By Jake Powell (Death & Co Denver, 2022)

Alabaster

For a while I’d wanted to create a riff on the Eastside (a classic drink made with gin, lime juice, cucumber, and mint) that didn't require any muddled ingredients. One night I was going to an All Them Witches concert with some friends, and at our pre-show dinner someone ordered shots of rhum agricole with a splash of Chareau, a California-made spirit flavored with aloe, cucumber, and lemon peel. That gave me the idea to revisit the Eastside drink and use Chareau in place of the cucumber and mint. I brought in Falernum to add some Caribbean spices, and we ended up switching the agricole to Probitas because the drink was a little too dry and the subtle Jamaican funk in Probitas really rounded it out. I named the drink “Alabaster” after one of the songs All Them Witches performed at the show, and because the drink is a bright cloudy white when you first strain it. I was also really stoked because I love equal parts cocktails, and I’d been wanting to write one that was different from the Big Three (Last Word, Paper Plane, and Naked & Famous).

Ingredients:
¾ ounce Probitas rum
¾ ounce Chareau Aloe Liqueur 
¾ ounce J.D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum  
¾ fresh lime juice  

Directions:
Shake all the ingredients with ice, then double strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. No garnish.