I was lucky enough to stop by The Keefer Bar in Vancouver a week ago, truly one of the best cocktail bars I’ve visited.  While there, I sampled the Paomo Cola.  Not to overdue it, but it’s pretty rare a cocktail blows me away any more, especially at a bar that’s new to me.  Anyway, I was blown away, to put it mildly.  Totally and completely revelational.  A perfect drink for all seasons and all times of the day.  Balanced, supremely flavourful and perfect from beginning to   end.  It is almost certainly the ideal blend of sweet and tart of the tamarind that makes this drink so special.

I recreated it at home with a bit of help from Navide (spelling?), the Keefer bartender who created it:

Paomo Cola

1 1/2 oz Amaro Ramazzotti

1/2 oz Grand Marnier

3/4 oz Tamarind syrup (1:1)

1 oz Lemon

4 ml Sarsaparilla & bee propolis tincture

1 Egg white

Freshly grated cinnamon

Tamarind Syrup

I made mine with 1 cup hot water, 1 cup sugar and 200g tamarind paste (available at most speciality grocers).  Mix them together until the block of tamarind is dissolved.  Strain tamarind solids before use.

Sarsaparilla & Propolis Tincture

I had trouble finding propolist on its own, even in Toronto so I purchased a propolis tincture, which was easy to find, and infused two dropper fulls into  1/2 cup of vodka or Everclear.  I then added 1/4 cup of sarsaparilla root and infused in a mason jar for 24 hours before fine straining the liquid.