The Brandy Crusta
The Crusta was invented in New Orleans in the 1850s by an Italian bartender named Joseph Santini. The original recipe adheres to the classic cocktail formulation of spirit, bitters, sugar, water, but adds a squeeze of lemon, so it is actually much more spirit forward than its relation, the Sidecar.
The over the top garnish and glassware is what really set it apart way back when, so if you have a fancy glass to serve in in, it'll taste even better!
I’ve upped the lemon juice a little here, as I just think it tastes better, especially with such a rich base spirit and using both curacao and maraschino.
The addition of maraschino became trendy a little later in the life of this cocktail, but I’ve decided to include it because this brandy has such awesome red fruit flavours and it really enhances those, but its certainly not necessary to make a tasty version. It actually has quite a dry finish and in such a small quantity it doesn’t add too much sweetness in my opinion.
Ingredients
60ml (2oz) brandy
15ml (1/2oz) dry curacao
15ml (1/2oz) fresh lemon juice
10ml (1/3oz) maraschino liqueur (optional)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Powdered sugar to garnish
Long lemon twist to garnish
Equipment
A jigger
Shaker tins
A hawthorn strainer
A fine strainer
A fancy wine glass
Method
Run a lemon wedge around the outside of the glass and dab in powdered sugar, shaking off any excess.
Using a vegetable peeler, peel as long a twist of lemon as you can, trim it down if necessary and arrange around the inside of the glass, at the top so you will still get the aromatic oils.
Add all ingredients to shaker tins, fill with ice and shake hard (but not for too long).
Double strain in to your garnished and chilled glass, and enjoy!
Suggested Spirits
The brandy is a hero here, so make sure you choose something with enough body to hold up. We’ve used Sullivan’s Cove XO which is a beautifully rich Tasmanian brandy, but Hennessey, Remy Martin etc would work as well. If you use a VS or VSOP it will just be a lighter cocktail with less complexity, but delicious nonetheless.
We’re using Pierre Ferrand curacao. This is made with a cognac base layered with spices and orange peel, so will really compliment the intense brandy we’re using. Try to stick with a dryer style curacao, especially if you’re adding the maraschino as well.
On that note- the maraschino is optional. It became popular to add some a while after the creation of the Crusta, and we find it works well with the red fruit notes in this brandy but feel free to omit.
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