Punch just did a real nice article on an oldie but a goodie, the Nobody’s Fool from this past April. I’m not sure why, but the photographs make the cocktail look a weird orange and not pinkish-red, but anyway…It was a cool experience. There’s some serious imposter syndrome going on with something like this. For one, no one can actually make this cocktail at home, so I’m not worried about that part of it, no, I’m more worried that it’s too weird just plain not good maybe how it and requires too many steps, well, because this one spawned literally from nowhere, almost by accident, and ended up being really delicious to me, Denise, and Angel. I guess the three of us know some stuff but in the great world out there I’m not sure what’s good and what isn’t. Whatever. Who knows what will come of it? I never realized how much work went into this one until I had to write out all the specs. Just making the milk punch part of it is a massive pain in the neck. The amazake can take up to a week. Yeesh. I think being totally scatterbrained as a person helps and hinders in this type of cocktail creation. I mean, some of it was accidental…

But of course, now I want to make another like this one. The wheels are turning along with the seasons. Fall is real close and that means squash, quince, maybe even some guava if we’re lucky. There’s a formula I’ve been following for a little while now where instead of including an ingredient as just one part of a cocktail, I make it with two or three or in this case four. So, instead of using just a syrup to add the seasonal fruit flavor, there is also a punch and bitters and maybe even something dehydrated if we’re lucky. I think it works well with strawberries because they’re so flexible whereas something like a blackberry won’t be as good because the seeds get in the way a bit and impart a strange woodiness at times with infusions.

Speaking of seeds…Got some cool stuff coming down the pipe there…Stay tuned…

So, the formula for the Nobody’s Fool, if I can break it down, goes something like this:

Base Spirit: Rum. Infusion with some sort of leftover scrap (in this case Guava from the winter months)

Sweet: Lightly Fermented syrup made with seasonal ingredient (strawberry)

Sweet: Orgeat made with koji nut milk (macadamia) sour amazake

Modifier: Milk punch. (Leftovers from chinois straining used in a milk punch)

Bitter component: Secondary fermentation–Aperol (bitters) infusion (strawberry)

Garnish: Powder made with the leftovers from infusion

The other funny part about doing this article was that in the original post for Nobody’s Fool back on April 9, I busted on Punch a bit which was a little embarrassing when I gave them the link to the cocktail specs and how it was made, etc. My words were something like “The people who write those articles have never shaken a drink in their life.” Oh dear. Yes, I said that. I think it was due to putting lactic acid in a strawberry syrup that actually took away a bit of the flavor then actually adding anything.

The way the articles are written are interesting. The person writing them never actually tastes the cocktail because they’re usually writing from someplace other than Los Angeles because, well, most writers aren’t paid enough to be able to afford to live here. They hear about a cool technique and then do a ton of research on where it comes from, the recipe, etc, but they never get a chance to taste what they’re writing about. Too bad actually. I don’t think a food writer would ever do this in a million years. Technique, yes, they would write about something new and different, but a dish? No way, bro. Anyway, just an observation. There’s no intention to bust on Punch here. I just want to be able to sit down with the writer and have them drink the drink.