Good greif.  This is a rambly post but it does end in a good cocktail so I think it’s worth it.

I’ve totally lost track of time.  However, I think that in fall of 2010 I was poking around on CocktailDB for recipe ideas and kept finding recipes with ingredients that no longer exist.  Forbidden Fruit and Swedish Punsch in particular tickled my curiosity bone (that sounds vaguely rude).    I googled for more information on these ingredients and ultimately decided I’d like to try this recipe for home made Swedish Punsch.  Of course I monkeyed with the recipe a little and used dememara sugar and boosted the cardamom just a bit.  When my batch of Punsch was ready, we went into full on “Swedish Thursday Night Dinner” mode.  That is to say, Pea Soup, Pork, Pancakes and Punsch.  Look it up.  It ain’t a bad tradition.  And neither is Punsch.

Anyway, at the same time, I went back to CocktailDB looking for recipes that would leverage my Punsch… and found that most of the recipes that I found interesting had other ingredients I had never heard of.  Van Der Hum for example.  An orange liqueuer from South Africa.  So, I went hunting on the Washington State Liquor Control Board website and found nothing.  Google and New Jersey however were able to hook me up with a couple of bottles which I soon put to work in the form of a  Crow’s Peck cocktail.  I made that cocktail several times and quite liked it at the time but have since decided that I’m not a fan of Fee’s Peach Bitters (too perfumy for me).

After that, the Van Der Hum languished on the counter (though I’m already working my way through my second batch of Swedish Punsch).  It’s a shame about the Van Der Hum though.  It’s not your usual triple-sec.  It’s got what I would call christmas spice to it.  Kind of a mulled wine sort of spice profile (without the wine).  It’s quite different.

Now, making an abrupt transition to the point of this post…

Here’s the sucessfull concoction I came up with tonight –

Apples and Oranges:

2oz                Boulard Calvados
1oz                Amer Boudreau (an Amer Picon Clone)
.75oz           Van Der Hum
2 dashes     Angostura Orange Bitters

Maybe garnish with an orange twist if you wish.