Jersey’s Toxic Waste, a liqueur of bright and vibrant green that offers a taste that is almost completely opposite of the other bright green spirit I’m used to seeing: midori. When designing cocktails there are a limited option when it comes to liqueurs that offer the green. You could use AGWA de Bolivia to your cocktails to bring an herbal cocoa leaf flavor or midori to bring out intense sweetness but what about the tangy bite of grapefruit? Tons of great classics brought grapefruit into the cocktail picture.
By itself, grapefruit can be a rather “harsh” lesson in directions a citrus fruit can go but in a liqueur it provides an interesting contrast to other flavors within the cocktail. Jersey’s Toxic Waste has a strange name but is themed correctly to that of its comical color and definitely will startle the senses. You’ll find some sweet notes at the very start but this thick green fluid offers a tart citrus finish that is distinctly grapefruit in nature. This liqueur brings a strict bite and a little bit of alcohol intensity without being overboard. Warm, it’s definitely going to bring more tart than sweet, but I feel it would be best served on ice to round out the grapefruit strike.
Liqueurs tend to have two specific purposes in a cocktail: add dynamic taste or add unique color. However, sometimes things come along that can do both in a unique manner. Others, like a clear banana liqueur or blueberry liqueur, fail to meet our color standards (to me, all blueberry liqueur should be blue… it’s in the name after all!) Jersey’s Toxic Waste doesn’t fall short on its color, bringing a bright green to a cocktail or integrating with other colors to generate purple’s or other hot secondary colors. But, it doesn’t stop there, it has flavor too.
Jersey’s Toxic Waste allows a grapefruit profile that’s not nearly as intense as using grapefruit juice and doesn’t bring a cloudy grapefruit juice color. It brings more subtle grapefruit flavor which will no doubt lend itself great in a cocktail as a secondary flavor. If grapefruit flavors and neon green colors don’t convince you to build a cocktail, just think of all the ways you can play off the word “toxic” in your creations!
Man, now I want to go watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…I don’t know why.
You can find Jersey’s Toxic Waste online for roughly $22.
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