inclusion ensured the Between the Sheets\u2019 legacy, and it\u2019s the source from which Gannon first came across the drink 20 years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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Gannon has been tweaking his recipe for the Between the Sheets for the past two decades. He recalls adding a significant measure of lemon and introducing simple syrup (a common practice at the time), approaching it almost like an equal-parts drink. He continued to work on it when he spent eight years working at Cure in New Orleans, where it appeared on the \u201cCocktails We Love\u201d section of the menu. There, he used El Dorado 3 for the rum and Pierre Ferrand for the Cognac.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Over the years, his tastes have shifted, and so has the nature of bar programs. At Lonnie\u2019s, Gannon relies on a much smaller backbar, so he prioritizes versatile ingredients that can work across the classics and original drinks.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
In the role of Cognac, Gannon likes Frapin 1270, which splits the difference between richer expressions, like industry standard Pierre Ferrand, and the lightness that he feels is required for the Between the Sheets.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Unlike with pre-Civil War rum-and-brandy punches, the rum called for in the Between the Sheets is an old-school Bacardi-style rum\u2014aged Cuban rum in which the color has been filtered out. Gannon says a bit of funkiness is necessary for the drink; without that, \u201cit’s not a rum and cognac drink, it’s a Cognac drink that you just proofed up without really adding anything.\u201d He turns to Probitas, a blend of funky pot-still Jamaican rum and clean, light Coffey-still rum from Barbados stands up to the brandy in the recipe beautifully.<\/span><\/p>\n
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The choice of orange liqueur is just as crucial as the choice of the two main spirits. Gannon has tried traditional French triple secs, including the Cointreau from the original recipe, and Combier, which he describes as \u201ccandied.\u201d At both Lonnie\u2019s and Ingas Bar, Gannon carries just one orange liqueur, the Mexican product Flor de Azar. Distilled with a variety of citrus including oranges, pomelos, mandarins, and lime, this agave-sweetened spirit also features tuberose, orange blossom, black pepper and cardamom. That last botanical is bolstered by Gannon\u2019s favorite orange bitters, Regans\u2019, which features a distinct cardamom note. He chooses to echo the lemon juice with an expressed and discarded lemon twist.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Thus far, Gannon has offered the Between the Sheets as an occasional special, and it\u2019s been a surprising hit. And though Gannon is at home in a restaurant bar setting and bills the Between the Sheets as an excellent ap\u00e9ritif, he still uses cocktail history as his point of reference when suggesting it to guests. \u201cIt\u2019s like a tropical sidecar,\u201d he says. \u201cLike if a Daiquiri and a Sidecar had a baby.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n