DATA cocktail: Damson, Aperol, Tequila and Apple

This is the first in a series of TechnoCocktails. Each one will have ingredients represented by its acronym name. We’re starting with DATA, the core of all technology systems:

• D for Damson
• A for Aperol
• T for Tequila
• A for Apple

It’s adapted from one of my favourite cocktails, the Naked & Famous, itself a riff on the Last Word. However, the DATA is sweeter, and gentler, without the punch of Chartreuse, but instead with the subtle stone fruit flavours of damson gin.

The problem is that both the Naked & Famous and Last Word have lime juice to give the acidic balance. But lime isn’t available to me for this recipe as it begins with an L. However, there’s a clever cocktail technique to the rescue. We can create an acid-adjusted apple juice by adding malic acid. Malic acid occurs naturally in apples and many fruit (and sometimes citric acid is used, that you’d find naturally in citrus fruit like lemons or limes). It lends a crisp, green apple flavoured tartness. By adding it, we’re giving the cocktail a similar hit of sourness as you might get from lime, but without changing the core apple flavour profile. If you’re interested in this kind of “molecular mixology” you’ll find a lot more in Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold.

This cocktail was originally created as a leaving gift for a colleague who has made a big difference in health data research.