Clove-infused tequila, blue Curaçao, fresh passion fruit & lime — Hidden Flask NJ
Cloves (laung) are one of India's most ancient traded spices — brought from the Maluku Islands (in what is now Indonesia) along the ancient Spice Route through India and into the Malabar ports, they were traded for their value in embalming, medicine, and cooking across the ancient world. India became one of the world's major clove processors and consumers; the spice features in garam masala, biryani, and festive sweets. Hidden Flask's Clove and Dagger uses whole cloves to infuse tequila with their distinctive warm-medicinal flavour, paired with blue Curaçao's vivid colour and passion fruit's tropical sourness.
Clove infusion timing is critical — 2 hours is the maximum before the eugenol (clove's primary compound) turns the drink medicinal and dental-numbing. Keep tasting as the infusion progresses. Blue Curaçao is food-colouring blue orange liqueur; the blue + yellow passion fruit naturally produces a teal-green colour. For a more complex drink, add a pinch of allspice dram alongside the Curaçao.
Hidden Flask in Woodbridge, NJ, is the Indian-American cocktail bar New Jersey didn't know it needed. The menu walks the line between the subcontinent and the American bar tradition — chai martinis, masala old fashioneds, and house spice-infused spirits that taste like they were invented by someone who grew up with both Old Monk and Jim Beam in the house.
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