This one's another of my very own inventions. I make no claims as to its originality. The odds are that there's a drink out there exactly like it, which someone else invented, and called by a different name. Who cares? This is my version. And it was a hit, let me tell you. There was this cute little blond at my cocktail party the other Friday who absolutely loved it...
1 ounce cherry brandy
1 ounce Bailey's
½ ounce crème de cacao
In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the cherry brandy and Bailey's. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass. Pour the crème de cacao into the center of the drink and swirl the glass around a little before serving.
I didn't get a chance to taste it myself. (I couldn't drink that night, not even a drop; I had work in the morning. That's also the reason I haven't yet had a nip of the fancy absinthe John and I bought. I might cry.) However, the drink received rave reviews—particularly from that blond.
What's not to like? It's cherry brandy, Irish cream and chocolate liqueur, the best combination of cherry, chocolate and coffee-cream overtones. It'd be like a cherry Fudgsicle, only in liquid form. And with booze. Give it a shot, ladies. It's worth your while.
Apparently, I have never had a hot drink. Not like this, I haven't. The others were hodgepodges of disparate ingredients which failed to harmonize. This cocktail is a heavenly chorus.
1 ounce añejo rum
½ ounce bourbon
2 teaspoons crème de cacao
2 teaspoons Drambuie
4 ounces hot coffee
2 ounces heavy cream
Pour the rum, bourbon,crème de cacao, Drambuie, and coffee into an Irish coffee glass. Pour the cream carefully over the back of a teaspoon so that it floats on top of the drink.
Poetic fluff aside, this libation is fit for a three-dog night. Once again I was flabbergasted by how harmoniously rum and bourbon mix. The crème provides a chocolate overtone, the Drambuie adds its own Scotch sweetness, and the coffee provides a solid vehicle for transmission.
But I meant what I said before. These ingredients don't just mix, they combine. It seems like most of the hot drinks I sampled before this (hot buttered rum, candle in the window) were disjointed, fractured. You could taste each ingredient separately. With DeRosier's 19th hole, however, the flavors form a massive, amalgamated super-flavor. (I know there's probably a better and more erudite culinary term for "super-flavor" but what the heck.) And that super-flavor is fine. Chocolaterumbourbonsweetwhiskycoffee, with cream on top.
I didn't have heavy cream; so I just used ReddiWip. That's a big no-no. I also didn't have añejo (aged) rum, so I used Bacardi Gold. I can only imagine how fine the flavor would've been if I had employed the proper ingredients. If anyone out there mixes this drink properly and gives it a go, kindly report back to me and tell me how it went.
But whatever you do, enjoy.
Originally, I'd planned to do a hot drink next. It's still technically the dead of winter, after all. But I saw this in The Bartender's Bible and couldn't resist trying it. And once I'd tasted it, I couldn't resist posting it here...just in case there were a few people in the audience who might like it.
2 ounces blended whiskey
1 ounce dark crème de cacao
2 ounces milk
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the whiskey, crème de cacao, and milk. Shake well, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the nutmeg.
Simply put, this drink tastes like chocolate milk (with whiskey and nutmeg). If you like chocolate milk (and whiskey and nutmeg) you'll probably like it. I know I did. I mean, come on. If it's one thing I've learned, it's that life's pleasures are best enjoyed when combined. Sex and fishing doesn't really work that well, I hear, but chocolate milk and whiskey? That's ideal. Go together swimmingly, they do.
And guess what? I'll bet this would make a really good hot drink. Just pour everything into a coffee mug, pop it into the microwave, then sprinkle the nutmeg on top.
There, I did a hot drink after all...
Humdinger.
That's the first word that came to mind when I began composing this entry in my head, like I usually do. I've picked a humdinger this time, folks. If you like coffee and booze, you're in for a real treat. Caffeine and alcohol in the same drink...the most natural thing in the world, I reckon. Why limit yourself to only one high?
2 ounces light rum
2 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon crème de cacao
1 teaspoon cherry brandy
4 ounces hot coffee
2 ounces heavy cream
Pour the rum, bourbon, crème de cacao, cherry brandy, and coffee into an Irish coffee glass. Pour the cream carefully over the back of a spoon so that it floats on top of the drink.
(Just as a side note, I now know exactly how to pour stuff over the back of a spoon and make it float on top of a drink. Dan taught us how to do it in bartender's school when he showed us how to make a B-52.)
I have to say, this drink reminds of the Tom and Jerry, only without the spices and the smoothness afforded by whisked egg whites. Instead, there's the naked heat (ooh, sultry) and the tacit backing of the coffee. All this is overlaid by the surprisingly harmonious union of rum and bourbon, with just a hint of chocolate and cherry. (I couldn't hardly detect the latter two flavors, but I'm not exactly a cocktail connoisseur.)
This thing will warm you up, regardless of what you think of the taste. Hot coffee and four ounces of hard liquor (plus two teaspoons of liqueur) will do that to you. Be warned, this thing packs a wallop.
In short, I might consider having this drink again. I'm not the biggest fan of coffee, so I'm not the biggest fan of this drink (there's some litotes for you; I actually hate coffee). The CITW doesn't quite come up to the Tom and Jerry or even the mudslide (a cold drink) but it's good in its own right.
Just to clarify, this is not my pick for Christmas cocktail of 2009. That's coming later. This is just a prelude.
Well, it would've been my pick, knowing what's in it and all, but the fact remains that it's a cold drink, and this is the season for hot ones. So there'll be a hot drink coming later.
Oh, heck, it's Christmastime. Let's just call this one Christmas Cocktail the First. The other will be Christmas Cocktail the Second. Not that I'm advocating anybody getting smashed during the holidays, but one more won't hurt, now will it?
(Insert grim chuckle here.)
Anyway, this cocktail is one of the ones I learned about last Saturday. It's a cream drink.
1½ ounces brandy
1 ounce dark crème de cacao
1 ounce half-and-half
¼teaspoon grated nutmeg
In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the brandy, crème de cacao, and half-and-half. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the nutmeg.
I didn't make mine with nutmeg the other night, mainly because I was a bad bartender and forgot there was supposed to be nutmeg in it; but it was a decent drink as cream drinks go. I'm not big on crème de cacao, and I wasn't really in the mood for something creamy that night (my brother had just gotten home from the University of Wyoming, and I hadn't seen him in 18 months, so my mind was elsewhere). Still and all, I'd recommend this drink around this time of year. I feel like making it again to give it a fairer shake. Something to sip by the fire, or in company, or (as with the tower topper) while cooking.
