Fresh Flavors for South Florida Spirits

By day, Dr. Erik Lowman is a Miami Shores infectious diseases specialist. On his own time, he’s a cocktail alchemist and – just as medieval alchemists did before him – combines scientific rigor with an intuitive spirit and willingness to push traditional boundaries in search of something new and meaningful, or at least delicious.

And like those bygone mystics, Lowman’s earned a reputation as a pioneer by exploring that which is in his own backyard. Let pedantic purists pursue the precise ingredients for the perfect cocktail, imported at any expense. For the discerning Biscayne Tippler, a thoughtful sip of South Florida’s flavors is paradise enough.

Budding Bartender

“I grew up in the restaurant business,” said Lowman. “When I was a teenager, my dad taught bartending classes and I would sit in the back, half paying attention, half reading “Elfquest” comics. Then I ended up working in restaurants until I started med school.”

The doctor likes to experiment. One of his recent successes took place about a year ago, while planning a visit to friends in Vermont.

“I was in the mood to make something ambitious to bring for the trip,” he said. “I wanted something that was going to be an Everlasting Gobstopper, with a bunch of different flavors hitting at different points in surprising ways.”

For a base he took a pineapple from his backyard and made tepache, a fermented, spiced pineapple beer, which he intentionally over-fermented until it became sour. Then he added Cynar, the Italian artichoke bitter.

“Artichoke has a funny chemical that isn’t sweet, but primes the taste buds to appreciate sugar and sweetness,” Lowman explained. “I knew this would make flavors come on in a wave that would be surprising.”

Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur added a slow heat. And homemade “mangocello” – a mango-based limoncello – added a new layer of fruitiness.

“I evened the whole thing out with some Hell’s Bay Rum, which is distilled right here in Miami by Big Cypress,” said Lowman. “It's fantastically balanced, and the cocktail benefited from its even keel bridging all the other elements going on.

“When you drank it, the first thing you got was the bitters from the Cynar, then sourness from the tepache, then the sweetness from the mango and the slow heat from the chili liqueur, and in between there were all these little flashes of other things – a bit of gaminess from the home ferment, richness from the Hell’s Bay, complexities from the Cynar and spices from the tepache. It was an immediate hit.”

Willingness to Experiment

Creations like that “Everlasting Gobstopper” cocktail don’t necessarily come easy – it’s a little too fussy to replicate easily. Two of the components, though, are well worth trying at home: tepache and mangocello.

“Tepache is a fizzy, tart and refreshing pineapple drink that’s been made in Mexico for many centuries,” said Lowman.

The only tricky thing is the container, which has to allow carbon dioxide to escape without bursting.

“Canisters with snap-shut lids sold at most grocery stores are perfect,” he said, and added that “if the tepache doesn’t bubble or ferment, one solution is to warm up some water with a bit of sugar, add some brewer’s yeast, wait 5-15 minutes until you see it frothing a bit, then add it to the brew. Another solution is to use the unfermented brew just like you would the fermented result – it’s still going to be delicious.”

Mangocello is something we could all appreciate in mid-summer, when trying to figure out what to do with all those mangoes.

“One of the things I like about mangocello is that you can use mangoes in their prime ripeness or those that are bruised and a little too mushy to enjoy eating fresh,” he said.

Ongoing Quests

“I’ve played around with flavors and botanicals of things that smell like Miami to me, and I can get some of that into the liquor, but it ends up muddied and tasting preserved,” said Lowman. “The smells of Miami vegetation I like to capture are fresh, the vibrant flora. The smell that hits you like a blast of heat when you step out into the sun on a summer afternoon.”

One bitter ingredient he has looked at is balsam pear, the yellow, bumpy fruit of a fast-growing vine that most Florida gardeners regard as a weed.

“It's been my prime target,” said Lowman. “Growing up, my mother's family called it cundeamor. I used the red part of the fruit around the seeds, and even then it is pretty bitter – it's sharp and distinct, but not really delicious.”

For something more sippable, he recommends playing with sour oranges, also called bitter oranges, agrio de España or Seville oranges.

“My aunt had a sour orange tree in her backyard on Key Biscayne,” Lowman shared. “It always struck me as a great ingredient for cocktails – it has the sour of a lemon or lime, but it's not as tart, so it requires a lot less sugar to balance.”

One of his new favorites uses the juice from sour oranges, local honey from Bee Heaven Farms and Magic City Gin, based on a classic Prohibition-era cocktail called Bee’s Knees.

“Easy to make, all local ingredients, and really delicious,” Lowman said. “In general, I want my drinks to be an experience, but not an overly complicated one. After all, this is Miami.”

TEPACHE

INGREDIENTS

·     2 cups plus 1 cup water

·     1 round of panela, or unrefined cane sugar, also called piloncillo (2 cups turbinado or brown sugar is a good substitute)

·     Fruit of 1 fresh pineapple, lightly rinsed and roughly chopped; reserve husk

·     Spices of your choice: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, star anise, peppercorns, bay leaves, sliced ginger

·     Brewer’s yeast, optional

·     Rum

·     Key lime, optional

METHOD

·     Bring 2 cups water to a boil, add sugar and drop to a low simmer while stirring occasionally; while mixture simmers, blend pineapple with 1 cup water until smooth.

·     Once sugar has completely melted, remove from stove and set aside; wash hands and combine sugar water with blended pineapple. As soon as mixture is cool enough for you to comfortably insert a finger in it for 5 seconds, add pineapple husk and spices to large seal-top glass jar and pour in warm sugar water-pineapple mixture. (If it’s too hot, the natural yeasts will be shocked or killed; if the brew feels cool to the touch, just pour a bit back into the pan and warm it before adding it.)

·     Leave an inch of space at top of jar to accommodate frothiness; seal jar and store in warm place away from direct sunlight 1-3 days.

·     Once mixture starts bubbling, wait another 2-3 days, until bubbling slows. (If bubbling stops earlier, add more sugar water.)

·     Strain out husk and spices and if desired, strain again to remove pulp; refrigerate.

·     Serve with ice, a shot of rum and a squirt of Key lime.

MANGOCELLO

INGREDIENTS

·     Fresh mangoes, seeded, peeled and sliced

·     Overproof rum

·     Simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)

METHOD

·     Fill a sealable glass jar about 3/4 full of mango and top with rum, writing down how much rum you use; allow to infuse 1-3 weeks.

·     Make simple syrup using water and sugar equal to amount of rum; for example, if you use 2 cups rum, use 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar for syrup. Bring water to a boil and slowly add sugar while stirring until fully dissolved; allow to cool to room temperature.

·     Strain out mangoes from rum and discard, then mix infused rum with sugar water.

·     Serve in small amounts, chilled.

THE BARBER & THE BEE

INGREDIENTS

·     2 ounces sour orange juice (takes about 2 oranges)

·     1 ounce local honey

·     2 ounces Magic City Gin

METHOD

·     Juice sour oranges, straining out seeds, then mix in honey and chill.

·     Add mixture to shaker with gin and pour into a coupe or martini glass.