As a child, Payman Bahmani would sit down to breakfast with his grandfather, who enjoyed beginning the mornings with a simple meal of black tea and marmalade-smeared pumpernickel toast. That fond culinary ritual is what gave Bahmani, the bartender behind the consultancy Life's a Cocktail, the impetus to create the Toast & Marmalade.This elegant pumpernickel rye-spiked Cognac, Assam tea and orange marmalade libation stars at the two-level Atrium DUMBO, the recently opened French-meets-New-American eatery in the shadow of Brooklyn Bridge Park. "I knew that rye whiskey works well with Cognac, so why not infuse Cognac with rye bread?" Bahmani points out.
He does exactly that -- with great success -- by tearing dark, slightly sour slices of pumpernickel rye bread into small pieces and dousing them in a bath of Cognac. The booze-soaked chunks then steep for five hours before a fine-pressed straining session.
Light and frothy with an egg white, Toast & Marmalade's subtle malty notes are a refreshing preface to dipping a spoon into chilled, minty pea soup.
Recipe:
*2 oz. pumpernickel rye-infused Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac
3/4 oz. lemon juice
**1/2 oz. Assam tea syrup
1 tsp. marmalade
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters
1 egg white
Dry shake egg white, then shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with Luxardo cherry.
*To make the Pumpernickel rye:
Tear up 6 slices of pumpernickel rye bread per 750 ml bottle of Cognac into small pieces. Place slices in a large container and pour the Cognac over it, allowing it to steep for five hours, covered. Then fine strain it, making sure to press out and recover as much flavor out of the bread. Then pour it back into the original bottles.
** To make the Assam tea syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
14 grams Assam tea
Put everything in saucepan and bring to boil. Immediately remove from heat, cover and allow tea to steep 20 min. Fine strain, making sure to press tea leaves to squeeze out liquid. Refrigerate.