This one here is something Angel worked on for a spell. He wanted sapote, I got him sapote. What to do with it once you’ve got it is another story. It’s a shame, but you have to throw the skins away…You can eat them, but there’s something in them that makes you quite sleepy…A mild narcotic of some sort…Not sure. The only thing to really do is make syrup with it. Equal parts in the blender and then the old 2:1 trick with calpico. The sapote gets pretty thick–use a whisk.

When you combine a funky rum with tequila you get a vegetal, peppery, hogo-ish kind of a deal. They don’t fight each other, they hold hands and dance. The sapote calpico makes it creamy, acidic, and tropical, the almond amazake adds body and texture and the umami we’re all looking for. The noyaux? No idea. Angel added a touch and the drink tasted better and that’s all that matters. If I had to wager it probably boosts the almond orgeat a bit more because they share similar flavors.

I’ve been on one booze cruise in my life. It was part of a whole meet and greet thing during the first week I moved to New York. A bunch of strangers got on a boat and we went floating around the entirety of Manhattan. It was one of those nights where I didn’t feel like drinking but had to in order to have some fun mingling with people I didn’t know. Judge away. The bar had beer and vodka only, no whiskey. I drank vodka sodas until I felt some semblance of being social and ended up in a weird bar by my apartment in the upper west side that had hula hoops. Someone dared me to jump through it, a long haired dude. I was pretty limber, even back then. It was a long time ago and the details are fuzzy. There were two people there who had the same birthday I did…Some others…A beautiful girl with piercing blue eyes I said goodbye to in the streets and then never saw again…I case you’re wondering, yes I jumped through the hoop and did a pretty decent little somersault on the beer soaked hardwood floor and ended up back on my feet to the cheers of everyone in the place. I’m sure it looked horrible, to me it was a small triumph although I’m not sure it impressed anyone but everyone laughed so the action did have some merit in bringing joy to others. This may have been the night I hit up a bodega in the wee hours of the morning and bought myself and a homeless guy a sandwich, then bought him a 40 of O.E. Not sure. I do remember singing some early Tom Waits, notably, The Piano has Been Drinking and using parking meters as walking sticks. Pretty good times in my late twenties before it all fell apart and my boyish charm went down the toilet along with all my hopes and dreams.

Quite often the cocktail name has something to do with the drink itself, no matter how small or trivial. In this case, it’ll be a reach. Angel doesn’t like to name his cocktails which means I have to. This one was in the phone notes. If I had to try and connect the cocktail and the name I would say this is something you should drink while kicking back on a boat instead of a shitty vodka soda.

Booze Cruise

1 oz. Tequila

1 oz. Cachaca

1 oz. Lime

.75 oz. Sapote Calpico

.25 oz. Almond Amazake Syrup

.25 oz. Simple Syrup

.25 oz. Noyaux