Homemade Tuaca

Oh sweet heaven. I was flipping through a local magazine and found Gilt Club's recipe for homemade tuaca. I figured a few of you would also want the recipe. Ken and I started a bottle of it tonight:

Homemade Tuaca

1 750 ml bottle brandy
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
Zest of 2 tangerines
Zest of 1 grapefruit
1 3 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 cup simple syrup

Pour the brandy into a clean container and add vanilla beans and zests. Let sit 1 week, then add cinnamon stick and simple syrup. After 1 more week of infusing, strain out all ingredients, reserving the vanilla beans. Drop the beans into a clean bottle, then fill with the brandy. (Note: to make simple syrup, bring equal amounts sugar and water to a boil until sugar dissolves.)



Tuaca Sidecar

2 ounces homemade Tuaca
1 ounce orange liqueur (such as cointreau or grand marnier)
Juice from 1/2 orange
Juice from 1/2 lemon

Pour Tuaca, orange liqueur and juices into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass rimmed with Orange Sugar (recipe below). Makes 1 cocktail.

Orange Sugar

Grated zest of 1 small orange
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup sugar

Toss the orange zest with the salt. Spread out in a thin layer on a sheet pan and allow to sit overnight or until dry. Run salt through a food processor or use a wooden spoon to crush and grind salt back to original consistency. Add the orange salt to the sugar and mix well.