does mozart make you smarter?

something else i love? my friends. the other night i was gifted a bottle of lillet, a french aperitif i've been wanting to try. i haven't opened it yet because one, i want to share it, and two, the bottle just sits there looking so gorgeous that i don't want to disturb it. the packaging on some of these liquor products is so beautiful and classic. you know how you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover? well, sometimes i do. most of the time the covers i respond to visually have great stories underneath them. like new york trilogy, a book i picked up at the strand when i was in nyc. i suppose i should i have, but i didn't know who the author, paul auster, was, but i loved that artwork. it turned out to be this crazy existential thriller that i absolutely loved as well. so, i've found myself doing the same with liquor bottles. look at these, for instance:

aren't they pretty? all the shapes and sizes and labels. i have to say i was a bit disappointed in the godiva chocolate liqueur, left front. too creamy for my taste. i much prefer the mozart black, right front. that domaine de canton in the back? i tasted it because the bottle reminded me of a noguchi lamp. it's a ginger liqueur. for me, as the flavor travels from the front of my mouth to the back, the ginger really blossoms. i don't know how all that applies to the debunked tongue map or how you'll taste it, but it's a favorite of mine.

this combines the canton and the mozart.

1.0 oz mozart black liqueur

0.5 oz domaine de canton

0.5 oz vodka

dash of bitters

3 very thin slices of fresh ginger

in shaker filled with ice, combine the first four ingredients and two of the slices of ginger which have been slightly crushed to release flavor. shake vigorously until icy. strain into chilled cocktail glass. float remaining ginger slice on top and serve.

don't drink this before 11 in the morning. it won't make you smarter.