy, a drink that originated in the eponymous Embassy Club in Hollywood in the 1920s. Sadly, history doesn’t record the barman who invented the drink, but the story of Eddie Brandstatter, the restaurateur who opened this, and many others, before sadly taking his own life in the 1940s is as fascinating as this drink: with three different spirits and a decent amount of lime juice, it is like a very grown up Margharita. It is a potent cocktail, and when I sipped it, I could imagine the bright young things of the twenties enjoying it in California nearly a century ago.
Approach with caution, mix with élan & drink like you are partying with Clara Bow.
Proportions:
1oz of fresh lime juice
3/4oz of Cointreau or Triple Sec (I used Gabriel Boudier Curaçao Triple Sec)
3/4oz of Brandy or Cognac (I used Chateau de Millet Bas Armagnac)
3/4oz of Rum (Havana Club, 7 year old)
Dashes of bitters (I used my own house Bt bitters)
Glass: 3oz Martini glass, chilled
Shake well in a shaker over ice, then strain into the Martini glass. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
Variations: Diffords guide makes this drink with white rum. This would make the drink lighter, but much drier I imagine.
Ice & Bitters 