The first few days of our calendar highlighted some holiday characters who, in our opinion, made Santa's Naughty List. To varying degrees, their actions had negative consequences in each of their stories. But, it being Christmas, each character was eventually redeemed.
Now we move into our next group: the Loveable Lugs. These are guys who just can't seem to catch a break but are ultimately endearing for the way they keep plodding through life. Whether they're buffoonish, bumbling or not all together bright, we usually see some part of ourselves in them and really want them to win.
The holiday special Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was rife with memorable supporting characters who, like Rudolph himself, felt like misfits. One such character was the boisterous prospector, Yukon Cornelius, who rescues Rudolph and his merry band. This peppermint-loving galoot helps to save the day (and the Abominable Snowman) while delivering some memorable lines (“Now I'm off to get my life-sustaining supplies: cornmeal and gun powder and hamhocks and guitar strings.”) How could you not help but love this lug of a guy?
When developing this drink, we wanted to combine flavours that we thought represented a burly prospector wandering the wilds of the Great White North. His love of hamhocks guided our base spirit, bacon washed bourbon. Since he is a prospector of sorts, we added the gold-flecked goodness of Goldschläger along with a little maple syrup to sweeten it up.
Yukon Cornelius Cocktail Recipe:
- 2 oz bacon-washed bourbon (see note below)
- 1 oz Goldschläger
- 1/8 oz lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp maple syrup
- 7 drops Bittered Sling Plum & Rootbeer bitters
- old-fashioned glass
Bung everything in a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Pour into the old-fashioned glass. Swirl in the bitters. Add an ice cube or two. Garnish with a bit of lemon peel.
Cocktail Notes:
The process for bacon washing spirits is surprising easy. We basically followed the process posted at Zymurgy and Therapy. Take ½ cup of cool bacon fat and pour it into a mason jar with 1 cup of Jim Beam bourbon. Put the lid on the jar and shake the mixture to emulsify. Let the mixture sit until the fat rises to the top, approximately one hour. Place the jar in the freezer for several hours until the fat layer solidifies. Remove the jar from the freezer. Poke a hole in the fat and then strain the bourbon through a sieve and cheesecloth to remove any sediments. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
The bacon-washed bourbon and Goldschläger go together surprisingly well. The maple syrup adds a nice sweetness and the lemon helps to brighten the taste. We had some difficulty getting the proper balancing the lemon and we found it better to err on the side of less citrus.
We tried the cocktail with two other types of bitters - Fee Black Walnut and Bittered Sling Lem-Marrakech. The black walnut smoothed out the bourbon but eliminated the smoky bacon flavour. The lem-marrakech bitters were a nice contrast but the wrong kind of spice-profile for the cocktail.
Inspiration:
Here, our loveable lug, Yukon Cornelius, picks up Rudolph and Hermey when they are lost.
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