Episode 42 - Are You Thirsty Tonight? Elvis Cocktails!

Happy Birthday Elvis!  That’s right, it was the King’s birthday on January 8th and it seemed to us that the gentlemanly thing to do, was to make a couple of cocktails in honour of the man himself!

Unfortunately, (just like Elvis all those years ago), our microphone has left the building.  Or, more to the point, our microphone was not hooked up properly and once again our podcast was recorded on the crummy microphone on the front of the laptop. (Thanks Fred).  This episode was an hour and twenty minutes long.  There is no way we are going to make you listen to that.  There is a plan afoot to remedy the situation, but in the mean time, here are the delicious cocktails we prepared and please click on the player above for the abbreviated version of the show.  Enjoy the cocktails and see if you can figure out how they relate to Mr. Presley!

Also, before we begin, Gentleman Jason would like to thank Ian Boothby and David Dedrick for having him as a guest again on the Sneaky Dragon Podcast.  Check out their website here.  Their show is always entertaining and sometimes can take you on a pretty wild ride.  Subscribe on iTunes and let them know you liked their show!

First up for us, the Burnside.  This cocktail is named after a civil war general named Ambrose Burnside.  He was noted for a particular way of wearing his facial hair.  Hmmmmm.  What could that style possibly be?

The Burnside

1 ounce gin
1 ounce dry vermouth
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 teaspoon cherry brandy
1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain over fresh ice in a high ball glass.

This yields a delightful dusky rose drink.  You can taste the gin but it’s tamed by the two vermouths.  You can taste the vermouth but it’s tamed by the cherry brandy.  The Angostura just makes sure everyone is behaving themselves.  Like a general in charge of his troops!  This is an easy drinking “complex” drink.  Try one right now!

Mmmmmmmm, dusky rose!

Up next is the venerable Kentucky Colonel.  This is an old classic and rightly so.  Unlike Elvis’s manager “Colonel Tom” Parker, this is the kind of drink you would like to have manage your money and career!

Kentucky Colonel

2 ounces bourbon
1 ounce Bénédictine

Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.

You can’t go wrong with this drink.  The sweetness of the bourbon is there, but it’s the herbal sweetness of the Bénédictine that transforms this to classic cocktail stature.  So simple, but so good.  Have you finished your “Burnside” yet?  Good!  Make a “Kentucky Colonel” now.

Look! We garnished it with a little bit of lemon peel. Classy, right?

See you next time and I promise we'll get the microphone hooked up properly!