Drink the World Cup Final | Argentina vs. Germany

Bagley Gimlet vs. The Silver Bullet

It's all come down to this one last game: Argentina vs. Germany.

For Argentina so far, I've been through wine (Malbec), beer (Quilmes), tea (Yerba Mate), and cocktails (Fernet and Coke, the Argentina Cocktail, an Argentinian aperol spritz). For the big match, it's the Bagley Gimlet from bartender Federico Cuco, which is made with gin, Hesperidina, lime juice, ginger, and Legui. Get the recipe. Hesperidina is an herbal orange Argentine aperitif which was invented in 1864 by an American immigrant Melville Sewell Bagley in Buenos Aires. Legui is an Argentine herbal, rich liqueur.

Germany has worked their way through beer (Augustiner Pilsner), wine (Karthäuserhof riesling), beer (Spaten), gin (Monkey 47 Schwarzwald), sour ales with sweet syrup (Berliner Weisse mit Schuss), liqueur (Jäger Float), and now versus Argentina it is going to be Kümmel. In German, kümmel means both caraway (Echter Kümmel) and cumin (Kreuzkümmel). It's a sweet, clear liqueur that is flavored with caraway seed, cumin, and fennel. Wikipedia notes, "In the UK, it is a popular drink at many of the more traditional golf clubs." From my experience, this is true, since I have been offered Kümmel a number of times after dinner. It also works in cocktails and The Silver Bullet is one that stood out for me. It's made with 2 parts gin, 1 part kümmel, 1 part fresh lemon, that is shaken hard with ice, strained into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnished with a lemon twist. The cocktail originated in the Savoy Cocktail Book.