Drink of the Moment
Heroic Couplets
Photo Credit: Dan Watkins
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Names: Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon
Price: $44, each
Ingredients: Crouching Tiger: Stoli Blueberi, Bacardi Select 151, pineapple juice, sour mix; Hidden Dragon: Stoli Razberi, Stoli Ohranj, Captain Morgan Black, orange juice, pineapple juice, cherries.
Inventor: Bar and beverage director at Big Night Entertainment Group Joe O’Connor.
Flavor: Crouching Tiger is related to the Mai Tai, with the sweet citrus of the pineapple cut by a trace of blueberry. Hidden Dragon delivers a bold cherry and orange punch leavened with spice from the rum.
Appearance: Festive, celebratory. Above all, enormous.
Spiritual cousin: “It’s like ordering a big bottle of champagne,” says O’Connor. “Everyone wants to be seen.”
Popularity: The Dragon outsells the Tiger.
Despite the vodka base: At Empire, says O’Connor, “Everything’s driven from Asian liquor. Yamazaki whiskey, sake. And we like throwing stuff together that you wouldn’t expect.” Hence the float of Bacardi 151 on Crouching Tiger, giving it extra bite.
Kick: Deft, even acrobatic. May induce sensations of slow-motion, or the need for subtitles.
Ground it with: Solid ballast like the Singapore street noodles with Madras curry or steamed buns filled with shiitake mushrooms.
Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon
Empire Asian Restaurant & Lounge | 1 Marina Park Drive, Boston | 617-295-0001 | empireboston.com
