Koji King
Adapted from The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 Recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit by Maggie Hoffman I tinkered with the recipe a bit, dialing up the amount of Scotch whisky and adding the lemon strip to the cocktail, rather than discarding it after expressing the oils in the drink. I found the additional lemon flavor was nice with the drink. To express the oils, twist the lemon strip sharply over the drink, and drop it in. I used a lightly peated Scotch, as advised, and you can use your favorite. It's hard to know if a Scotch is heavily peated, or lightly peated, from the label, so you may need to ask at a knowledgeable liquor store for guidance. A blended Scotch (like Johnnie Walker) would work, although I think the drink benefits from the slightly smoky flavor of peated whisky, so encourage you to find one that falls into that category.
Servings 1 cocktail
- 1/2 teaspoon white miso paste
- 3/4 ounce rich demerara syrup , (see note, below)
- 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 ounces lightly peated Scotch
- 1 wide strip lemon zest, removed with a vegetable peeler
- Mash the miso paste with some of the demerara syrup in the bottom of a cocktail shaker until the miso paste is completely softened and dissolved in the syrup. Add the rest of the syrup.
- Add the Scotch and lemon juice to the shaker. Fill halfway with ice, cover, and shake for 15 seconds.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Express the lemon twist over the glass, skin side down, and drop the twist into the glass.
Notes
Note: To make rich demerara syrup, heat 2 tablespoons of water with 1/4 cup (55g) of demerara sugar in a small saucepan, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and cool. The syrup can be made with light turbinado sugar as well. (More on their similarities, and difference, here.) It'll keep in the refrigerator at least two weeks.