What’s one of benefits of publishing a book called The Drunken Botanist? A care package of liquor from the author, of course. (Liquor care packages are the very best kind of care packages.)

A box full of booze arrived to at the Algonquin office yesterday. Inside: the ingredients for The Algonquin Page-Turner Cocktail, conceived by Amy Stewart:

 Here’s the recipe:

1 ounce rye whiskey

1 ounce Grand Marnier

1 ounce crème de cassis

1 half fresh peach (can substitute 3/4 ounce peach liquer)

2 swaths ginger root

1 ounces fresh-squeezed lemon

1 ounce fresh-squeezed orange

5 fresh mint leaves, plus a sprig of mint

Muddle the peach, 1 swath ginger, lemon juice, orange juice, and mint leaves into a paste. Add the rye, Grand Marnier, and crème de cassis. Shake with ice and double-strain into a double old-fashioned glass full of ice.

Garnish with a swatch of ginger and a sprig of fresh mint.

And, as Amy told us, The Algonquin Page-Turner is “vastly better when generously shaken with ice, and would probably … be pretty good served over ice.  A bit of melted ice greatly improves the flavor of any spirit.”

Cheers!