A Farewell to Giorgio
He’s Leaving You
Ever since MJ Lenderman’s brilliant song “She’s Leaving You” came out in 2024, it’s held a permanent hook in my brain. I mean the guitars sawing, that killer chorus, “Falls apart, we all got work to do.” Oh, god, don’t we. I just wish I had a Neil Young-ish combo to accompany my toil.
And so you see, I plant one more semi-obscure music reference into Edible to say goodbye. For this, the 44th Drinkable Landscape column that began in summer 2013, is now my finale. That’s a lot of lovely liquor under the bridge.
This season’s cocktail, The Farewell to Giorgio, is a local variation on a 20-year-old drink that stands the taste test of time: Audrey Saunders’s Intro to Aperitivo. Saunders is one of the heroes of the cocktail renaissance, and her story is even more remarkable as she broke the boys’ club glass ceiling in hard-bitten New York with the beloved Pegu Club (one more wonderful thing laid to waste by the pandemic). Two of Saunders’s goals in those hard-to-recall, less-sophisticated days, were to re-popularize gin and get people to dip their toe into the world of amari. Given the current spritzification of cocktail menus, it’s hard to recall that back then, even Aperol seemed a bitter too far.
The fun part is we get to swap out Aperol for a delicious local product, atōst. Created in Ventura, atōst is a tribute to California agriculture. Co-founder Cindy Pressman’s grandparents migrated from Mexico to work in California’s citrus orchards, and that’s where the liquor’s flavoring begins: with oranges. Its alcohol base, and that’s not a crazy strong base at 18% ABV-it’s built to savor and not slump over-starts from grapes, which is even more Californian. Then there are strawberries, and other local botanicals they keep a secret, as most such products do. They hand zest, chop and blend. The result, to my palate, is an artisanal West Coast Aperol. (And you’ll find it featured in many of the best bar programs throughout the region.)
This cocktail packs all the tastes-sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (ah, the secret botanicals!). It gives you a chance to honor our local citrus I hope you can pick from your own yard-lemon juice in the drink, then an orange strip garnish. You do have to whip up two pre-recipes, but both have just two ingredients. Note that you really want the “rich” sugar syrup-that is a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water. You get more sweet bang for your dilution buck that way. And saline solution guarantees the saltiness-nature’s flavor enhancer-integrates into the drink and doesn’t end up a pile of salt in the last sip.
It’s been a privilege and an honor to raise a glass with all of you these 13 years. Now I better run before I provide natural saline solution for my cocktail. Cheers!
A Farewell to Giorgio
Ingredients
- 3⅓ ounces atōst
- 2 ounces London Dry Gin
- 2 ouces lemon juice, freshly-squeezed
- ⅓ ounce rich simple syrup, 2:1 sugar to water
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 8 drops saline solution
- 2 orange peels
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients into an ice- filled cocktail shaker. Shake to chill, combine, dilute. Pour into 2 pre-chilled coupes. Garnish with orange twists.
Rich Sugar Syrup
- Vigorously stir 2 cups of granulated white sugar with 1 cup water in a saucepan. Heat to a boil until sugar dissolves. Let cool. Store in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Saline Solution
- Combine 20 grams of fine sea salt with 80 grams of water in a small jar. Close and shake vigorously to dissolve the salt in the water. Can be kept in a cool, dry place almost indefinitely.
