So, you have made your beautiful quince pie [1] and have a cup or two of poaching liquid left over (I ended up with 1 3/4 cups). It would be unforgivable for you to pour it down the drain. What to do? Have a drink! The poaching liquid was too beautiful and fragrant for me to ignore, so I decided to invent a cocktail. This is a good idea for any future leftover poaching liquid (pear tarts?). All you need to do is strain the liquid into a jar and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
The Poacher (as I’ve named my creation) is an absolutely delicious drink for autumn, combining the flavors of quince, maple and vanilla with rye. This alone will convince some of you to make the quince biscuit pie (you know who you are). It makes me want to poach more fruit and invent more drinks.
The Poacher
- 2 ounces poaching liquid from the Quince Biscuit Pie recipe [1]
- 3 ounces rye
- 1 dash of bitters
Place a few cubes of ice in a cocktail shaker. Add poaching liquid, rye, and dash of bitters and shake vigorously for a few seconds. Strain into a cocktail coupe.
Of course you can try this with different proportions and even different alcohols. This is a little sweeter than I normally like my drinks, but I think it works perfectly. Have fun.