Wanted to feature this cocktail by fellow haunter Revenant Manor. Originally left as a comment on an earlier blog post, it was too good not to feature.
He wrote...
The Peppermint Schtick
As a cocktail, it's absolutely seasonal, 100% ridiculous, and best of all, super easy to make:
- 1.0 oz vodka
- 0.5 oz vanilla vodka
- 1.5 oz half-and-half (or heavy cream, depending on preferred mouth feel)
- 0.5 oz peppermint schnapps
- 1 teaspoon simple syrup (or Festive Simple Syrup to take it up a level; see below)
- Mini candy cane or peppermint stick (whole and / or crushed as garnish)
Everything but the candy cane just gets thrown in a shaker with some ice, then poured over even more ice (preferably a Truly Massive Ice Ball, if available).
It can all come out even more festive with a few other simple preparations.
- Freeze several mini candy canes; crush to tiny bits to act as rim garnish
- Make Festive Simple Syrup in advance; combine 1/2 cup each water & sugar + 1 tsp. peppermint extract over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved / incorporated
If you're feeling extra jolly and want something that looks like the holiday in a glass, dip the rim of a rocks glass in the Festive Simple Syrup, roll in peppermint bits to coat, then deposit a whole frozen mini cane into the glass to take the thing entirely over the top.
A couple of notes:
- If no vanilla vodka is available no one will call the Christmas police. Just increase the amount of regular vodka accordingly
- If no vanilla vodka is available, but the idea of vanilla sounds appealing, make the Festive Simple Syrup with vanilla extract instead of peppermint extract for a similar result
- This thing is pretty forgiving; I've made one with sweetened vanilla almond milk in the place of the cream / half-and-half (and then skipped the simple syrup) and got perfectly acceptable results
These suckers are boozy little calorie bombs, but a fun change of pace drink that 100% look the part of a holiday cocktail without requiring a degree in mixology.
Happy holidays!
3 comments:
Shoot - half and half leaves me out. My search for a cocktail to serve this Christmas continues.
Hey, I hope this cocktail makes it into a couple of glasses this holiday season...that would tickle me silly!
To Lady M, if the dairy is a concern here, but the rest of the ingredients seem like a match, I've had some success with vanilla almond milk in place of the dairy with the exact same ratios.
While it's not the same mouth feel, the flavor profile is solid.
However, the real game-changer with it was heating it for a while in a saucepan (stirring constantly to prevent scalding) until it thickened to something more like a cream. I was on a medium-high heat, and it seemed to work out well (removed prior to boiling)
Once in that state, it seems to stay permanently thickened, so could be stored for a little while as a go-to base for the cocktail, or made into a large batch that could just be poured over ice.
Well thanks for the tips and tricks RM.
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