You're Too Sweet for Me
The Pare de Sufrir.
So far on this journey, I’ve found most of the bottles I bought to be valuable investments — except for the half-pint of Southern Comfort still collecting dust on my shelf. That changed with this drink. Or, rather, with the next three drinks, which all use Pedro Ximenez sherry. I’d been intrigued by Pedro Ximenez, or PX, since I first bought that bottle of amontillado sherry for some other drinks in the book. While amontillado is a mid-range sherry, PX is one of the sweeter ones, but I figured I’d like it if I like port and other dessert wines.
Nope. This is a bottle of sickly sweet raisin juice. I’m sure the fact that I bought Lustau, the most commonly available PX, certainly had something to do with it, and that there’s nuance in other bottles of PX. (The drink I made today did specifically call for Lustau!) But after sipping a glass of this stuff, I felt sick.
But, it’s included in three drinks from Beta Cocktails, so I soldiered on, putting my faith in the power of cocktail alchemy. The first drink I made was the Pare de Sufrir, a room-temperature cocktail from Boston mezcal evangelist Misty Kalkofen. Fittingly, this is a mezcal drink, named after a bar in Guadalajara. What makes it interesting isn’t the mezcal or the sherry, though — it’s the coffee.
This is, surprisingly, the only drink in Beta featuring coffee liqueur. Kalkofen calls for Galliano Ristretto, an Italian espresso liqueur that’s reasonably sweet. I subbed out Mr. Black, a cold brew liqueur that wasn’t around when Beta was published. It’s become bartenders’ go-to coffee liqueur because it’s barely sweetened, allowing you to toggle the sweetness yourself in the build of the drink. (Its coffee flavor is robust, too.) I knew the bitterness would be essential to combat the sweetness of my PX.
The other new ingredient here is Amaro Lucano. I bought this bottle a while ago because it was on sale, knowing I’d need it for a cocktail from Beta. By the time I got around to making the Pare de Sufrir, it was nearly gone. That’s how good this stuff is. It has a deep, prominent cola flavor, with a bit of citrus and other earthy, herbal notes as well. It’s often named as a starter amaro, for good reason — it’s sweet enough for introductory drinkers, but has a ton going on. It’s already become a go-to of mine in cocktails and for sipping. (That makes up for the PX, I guess.) One more note on bitters: I simply used two dashes of Angostura, rather than buying a bottle of Bitter Truth’s bitters.
As I mentioned, the Pare de Sufrir is a room-temperature cocktail — and like the Hotel Room Service, it doesn’t even add water, allowing the flavors to come through unfiltered.
Pare de Sufrir
1 1/2 ounces Lustau Pedro Ximenez San Emilio Sherry
5/8 ounce Chichicapa Mezcal
1/2 ounce Galliano Ristretto
1/4 ounce Amaro Lucano
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters
Stir all ingredients in a chilled mixing glass without ice. Strain into an espresso cup. This is a room temperature cocktail.
Garnish with a small amount of grated canela.
By Misty Kalkofen
The genius of this drink is pairing smoky, earthy mezcal with coffee. Who knew? The body of the mezcal also cuts the sweetness of the PX sherry, which, surprisingly, does give the drink a nice body. The sip ends with a bit of candied orange, courtesy of the Amaro Lucano. But the most crucial element of this drink might be the canela garnish — I didn’t include it at first, because I didn’t like the idea of floating spices in my drink, but the cocktail was slightly too sweet. So I grated some cinnamon on top (I didn’t have canela myself), and voila, the drink was rounded out. Also, the final sip with all the cinnamon tasted especially warming and wonderful.
Up next, I’m breaking out my nice whiskey for another PX sherry drink.