About a month ago, I received an email from The Baddish Group. They asked if I'd be interested in whipping up a frozen cocktail recipe which incorporated Fernet Branca. Now I'm no bartender, but when presented with the opportunity to dabble in the cocktail making arts, I rarely pass it up, so to the interwebz I went in search of inspiration! Here's what I came up with...
Last week while on vacation with the family, a Booze and Ice Cream discussion erupted on Twitter which I was pulled into by The West Coast Office. It involved Ardbeg 10 and Vanilla Ice Cream. I won't go into all of the delicious details, but I will share the Tweet that started it all. Here it is:
Peaty Whisky and Vanilla Ice Cream is a fantastic combination that is well worth trying, but it doesn't help with my Fernet Branca Boozy Shake idea, so I did a little digging on the interwebz and found the recipe for a Peaty Whisky and Fernet Branca cocktail that I once had at a Laphroaig tasting that I attended a few years ago. The cocktail was called The Smoking Gun. Here's the recipe:
- 2 oz. Islay or other peaty scotch
- 3/4 tsp. Fernet Branca
- 1/2 tsp. Brown Sugar Cordial (Heat 2 parts brown sugar and 1 part water until sugar is dissolved and solution has slightly thickened. Allow to cool and stir in an ounce of demerara rum per every 10 ounces of syrup.)
- 2 dashes Fee Bros. whiskey barrel-aged bitters
- Mint leaf garnish
Directions: Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish.
I call my variation The Smoking Gun on Ice. Here's what it looks like:
The boozy part of my Boozy Shake concoction is practically the same as the original Smoking Gun recipe. For the Peaty Whisky, I went with a Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength, and instead of Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters, I went with The Bitter Truth Old Time Aromatic Bitters, because that's what I had on hand. In order to transform the original recipe into a frozen cocktail, I added some ice (6 small cubes to be exact) and vanilla ice cream (6 ounces of Bassetts Vanilla Ice Cream). All of these ingredients were thrown into a blender and processed until smooth. Once the blender did its thing, I poured the ingredients into an Old Fashioned glass and garnished it with some mint.
If you're a regular reader, then you already know that I've dabbled with Boozy Shake recipes before (The Frankie Valli and The Jack Taylor are my previous creations). The Smoking Gun on Ice is very similar to The Jack Taylor, but thanks to the addition of the Fernet Branca and Brown Sugar Cordial, this Boozy Shake concoction had a bit more depth. It also had a nice boozy kick thanks to the Cask Strength Laphroaig. Me thinks The West Coast Office and a few of our Twitter friends (Peaty Whisky lovers that they are!) would really enjoy it.
Let's move on to my other frozen Fernet Branca cocktail creation...
I was having a bit of trouble coming up with a second cocktail recipe, so I reached out to Alyssa of The Baddish Group for some direction. She mentioned that I could always try a frozen version of a cocktail called The Hanky Panky. Since I had never heard of this drink, back to the interwebz I went!
It didn't take long to find the original recipe for The Hanky Panky which originated at The Savoy in London. Here it is:
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 1.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 2 dashes Fernet-Branca
- 1 Orange twist garnish
Directions: Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
I call my variation of this classic cocktail The Hanky Panky Pucker. Here it is for your viewing pleasure...
Since summer is far from over, I thought that I would take this frozen cocktail recipe into a more citrusy direction. Instead of Sweet Vermouth, I went with Dolin Dry Vermouth, and for the citrusy tartness that I was looking for, I added two scoops of Sharon's Lemon Sorbet into the mix. As far as the Gin goes, I recently purchased a bottle of Sweetgrass Back River Gin (a London Dry Gin made with Maine wild blueberries), so that's what I used. All of the ingredients, along with 6 small ice cubes and a couple of mint leaves, were thrown into a blender and processed until smooth. The finished drink was poured into an Old Fashioned glass and garnished with a mint leaf.
While I thoroughly enjoyed The Smoking Gun on Ice, I absolutely loved The Hanky Panky Pucker! All of the ingredients played together perfectly, i.e. the juniper and blueberry notes from the Gin, the licorice and herbal notes from the Fernet, the lightly sweet and tart flavors from the sorbet, and the refreshing flavors of the mint. This cocktail went down super easy, and had a subtle boozy kick at the end. My only regret is that there was no one around to give me a second opinion. Without a doubt, I will definitely make this again because I think it's a winner!
For those of that would like to recreate these recipes, here they are in their entirety:
The Smoking Gun on Ice
- 2 oz. Islay or other Peaty Scotch
- 3/4 tsp. Fernet Branca
- 1/2 tsp. Brown Sugar Cordial (Heat 2 parts brown sugar and 1 part water until sugar is dissolved and solution has slightly thickened. Allow to cool and stir in an ounce of demerara rum per every 10 ounces of syrup.)
- 2 dashes whiskey barrel-aged bitters
- 6 oz. Vanilla Ice Cream
- 6 small ice cubes
- Mint leaf garnish
Directions: Place all of the ingredients (except the mint) into a blender. Process until smooth. Pour into an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with a mint leaf.
The Hanky Panky Pucker
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 1.5 oz Dry Vermouth
- 2 dashes Fernet-Branca
- 2 scoops of Lemon Sorbet
- 6 small ice cubes
- 3 mint leaves
- Mint leaf garnish
Directions: Place all of the ingredients (except that one extra mint leaf) into a blender. Process until smooth. Pour into an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with a mint leaf.
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Many thanks to Fernet Branca and The Baddish Group for this delightful opportunity!
Categories: Cocktails, Recipe
Tagged as: Bartending, booze, Boozy Shake, Cocktails, Drinking, Drinkwire, Fernet Branca, Frozen Cocktail, Mixology, Recipes, Review, Reviews, The Hanky Panky Pucker, The Smoking Gun on Ice
