Golden Order of the Hermetic Dawn (?)

2 oz Golden Berry Juice
1 1/2 oz Vodka (Death’s Door)
1/4 oz Absinthe (Absinthe Brevans A. Crowley)
1/2 oz Cayenne infused Maple Syrup 
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
3 dashes Hot Sauce(Sriracha)

Shake everything with ice and strain into an ice filled Highball. Garnish with Golden Berries, a Lemon Wedge and a slice of Bacon candied in that Cayenne infused Maple Syrup.

I’ve already said how much I hate Bloody Mary’s, but I really have to say that I love the IDEA of the Bloody Mary: a spicy, morning cocktail to restart the day after a previous evening of drinking. An awesome idea, but I’ve never, ever gotten the taste for, or even the ability to drink Tomato Juice. Then I stumbled across Golden Berries.

Golden Berries (Physalis peruviana) are in the family of Nightshade much like Tomatoes,  but they’re sweeter and more tart, almost cherry-like. I’ll pop them like grapes when they’re available and they’ve been nudging me to devise a morning cocktail with them like a sweet Bloody Mary.  I still wanted to keep a bit of the spiciness and suggest upping the amount of hot sauce and adding pepper if you want to try this and actually like Bloody Mary’s. 

Just a note: it took about a pint and a half of berries to make the 2 ounces of juice in a hand press. If you have a better method of juicing, I’m sure you’ll get better results.

I really just wanted to call this “The Golden Dawn” after The old Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. “Golden” Berries, an early morning “Dawn” cocktail, a wee bit of an Absinthe named after Mr. Crowley who was a one time member, etc. It seemed like a perfect thing, however, some radical fuckwits in Greece have apparently commandeered that name for their political bullshit and I wouldn’t want to be seen to look like I support them. I have enough trouble separating my stuff with political bullshit as it is. I would love some suggestions on finalizing the name.