Campo Cocktails

A young Dominican man who had recently left the Evangelical church made me a cocktail one night. Evangelicals in the DR are famous for not drinking. It had been two months since had tasted his first sip of the devil’s libation which was made blaringly evident by his cocktail technique. He handed me a tiny, plastic cup of thick, red liquid and asked me to guess what was in it. A game I am very good at. Which is the Islay scotch out of these three? Which white wine is the Albariño? Which of these brandies is the Solera Gran Reserva?
My question to him was: “Is there or is there not medicine in this?”
He responded with: “Close! I crushed up some cough drops and shook them with some sweet red wine (La Fuerza), sugar and water.

[end scene]

I made my own bitters…because although I live in a wood hut, use a latrine and bucket shower outside…ya gurl has to get her bouge on sometimes.

1  At the nearest Colmado (convenience store) purchase

a.       Cinnamon sticks

b.       Star Anise

c.       Cloves

d.       Nutmeg

e.       Malaguetta (I don’t actually know what this is…)

f.        Coffee

g.       Mamajuana, this is the bittering agent. V important

h.       Get some sun-dried cacao pods from your neighbor. Use four pods.

i.         Flask-sized shitty rum

j.         1 heaping spoon of sugar

k.       If you’re feeling ballsy, ask your doña about tea leaves. You’ll probably get a good hour-long tour of the yard and circa 5 different leaves that you could make tea bitters with

l.         Honestly, add whatever your terroir-conscious heart desires!

How-To Guide to Campo Bitters

1.  Toast all the spices over low heat for about 5-10 minutes.
2. Add all ingredients to the rum and let sit for two weeks. Agitate daily.
3. Separate the solids from the liquids. Put the liquids in a jar and let it sit for one week. Boil the solids with circa one cup of water for circa 10 minutes. It should evaporate down to about 1/2 cup.  Put the water and the solids together to create a potent tea. Let this sit for one week.
4. Strain the potent tea and add it to the rum mixture (add about ¼ cup). Discard solids (or make dank-ass tea). Add the sugar. Let it sit for 3 days, agitating daily.

Now to make a campo version of a Singapore Sling! (Apologies to my bar manager, Mike Lu, for the bastardized version of this classic cocktail. Desperate times call for desperate measures…)

Campo Singapore Sling

2 oz. Gin
2 oz. Lime juice
½ oz. Manaschewitz Cherry Wine
½ oz. Triple Sec
4 drops of bitters
2 oz. Pineapple juice (b/c if not, it won’t be sweet enough for the Dominicans)

Hard shake in a cocktail shaker with ice. Serve in a tiny, plastic cup. When the Dominicans complain that it’s not sweet enough, have some sugar on hand that they can scoop into their drink.