The Dale/David Project reaches a very significant milestone tonight--we've completed 10% of the Craft of the Cocktail. Of course, we should have reached that goal last week but between the excitement of watching the DNC on tv, and also the problem of Dexter, who has entered our lives via iTunes, we were unable to meet our goal. We were trying to make cocktails, but kept getting sucked into our stories. At any rate we continue exploring Dale DeGroff originals with the Rainbow Sour. This entry begins with the type of storytelling that attracted me to Dale's book in the first place.

Dale explains that Pineau de Charentes was, according to legend, discovered by accident as a Cognac producer mistakenly mixed Cognac with raw grape juice, thinking that he was blending two Cognacs. Upon realizing the mistake he left the mixture in a barrel, only to discover some time later that it was quite delicious; a new product was born to that other mother of invention, accident.

Dale's Rainbow Sour consists of equal parts Pineau des Charentes and Marie Brizard Apry (I am assuming that this means Apricot Brandy but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. This picture of "Apry" from their Web site looks like the bottle of apricot brandy I have), with lemon juice and simple syrup. I found this to be a tasty drink though it was a bit on the sweet side. I am wondering if it would be better off--and more sour-like--if it was made without the simple, given the sweetness of the other ingredients.

The Rainbow Sour, posing here aptly with my Gay Pride Muddler Holder