Mountain Suze
Strobist Info: Godox AD200 with a 26-inch octo-softbox camera left and slightly behind and above the subject. Small white V-flat directly camera right of the subject.
This is Mountain Suze, an oddball highball created by Sother Teague. The origin story goes that Teague got the idea at a BBQ with some friends where they tried to come up with cocktails based off of funny name combinations (like Ferrari = Fernet + Campari) and "Mountain Suze" was suggested. Seeing potential, he later tried in an instagram video, exclaiming "Holy shit, this is delicious". And he's right.
It's hard to put my finger on what exactly is the core of Mountain Dew (because we are all in dire need of its highly analytical tasting notes), but it's citrusy plus grapefruit and maybe a few other vaguely tropical fruit notes. Suze is full of gentian root, which brings plenty of lingering bitterness, but Suze also has a concealed affinity with citrus, specifically grapefruit. These two compliment each other nicely, for a refreshing bittersweet highball. I do suggest a mild upgrade of a squeeze of lime just to bring a bit more acidity, since both ingredients are fairly sweet by themselves.
1.5-2 oz Suze
4-6 oz Mountain Dew
1-2 lime wedges
Squeeze a lime wedge into the bottom of chilled collins glass. Add ice and then the Suze. Slowly top with the Mountain Dew to avoid unnecessary carbonation loss. Gently stir to combine. Garnish with a lime wedge or wheel.
© Chase Hoffman Photography. All rights reserved.
Mountain Suze
Strobist Info: Godox AD200 with a 26-inch octo-softbox camera left and slightly behind and above the subject. Small white V-flat directly camera right of the subject.
This is Mountain Suze, an oddball highball created by Sother Teague. The origin story goes that Teague got the idea at a BBQ with some friends where they tried to come up with cocktails based off of funny name combinations (like Ferrari = Fernet + Campari) and "Mountain Suze" was suggested. Seeing potential, he later tried in an instagram video, exclaiming "Holy shit, this is delicious". And he's right.
It's hard to put my finger on what exactly is the core of Mountain Dew (because we are all in dire need of its highly analytical tasting notes), but it's citrusy plus grapefruit and maybe a few other vaguely tropical fruit notes. Suze is full of gentian root, which brings plenty of lingering bitterness, but Suze also has a concealed affinity with citrus, specifically grapefruit. These two compliment each other nicely, for a refreshing bittersweet highball. I do suggest a mild upgrade of a squeeze of lime just to bring a bit more acidity, since both ingredients are fairly sweet by themselves.
1.5-2 oz Suze
4-6 oz Mountain Dew
1-2 lime wedges
Squeeze a lime wedge into the bottom of chilled collins glass. Add ice and then the Suze. Slowly top with the Mountain Dew to avoid unnecessary carbonation loss. Gently stir to combine. Garnish with a lime wedge or wheel.
© Chase Hoffman Photography. All rights reserved.