Unstrung Harp

Unstrung Harp
Yana Paskova for The New York Times
Total Time
2 minutes
Rating
4(156)
Notes
Read community notes

Jeffrey Tascarella, the general manager at the NoMad restaurant in the Manhattan hotel of the same name, used to serve this drink at his Midtown restaurant Tenpenny, to unbelievable effect. Named for Edward Gorey's 1953 novel, it combines dark rum with ginger syrup, lime and prosecco to deliver a cocktail that punches well above its weight in both flavor and potency. Back in 2011, some among us at The Times called it the drink of the summer.

Featured in: The Drink of the Summer?

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Ingredients

Yield:1 drink
  • ounce Gosling’s Black Seal rum
  • 1ounce ginger syrup (see note)
  • 2limes halved and crushed
  • ounces prosecco
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)

293 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 20 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 11 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Shake the rum, syrup and limes with ice and pour into the largest and most sturdy wine glass you can find. Add prosecco.

Tip
  • To make ginger syrup, dissolve 2 teaspoons of sugar in a tablespoon of ginger juice from grated ginger.

Ratings

4 out of 5
156 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

A great trick with ginger. Cute the stem into 1-2 cm chunks - no need to peel - and keep in a jar in your freezer. NO waste and the ginger is now fantastically easy to juice: Simply thaw at room temperature and squeeze out the juice in a strainer or cloth. Frozen ginger grates and slices easily with no stringiness and no loss of flavor - maybe spicier actually.

I used equal parts rum & ginger syrup. Used 1 lime instead of two. Found a recipe online for ginger syrup--combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup boiling water, and 1 cup rough chopped ginger in a blender and liquefy. Strain through sieve or cheesecloth. Makes enough syrup to last for the rest of your life--but it was easier than grating ginger...

You've got to start with a fairly large hunk of ginger to get an appreciable amount of juice. If you don't have much, do what I did: grate the ginger finely, put the pulp and juice in a small pan, add 1/2 C water & 1/2 C sugar, bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Strain with a fine sieve & use in multiple rounds of this really tasty drink.

one fluid ounce = 2 tablespoons liquid. The recipe "Tip" is misleading.

This drink was delicious, but be warned that the recipe is very poorly written. Making the ginger syrup is time consuming unless you make ginger-infused simple syrup, which will not have the same fresh ginger heat. Also, measurements in whole limes instead of ounces of lime juice is a terrible idea. Some limes provide significantly more juice. I recommend starting with 1 ounce and then adding more to taste. If you want the essential oils from the lime peel, you can muddle them in the shaker

On the first try at this recipe, used one tablespoon (0.5 fluid ounce) of ginger juice to 10 fl oz of simple syrup. Will up the ginger to .75 fl oz on next try. But an enjoyable summer drink all the same. I have the rest of the summer to prefect this drink. :0

I used equal parts rum & ginger syrup. Used 1 lime instead of two. Found a recipe online for ginger syrup--combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup boiling water, and 1 cup rough chopped ginger in a blender and liquefy. Strain through sieve or cheesecloth. Makes enough syrup to last for the rest of your life--but it was easier than grating ginger...

1/4 1/4 1/4

Here's how Sam Sifton himself says to make the ginger syrup (6/16/17): "For ginger syrup, just combine a couple of teaspoons of white sugar with about a tablespoon of the ginger juice that occurs when you run a knob of the root over a Microplane. Put all that in a goblet and you'll slide into the the weekend in style." I think this sounds helpful.

Basically a dark and stormy with ginger+prosecco replacing ginger beer...

Who makes one drink. You can buy ginger syrup. WF has it.

Easier still is just to put the ginger through a juicer. A decent juicer will produce 8 ounces of ginger juice in less time than it takes me to type this out.. The juice and or the syrup both freeze well and you can make it into 1.5 oz cubes and then store in a jar or zip lock bag for future use.

Addendum: I altered the recipe (to its improvement) by using 1 Lemon and swapping out the rum for 1 1/2 ozs. of homemade Limoncello which = The Unstrung Cello.

Served this last night to very discerning cocktail connoisseurs and I'm happy to report it was a huge hit! Just delicious. I actually made the ginger syrup by simmering sugar, water and ginger for a half hour. My teenager added it to sparkling water and it was also a huge hit! This is going to be our summer cocktail for sure!

Great summer cocktail! Also love the recipe for simple syrup. Mixing extra with seltzer and a squeeze of lime...love ginger!

Update: Made it again tonight (had to use up the split of sparkling wine) and decided I prefer serving WITHOUT the crushed limes and ice to water it down. Much faster prep the second time. Until I find ginger syrup....1 T ginger puree, 2T simple syrup, 3-4 T good dark rum, 2 limes juiced, 1/2 split of sparkling wine. Shake and Strain. Yum!

Who makes one drink. You can buy ginger syrup. WF has it.

We live in Miami where it is always summer and rum drinks are always in style. Shortcuts for the Ginger Syrup: I used 'Gourmet Garden' Stir-In Ginger Paste (found in produce section in tubes that stay fresh for weeks) mixed with 'Master of Mixes' Simple Syrup (from 100% cane sugar) which also keeps at room temp indefinitely. One you have the syrup the rest is easy...I used an indiv. bottle of Prosecco . Love the recipes and other ideas from your high quality column.

Here's how Sam Sifton himself says to make the ginger syrup (6/16/17): "For ginger syrup, just combine a couple of teaspoons of white sugar with about a tablespoon of the ginger juice that occurs when you run a knob of the root over a Microplane. Put all that in a goblet and you'll slide into the the weekend in style." I think this sounds helpful.

Basically a dark and stormy with ginger+prosecco replacing ginger beer...

Yep, much easier too.

It also bears some similarity to the Airmail. http ://www.esquire.com/food-drink/drinks/recipes/a3760/air-mail-drink-recipe/

Wonder how it would be with GT's brand Gingerade kombucha in place of the ginger syrup???

A lot of liquor stores sell ginger syrup which you can mix with plain seltzer to make something like ginger beer. I'll start with that when I make this drink the first time. I agree it wouldn't have quite the same bite as fresh ginger but boy is it easy...

I used equal parts rum & ginger syrup. Used 1 lime instead of two. Found a recipe online for ginger syrup--combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup boiling water, and 1 cup rough chopped ginger in a blender and liquefy. Strain through sieve or cheesecloth. Makes enough syrup to last for the rest of your life--but it was easier than grating ginger...

1/4 1/4 1/4

Thinly slice as much ginger root as you like, and boil it up with as much sugar and water as your recipe for a simple syrup calls for. Strain it into a glass jar and keep it refrigerated. Iced tea, hot tea, folk remedy, lemonade, and sure, unstrung harps.
Don't throw out the boiled, sugared ginger. Eat it, it's delicious.

This drink was delicious, but be warned that the recipe is very poorly written. Making the ginger syrup is time consuming unless you make ginger-infused simple syrup, which will not have the same fresh ginger heat. Also, measurements in whole limes instead of ounces of lime juice is a terrible idea. Some limes provide significantly more juice. I recommend starting with 1 ounce and then adding more to taste. If you want the essential oils from the lime peel, you can muddle them in the shaker

I used equal parts rum & ginger syrup. Used 1 lime instead of two. Found a recipe online for ginger syrup--combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup boiling water, and 1 cup rough chopped ginger in a blender and liquefy. Strain through sieve or cheesecloth. Makes enough syrup to last for the rest of your life--but it was easier than grating ginger...

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