Magic in the Air

 The magic in the air cocktail is inspired by this Bath and Body Works fragrance:

About the fragrance

I first purchased this fragrance as a body cream in 2016 after trying it on in the store. I liked it, so I eventually purchased the fragrance mist as well. It is currently unavailable online, but it will hopefully be back during the holiday season.

The scent notes listed for this fragrance are:

Almond flower

Sparkling persimmon

White iris

Whipped vanilla bourbon

Fluffy sandalwood

Designing the cocktail

I used club soda as the mixer to capture the sparkling essence. I used amaretto for the almond note. I also added almond simple syrup for a more intense flavor and additional sweetness. I could not find persimmons or anything persimmon flavored at the grocery store, so I substituted the plum simple syrup I used for my Dark Kiss cocktail. Irises are not edible, so I couldn't include that note. I used Jim Beam brand vanilla bourbon. I didn't know how to approximate a sandalwood note, so I left that out.

Recipe

1 oz amaretto

1 oz vanilla bourbon

1 oz almond simple syrup

1 oz persimmon simple syrup

6 oz club soda

Place two ice cubes in a glass. Add amaretto, vanilla bourbon, almond simple syrup, and persimmon simple syrup. Pour in club soda. For a non-alcoholic version, omit the amaretto and vanilla bourbon and add 1 oz vanilla simple syrup.

Note: if persimmon simple syrup is unavailable, substitute plum simple syrup.

The finished cocktail

 

I enjoyed this cocktail. It was sweet, and the vanilla and almond flavors were both strong. The plum note was more difficult to detect. Visually, it was less interesting than most of the other cocktails I have invented since there were no flower petals or drizzles. I would recommend this cocktail to any sweet tooth who likes vanilla and almond flavors and doesn't care whether a cocktail is Instagram-worthy.