Tolosa Winery

The Corpse Reviver

Well here in San Luis we are experiencing record high temperatures, yesterday being 102° and today predicting even hotter temperatures. Although it's great weather to welcome the start of the summer, tomorrow June 20th, we need to be prepared! Don’t worry we have the perfect cocktail creation that is sure to cool you off and revive your overheated corpse; It’s called The Corpse Reviver!

Larry Brooks, our winemaker, is also a master mixologists and is amazing at finding the perfect drink for the perfect day. Here’s his recipe along with the history of this cocktail.
The Corpse Reviver was invented in 1860’s and is progenitor of the Margarita.
I call this cocktail the Slippery Slope because I’ve found that it’s really hard to stop drinking them once you start. 

The Corpse Reviver:
1 oz. Gin
1 oz. fresh lemon or lime
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
1 oz. Cointreau

I like to shake them and serve them up, but they’re equally tasting on the rocks, and the flavor alone will pop the pennies off the eyes of a corpse.

- Cheers, Larry Brooks

"It's great when the accidental becomes indistinguishable from the intentional"

"It's great when the accidental becomes indistinguishable from the intentional"
This quote is from John Currin, the preeminent figurative painter of our time on the subject of color tone in painting, but the same might be said for the sometimes serendipitous way that good pairings of food and drink are discovered. The other night while banging around downtown San Luis Obispo I discovered just such a pairing. The night began with cocktails and an appetizer at Blue, and the plan was a movie after, but the next showing was more than an hour off so the plan changed to a nightcap at Black Sheep. I have recently reembraced Cognac as a late night potation and I ordered a Hennessey. The waitress asked if she could get me anything else and I thought of the ribs which are served on a bed of French fries. I thought with longing. Ever one to succumb to random desires I ordered them. I had that moment of indecision when I thought, "I'd better change my drink order to red wine or beer to match the ribs", but the moment passed and the Cognac and the ribs arrived. What a lovely surprise to discover that this is a perfect marriage of flavor. The sweet fruity smokiness of the ribs is echoed in the flavor of the Cognac. The greasiness cut by the Cognac's heat. It was sublime, and all the more so by it's improbability.