Brace Yourself MxMo CV

 

It’s Mixology Monday CV and we’re excited about hosting!  The theme, “Brace Yourself,” is a challenge to concoct a cocktail that will fortify the will to venture forth into Winter.  With the fun and games everyone is having this weekend on the East Coast, it’s a fitting theme.

This month we offer two drinks, (actually 2 shots), to provide the liquid courage required for our outdoor adventures.  Both use a spirit that is rarely even mentioned in cocktail circles.   Since I am likely the only contributor to Mixology Monday that has a bottle of this stuff, a back story is required.  We were at Parliament in Dallas a while back and started chatting about their barrel aging program.  They gave us a shot of an aged drink to see what we thought.  It was definitely whiskey, but was mellowed with a hint of spice, vanilla and cloves.  We weren’t able to guess, so we asked what it was:  Fireball Whiskey!

We use our barrels to age successive cocktails/spirits/fortified wines.  The fun is in the adventure of how each cocktail affects the next inhabitant of the barrel.  Being a little uncertain about what I’d put in a barrel after Fireball, I went with the barrel stave in the bottle.  It took a little longer than I expected, but after 4 weeks the Fireball was approaching the flavors we’d experienced at Parliament.  Now for the shots:

Into the Wind

I thought of this immediately after our trip to Parliament. Porter’s Fire, which is a Canadian Whiskey with “cinnamon and hints of vanilla,” posted a drink combining it with amaretto.  So, substituting the new and improved barrel aged Fireball for the Porter’s Fire, you get the sweetness of the amaretto cut by the spice of the aged and mellowed Fireball.  Toss in Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters for a little added complexity.  If it’s still too sweet for you, reduce the amount of amaretto.

• 3/4 oz. Barrel Aged Fireball Whiskey
• 3/4 oz. Amaretto
• 2 Dashes Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters

1. Combine ingredients in a shot glass
2. Serve

Frost Buster

Amaretto is good so why not Jägermeister?  The clove and vanilla with the remaining spice of the cinnamon in the aged Fireball, blends with the herbs in the Jägermeister.

• 3/4 oz. Barrel Aged Fireball Whiskey
• 3/4 oz. Jägermeister

1. Combine ingredients in a shot glass
2. Serve

 

 

I served both of these shots this past weekend and got thumbs up all around.  So sip’m or slug’m, they’ll keep you warm for at least a minute or two!

Cheers!

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