Hop Toad Cocktail
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Hop Toad Cocktail:
1. 5 oz. Dark Rum (Ron Zacapa Centanario 23)
1 oz. apricot brandy (Rothman and Winter)
.5 oz lime juice
Angostura bitters to taste
Shake with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
The recipe listed above is from Gary Regan's classic "The Joy of Mixology", which itself is an adaptation from A.S. Crockett's, "The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book" (Gary adds bitters), which is most likely an adaptation from Tom Bullock's Ideal Bartender, where it was called a Leaping Frog* (recipe below) before rum was added. How's that for evolution of a cocktail? Provided you start with high quality ingredients, all variations are delicious and it will take a bit of experimenting to find the version that suits your taste. Many fine classic cocktails call for apricot brandy making it a great addition to any home bar. Cocktail Historian David Wondrich insists that a true Hop Toad* (recipe below) is made with Hungarian Apricot Brandy, but Rothman and Winter is a fine choice, a blend of a true apricot eau-de-vie sweetened with apricot fruit juices harvested at their peak ripeness in Austria.
