A Cocktail Creation Gone Wrong

Tonight I planned on having my own little private celebration for my sister.  My eldest sister just completed the coursework for her master's degree in educational leadership, and I told her tonight that I'd have a drink on her.

I concocted a quick pizza out of cheap veggies that I bought at Ed's Way today, layering thinly sliced onions, zucchini, kalamata olives, and ruby red peppers on a flour tortilla, sprinkling it all with crumbled feta cheese, and drizzling it with olive oil and dusting it with cracked black pepper.

 

While it baked I made a quick salad of cucumber and tomato, and then—I concocted a new drink.

I didn't have any limes or lemons, which surprisingly are fundamental in a LOT of cocktails, so, being so happy a cocktail experiment of yore, I got cocky and "threw" these ingredients together:
- 1 1/4 oz. Broker's gin
- 3/4 oz. dry vermouth
AND (my HUGE mistake)
- 1 oz. Cointreau

I took a hefty sip....

Dear GOD.

The only thing that made me continue sipping/gagging my marvelous creation down was the fact that I had told the eldest that I'd have a drink to celebrate her tonight.  I didn't want to toss the drink in the sink and jinx her.

The problem? I knew it before I even had it mixed, but—once again—I didn't listen to my brain.  Cointreau is just too sweet to be added in such vast quantities.  An ounce???

Seriously, Ms. Archer.  Be reasonable.


But...I did it, and I could barely get a few sips down.  I attempted to temper it with a few dashes of blood orange bitters, which helped.  But still.  (Cough.)  I couldn't drink the whole glass.

So, lesson learned in cocktail making.  Those liquors that only seem to be used in very small quantities in every cocktail recipe you come across??? There's a reason for that.  So take heed.

Dearest sister, please understand that my half-finished drink does not represent in ANY way the amount of pride or love in my heart for you!