The Promotion Notion: Winners & Awesomeness (i.e. everyone)

GERALD

1. Pour 1 oz Irish whiskey and 1/2 oz Sailor Jerry (ha, ha, bad pun semi-intentional) Spiced Rum into a highball glass or tumbler.
2. Add ice.
3. Top up with ginger beer.
4. Garnish with a slice of lime & serve.

For Gerald, I wanted something that was normally pretty innocuous and unremarkable, like a whiskey and ginger, that packed an unexpected punch. I think I succeeded–the spiciness of the rum blends pretty well with the ginger.

LIANNON

1. Fill half a chilled shot glass with ice cold vodka.
2. Fill the remainder with crème de menthe, but leave some room to…
3. Add a splash of absinthe.
4. Down in one.

I figured the demons had to be shooters, because shooters fuck you up, and so do demons! Anzu and Liannon are sort of fire and ice themed, with Liannon being ice. This one is actually surprisingly refreshing, which was unintentional, but it is strong, which was the point. This also is where I started using running themes with particular types of liquor; starting here, absinthe=demons. Also, all ingredients should be cold, but as I learned while making this, don’t try to put crème de menthe in the freezer as you would vodka–it will actually freeze.

ANZU

1. Fill half a shot glass with chili pepper vodka.
2. Fill the remainder with tequila, but leave some room to…
3. Add a splash of absinthe.
4. Down in one.

In case you’re wondering, I made the chili vodka by poking a bunch of holes two jalapeño peppers with a fork, then letting them sit in a pint of Smirnoff for two days. I think they have commercial varieties as well, but why bother? This is cheaper. But don’t forget to take the peppers out after two days, or I promise you the stuff will be undrinkable. And, as your burning throat will tell you, Anzu is fire.

NICK

1. Combine 1 oz gin, 1/2 oz absinthe, 1/2 oz lime juice, and 1/2 oz sugar syrup in a a mixing glass.
2. Shake ingredients thoroughly with ice in a cocktail shaker.
3. Strain, pour into a chilled cocktail glass, and serve.

Nick was hard–he is perhaps one of the few I’m not happy with, and were it not a little before noon here I’d probably try and fix it again. At any rate, he was based on the idea that he should have two strong, conflicting flavors that don’t necessarily sit well together. I meant that to be the absinthe and gin, but the gin actually blends really well into the absinthe. However, the lime stands out, almost to the point of being too sharp, so I think I succeeded after all–everyone knows there’s something off about Nick, and there’s definitely something off about this drink.

JAMIE

1. Pour 1 oz gin, 1/2 oz peach schnapps, 1/2 oz sugar syrup, 1/2 oz lemon juice, and a dash of bitters into a tumbler or highball glass.
2. Add ice and top up with soda water.
3. Garnish with a twist of orange rind (squeeze it so it releases the oils into the drink) and serve.

Jamie was the first to take a lot of mistakes to get right, but I’m really happy with the result. Fruity, bubbly, light, but complex. And definitely delicious.

ALAN

1. Pour 1 oz bourbon, 3/4 oz Frangelico, 1/4 oz ginger syrup and a dash of bitters into a tumbler or rocks glass.
2. Add ice and a splash of soda water.
3. Garnish with a twist of orange rind and serve.

Oh, Alan. You turned out far differently from what I expected. The original idea was to make something comforting, but extremely and unexpectedly potent (because Alan is very soothing but a lying liar); I was thinking something like a hot toddy. But I was working on Jamie, had come to the conclusion that he needed soda water, which I didn’t have, and I was frustrated and needed some whiskey. So Alan kind of turned into my tribute to the Old Fashioned, which is one of my favorite drinks. At first there was way too much bourbon, which I realized would be comforting to no one except me. So I changed the proportions a bit and added the soda the next night, and it turned out well, I think. Oh, and ginger syrup… um, boil some peeled ginger with sugar water, basically. I can find you a recipe if you want, I have a bunch of it as a by-product of making candied ginger.

MAE

1. Combine 1 1/2 oz white rum, 1/4 oz white crème de menthe, 1/4 oz peach schnapps, 3/4 oz grenadine, and 1/4 oz lime juice in a mixing glass.
2. Shake ingredients thoroughly with ice in a cocktail shaker.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a twist of lemon rind, and serve.

Mae’s essential ingredient was grenadine, in order to obtain something like pink–so make sure all other ingredients are clear and especially don’t use green crème de menthe. Aside from that, it’s a strong drink that bears some kinship to Jamie’s in that they both require peach schnapps.

SIN

1. Combine 1 1/2 oz spiced rum, 1/2 oz lemon juice, 1/2 oz grenadine, and three whole cloves in a mixing glass.
2. Shake ingredients thoroughly with ice in a cocktail shaker.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with another clove and a twist of orange rind, and serve.

You have my partner to thank for this one. I had appointed him taster in chief for the evening, despite the fact that it was midnight and he was falling asleep and needed to be awake at 6 am, and he said “I think Fever Fruit should be Sailor Jerry, grenadine, and cloves.” And I said “That sounds like Sin, not Fever Fruit,” and so it was, with the addition of lemon juice. Bold and spicy. Grenadine was supposed to be the exclusive property of Mae, but it worked in this case. Again, not what I expected with Sin–I was planning on using Kahlua–but it definitely works.