During the pandemic, bartender Steven Jorgensen became very interested in how we all perceive time. How sitting at home could make the hours drag, or how short bursts of happiness seemed to be over in an instant. He thought about how being inside and communicating with the outside world via Zoom blended morning, noon and night together.
“I thought about how the short moments seemed to drag on forever, and how the long moments seemed to fly by,” says Jorgensen.
So, for the Patrón Perfectionists competition, he created a cocktail and named it for physiologist Karl von Vierordt, who, in the 19th century gave us Vierordt’s Law. According to Vierordt, humans tend to overestimate short periods of time. So, if we stand in silence for five seconds, it doesn’t feel like five seconds, it feels… longer. But, Vierordt’s research showed that we also tend to underestimate longer periods of time — so, sit through a two-and-a-half hour movie that you absolutely love, and you’d swear that you weren’t sitting in the theatre for that long a period of time. For sure, this writer is oversimplifying it, but, hey, it’s not often that I get to write about a psychological phenomenon when putting together a piece about a cocktail.
So, Jorgensen, who now tends bar at Baijiu, added orange juice and coffee to his tequila creation. He wanted a drink that could be enjoyed with brunch, or sipped through the evening or enjoyed during an afternoon video chat. Because of the pandemic, this year’s version of the Patrón’s Perfectionists competition requires bartenders to create cocktails that would be easy for members of the public to recreate at home. So, Jorgensen’s recipe is posted on the competition’s site and reprinted here. Jorgensen’s Vierordt is one of the 30 Canadian finalists, which also includes Edmonton’s Jordan Clemens of Bar Clementine (“Hacienda Haze“) and El Beso’s Alex Pocock (“Abeja Rosa“). Members of the public are free to vote for their favourite cocktails over the next couple of weeks, and the three top Canadians will go to the Patrón finals in Mexico.
A launch party for the Vierordt will be held this Sunday at Baijiu. (Note: I’ve already tried the drink, and it’s delicious. Trust me, the coffee notes really come through, but it’s still a refreshing summer drink.) Starting Sunday, they can be ordered at the bar, and will also be available for take-out in four-packs of cans.
Fill glass with either pebble or crushed ice.
Add all ingredients to a shaker, then shake for five to 10 seconds. Strain into your ice-filled glass.
Wrap the glass in orange peel, then add more ice to the top of the drink to create a dome.
