Why do it the old way? I say we do it Rustic Style instead. What does that even mean? My friends M&J are having themselves a wedding this Saturday and they wanted me to whip up a couple of their favorite concoctions, one of those said drinks being the Army & Navy. Ok. Ok. Not one of my favorites. I kinda think almond orgeat is just better with rum. Like if you’re going through all the trouble then just bust out the rum, right? Anyway, I got to thinking about it, it’s stone fruit season and we’ve got all sorts of noyaux around right now and I want to make this version of the Army & Navy cocktail extra special for these two lovebirds.

Let’s float out the original specs first:

Army & Navy

2 oz. Gin

1 oz. Lemon Juice

1 oz. Almond Orgeat

2 Dashes Ango

This one came about in 1948. First published in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embry. He gives the original recipe, stating, “It’s terrible” and gives better specs further on. More citrusy, less sweet. There’s rumors of the drink’s origination first coming about in the Army & Navy Club in D.C. but who knows? There’s more speculation the cocktail was invented to celebrate the age old rivalry between the Army and Navy in their football games. Makes sense. The potation itself is a bit of a no brainer. A sour riff where you swap simple for delicious orgeat.

The Rustic version however, is going to incorporate some waste (leftover cherry pits turned noyaux) and some fermented product. Because, well, that’s what we do.

We’ve been putting up some wonderful amazake orgeats lately. Pretty much any nut you put in there is goddam delicious. When you let the sucker go the full seven days it gets really fucking sour. Like mouth puckering. Very cool considering there’s only four ingredients in there: koji, rice, nuts, and water. Why go through all the trouble? Well, you do it for the umami, stupid.

Army & Navy

1.5 oz. London Dry Gin

.75 oz. (big one) Fresh Lemon Juice

.5 oz. Creme de Noyaux

.5 oz. Almond Amazake Orgeat (recipe in link is for pistachio, just swap nuts)

2 Dashes Ango

1 Dash Shio Koji

Shake, double strain into a small coupe. Indulge.