Carpenter’s Gold, courtesy of Ryan Iriarte; High Hat Café
Serves 1
1 ounce Oryza vodka
1 ounce fava bean syrup (recipe below)
1 ounce rye whiskey (Iriarte likes Rittenhouse)
Dash Angostura bitters
Bay leaf, for garnish
To make fava bean syrup, toast 1 pound of fava beans in a skillet, then add to 3 quarts of water and 3 bay leaves, and cook over low heat for about 3 hours. Filter through a chamois, then make a simple syrup using 2 parts of fava bean liquid to 1 part white sugar. Yields about 6 cups of syrup.
To make Carpenter’s Gold, in a shaker filled with ice, stir together all of the ingredients, except the garnish; strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a bay leaf.
Bar Chef's notes: For St. Joseph’s feast day, New Orleanians put up altars in his honor, leaving offerings of candles, flowers, bread and cookies, as well as fava beans, a prized Sicilian crop to honor the Italian island’s patron saint.
Carrying a dried fava bean is said to bring you money, as it did for Ryan Iriarte when he was a kid.
These days, he keeps fava beans behind the bar, spinning them into a syrup that he combines with rye whiskey and a chewy, smooth rice vodka. Together, they build a cocktail that’s robust, earthy and rich.