Make a Clockwork l’Orange with cognac and flavor it with dry curacao, orange marmalade and cardamom. Combine that with egg white and you get a velvety smooth cocktail that will have you singing in the rain.
The Namesake
Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking 1971 film A Clockwork Orange was so controversial it was banned in Britain, blamed for inspiring a wave of copycat crimes. In the film, Alex and his gang speak their own slang, revel in violence, and commit their crimes to the unlikely backdrop of Broadway musicals and Beethoven’s symphonies. The dystopian alternate reality, seen through the eyes of a sociopathic teenage delinquent, felt disturbingly far-fetched—yet eerily prescient.
Author Anthony Burgess used the imagery of a vibrant, natural orange juxtaposed with the cold, mechanical precision of clockwork as a powerful metaphor for humanity stripped of free will. The story explores the unsettling implications of a brainwashed mind controlled by the State.
Thankfully, our drink and today’s society share little in common with the dark themes of the film—or do they? The only thing they should share is the name, a playful nod to a classic story. But as with all things, interpretation lies in the eye of the beholder.
A Clockwork l’Orange – The Cocktail
I don’t claim this delicious drink as the mind-controlling substance in Stanley Kubrick’s film, but it will soothe the fury of your inner beast. Now my Droogs, follow the lead of a starry glazer and repeat after me…
I want A Clockwork l’Orange, I need A Clockwork l’Orange, I will have a Clockwork l’Orange! Print
A Clockwork l’Orange
Cognac, curacao, orange juice and marmelade with egg white
- Yield: 1 1x
Ingredients
- 1 fresh egg white
- 1/2 oz orange juice
- A heaping bar spoon of orange marmalade
- 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand dry curacao
- 2 oz Pierre Ferrand reserve cognac
- 1 dash cardamom bitters
- Orange twist – garnish
Instructions
- Separate the egg white into a shaker tin
- Add the marmalade, then orange juice,dry curacao, cognac and bitters in that order
- Dry shake vigorously for 15 seconds (100 shakes)
- Add a scoop of ice (4-5 cubes) and shake until chilled
- Strain and pour into a cocktail glass
- Garnish with an orange peel twist
Notes
We add the least alcoholic components to the egg white first. This avoids “cooking” the egg as an acidic component will cook the shrimp or fish in ceviche.