Drinks

Velvet Fog

October 16, 2020 by Jennifer

The weather here in the South Bay (and all over California for that matter) has been cray, cray. One week it’s in the triple digits and the next it’s foggy and in the low 70’s. There’s no rhyme or reason to this weather pattern. One thing doesn’t change though, no matter what the thermometer reads, it’s been muggy. Even with the marine layer in, it’s still too humid to wear a jacket.

It’s during these California heat waves, that I drink and eat anything cold. I have grapes, popsicles and ice cream in the freezer. I have a water bottle that I’m refilling by the hour, and there are half a dozen mini ginger ales in the fridge. In other words, I’m ready for the heat. I may not like it, but I’m ready for it. Ice cream and soda aren’t all I have at the ready, though. I also have plenty of liquor because when it’s this hot, nothing’s better in the evening than a tall, cool cocktail. While my first choice is something simple, like a mojito or margarita, every so often I like to take a little more time and create something special, like a mai tai or daiquiri. When I tasted Disaronno’s newest liqueur, I knew I had to create something with it immediately and that creation just had to be tiki-esque.

Let me back track a little. I’ve been enjoying Disaronno for as long as I can remember. My mom always used to add “a splash” of the Amaretto to her fruit salads. Then, once I was old enough to drink, she introduced me to one of her favorite after-dinner drinks – a simple glass of Amaretto on the rocks. I loved it! Ever since then, I always make sure to have a bottle in my bar. I add it to my fruit salad just like Mom did, but I also add it to pies, tarts, and puddings. In other words, I’m a fan. So, when Disaronno came out with their newest liqueur, the Velvet, I knew I had to grab a bottle.

Unlike their original amaretto, the Velvet, is something totally different. It’s a creamy, rich, luxurious liquor that tastes like a nutty milkshake… with alcohol. While it’s great all by itself, over ice or added to a tall cup of coffee, I immediately thought of rum.

That nuttiness made me think of some of my favorite tiki cocktails. How do nuts and tiki go together? Well, a lot of classic tiki drinks, including the oh, so popular mai tai, use orgeat syrup as one of their ingredients. Orgeat is a syrup made of almonds or almond milk and sugar. But here’s the difference between Disaronno and orgeat (as well as most other amaretto liqueurs): there isn’t a single almond or nut extract anywhere in the liqueur. Disaronno gets it nutty flavors from apricot kernels of all things. That’s great news for people (like Hubs) who have a nut allergy. Now they can enjoy an Amaretto cocktail without worrying if they’re going to need their epipen before they finish the drink. I thought the Velvet would be amazing in a Piña Colada or Pain Killer. Unfortunately I can’t drink either of those because they’re made with pineapple (which I’m allergic to). So, I decided to create my own tiki drink: The Velvet Fog.

The Velvet Fog combines everything I love about tiki: rum, simple syrup, a little citrus, a little spice and a little funk thanks to the overproof rum. Then comes the creaminess from the Velvet to tie everything together. This is a drink that goes down easy at home or lounging by the pool. And considering the temperature’s back up this week, an icy cocktail by the pool sounds pretty great right about now.