Exploring The Stories Behind Sorel Liqueur

Cocktails Distilled

You may not think that liquids can tell stories, but when you look at Laure like Sorel, which has basically traveled from West Africa through the Caribbean, into Harlem, and then across the river to Red Hook, you can bet that there are some stories to tell.
There are stories of commerce both through the slave and spice trade.
There are stories of tradition as displaced peoples kept the original sorrow liquid alive, and there are stories of migration as many went to New York seeking a better life.
Additionally, there are stories of family as recipes got passed down from one generation to the next.
There are stories of creation as the non-alcoholic Sorrel is transformed into a liqueur.
And there are stories of determination as the brand starts on its mission to re-establish itself and communicate everything that has come before.
To hear some of these stories, we talk to self-proclaimed custodian of the brand. Jackie Summers about flavour, identity, and the origin of the red drink.

Capíttulos

1. Exploring The Stories Behind Sorel Liqueur (00:00:00)

2. Now, tell us a little bit about the origins of the red drink in West Africa. (00:01:52)

3. And how did that liquid change when it went with enslaved people to the Caribbean? (00:02:29)

4. How would you describe the flavour of that original red drink? (00:04:14)

5. what was it about that flavour and the liquid that kept it alive in oral tradition, as you said, for more than 200 years? (00:04:47)

6. Now, like many Caribbean families, your grandparents bought that Sorrel recipe to New York. How important was the liquid to them? (00:05:21)

7. Now you obviously grew up drinking that. What made you decide to transform the drink into a liqueur? (00:05:43)

8. Why do you think nobody thought to turn it into a liqueur before? (00:07:47)

9. I believe there were 624 tries (00:09:20)

10. Being the only black man to have held a liquor license since prohibition, isn't this just as much your story as it is the liquids? (00:12:00)

11. How did you settle on the botanicals? (00:13:01)

12. You've talked about added alcohol to flavour. How important is that distinction from adding flavour to alcohol? (00:15:55)

13. What cocktails can you recommend that could benefit from a touch of Sorel? (00:18:16)

14. How would you recommend they first experience Sorel? (00:19:46)

15. Now what is the reaction to the la been from bartenders and from consumers? (00:21:37)

16. Have there been any drinks that bartenders have made that have really surprised you? (00:22:51)

17. You were in touch with Fawn Weaver from Uncle Nearest, how did that came about. (00:24:06)

18. I believe there is some talk about possibly taking Sorel back to the Caribbean and setting up a distillery in Barbados. (00:26:08)

19. What do you want them to take away from the experience with Sorel? (00:28:25)

20. You have just formed a partnership with speakeasy. (00:29:13)

21. Where else it Sorel available? (00:29:54)