The bartender grinned and waved a young man over to the bar.
'Joey,' he instructed, 'get me some tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, chili peppers and mustard seed.'
The young fellow nodded and ran into the back room, as the bartender reached behind the polished wooden shelf and pulled out a bottle of vinegar and part of an onion. His helper rushed back with an armful of jars and bottles and dumped them on the bar. The bartender whistled tunelessly as he mixed all of it in a beer glass, then glanced up at Marty.
'In ten minutes,' the barkeep remarked cheerfully, 'he'll be as sober as a priest on Sunday."
From Back to the Future Part III by Craig Shaw Gardner
Over a quarter of a century after Back To The Future I, II and III, and here we sit on October 21st, the day Marty McFly travels back to so he can save his yet unborn children. How time flies, backwards and forwards.
What did the movie get right? We have hoverboards, almost. We have big screen TVs, but we're still waiting for that pizza hydrator, darn it.
Luckily we don't have to wait for the Wake Up Juice that Doc was given in the bar scene. Here it is, in all it's eye popping glory ... but with a little kick added by using chile infused vodka. Try it, if you dare, it might even kick you back to the future.
The
WAKE UP JUICE
Cocktail
INGREDIENTS:
2 Oz. Chile Pepper Vodka
1 Tsp. Green Olive Juice
2 Drops Tabasco Sauce
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Ice
TOOLS: Cocktail (Martini) Glass, Cocktail Shaker
GARNISH: Cocktail Onion, Green Olive, Mustard Seeds
DIRECTIONS:
Chill the glass.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add the chile pepper vodka, green olive juice, Tabasco and the pinch of cayenne then shake until well chilled.
Strain into the chilled glass and garnish with a cocktail onion, a green olive and a few mustard seeds and serve.
"The bartender leaned over the bar, handing Marty both the glass, which was now filled with a uniform, vile brown liquid, and a clothespin.
'Put the clothespin over his nose,' the bartender instructed. 'When he opens his mouth, pour it down his gullet. Then stand back.'
Marty did as he was told, placing the clothespin over the bridge of Doc's nose, effectively closing off his nasal passages. The sleeping Doc opened his mouth to gulp in air. In a single fluid motion, Marty poured the contents of the glass into Doc's gullet."
From Back to the Future Part III by Craig Shaw Gardner
It's that time of year again. Yep, time to make my annual stash of pumpkin liqueur, but because I was busy writing and editing my latest cocktail book, How to Practice the Zen of Cocktails, I forgot to make my yearly batch of Homemade Pumpkin Liqueur in September. So here I sat, the middle of October and no homemade pumpkin booze.
So I looked around for a "quick pumpkin liqueur" recipe and found a great idea over at Serious Eats for making it with homemade pumpkin syrup. The difference between my pumpkin liqueur above and this method is the amount of time required to infuse the liqueur. This method gives you a usable liqueur in a few in a days.
This quick recipe does not have the flavor complexity of my original homemade version, but it's pretty darn good for the minimal amount of time required. And, like I always do, I changed their recipe up to suit my personal tastes, using extra vanilla, more pumpkin puree and Schilling's Pumpkin Pie Spice because that is the pumpkin pie flavor I grew up with and love.
I also didn't filter it. I really liked the looks and taste of the unfiltered syrup so I skipped that step. If I was going to keep the syrup and liqueur for a few months I'd go ahead and filter it, but I'm going to be using this batch up in the next few days.
And, by the way, the syrup is dynamite on waffles with lots of butter and a nice pile of whipped cream!
Thank you, Serious Eats, for pulling my cocktail feathers out of the proverbial pumpkin season fire!
2 C. Water 2 C. Sugar 4 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice 1-1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract 8 Tbsp. Pumpkin Puree
DIRECTIONS
Add all the syrup ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the mixture reduces to a syrup viscosity. Allow this to cool. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth, bottle and/or use to make a quick infused pumpkin liqueur.
You can bottle the syrup and refrigerate it for up to 2 months.
PUMPKIN PIE LIQUEUR: You can use Vodka or Rum or Bourbon!
DIRECTIONS: Mix together equal parts of the spirit and the syrup.
Filter through cheesecloth if you want a clearer spirit. Bottle and store in your refrigerator for up to four months.
