Spirit Lifter

March 2, 2010 (Day 31) — Spirit Lifter

Yes. I really did cook last night. What was on the menu, you say? Why, nothing other than homemade pancakes from scratch and thick-cut bacon! Seriously. Bacon is proof that God wants us to eat pigs, if nothing else. I mean, damn.

PICTURED: You, on bacon.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Despite what many of you might be hoping, tonight’s drink isn’t something bacon-infused (although I can only imagine I will wander down that road eventually). No. Tonight, we do have a certain breakfast item making another appearance however. Just be careful, he’s seeking revenge for his brethren that were felled during that fateful night I made the fizzes.

C’mon, you remember!

I was so impressed with the unique texture that the egg white gave to my Ramos Gin Fizz, that I felt it only made sense to perhaps expand it out into other realms of the cocktail world. Before we get too far into tonight’s post, however, I have a shameful confession to make to you, my faithful readers. As I’ve made clear in the past, I’m huge fan of Scotch whiskey. I’ll drink Bourbon with the best of them. I cut my whiskey teeth on Canadian whiskey. And yet, through it all, I had never tried Irish Whiskey. Those times I made Irish Coffee? It was with Bourbon (sorry I lied).

So, of course, I had to have a side-by-side taste to appreciate the various nuances of the different kinds. Okay, I didn’t have any Canadian on hand. (Screw ya, ya gold-medal winning Canucks). But I did try Bourbon (Jim Beam), Blended Scotch (Johnnie Walker Red Label), Single-Malt Scotch (The Glenlivet) and Irish Whiskey (Feckin’) all next to one another. Bourbon is definitely the most sweet of these three. Of course, scotch gives you that trademark smokey flavor, while the Irish whiskey had a bit of an aftertaste I couldn’t quite pin. Probably not my favorite of the whiskeys (Helllloooo, scotch), but not bad. It does add a different undercurrent of flavors from your other whiskeys. Which, I guess, is the point.

Anyway, enough background on me being a pompous asshole who feels the need to have test tastes for whiskey. The drink!

Spirit Lifter:

• 2 oz Irish whiskey
• Half a lime
• Dash simple syrup
• Egg white

Shake in a cocktail shaker, strain into a chilled martini glass.

Unlike the scotch I had with a citrus flavor, the Irish whiskey lends itself quite well. The shaken egg white gives the cocktail a murky, somewhat unappetizing look.

The taste is decent, but not outstanding. Most of the flavors seem to mute one another, not giving me the kick I was kind of hoping for.

Tomorrow night’s drink, however, is one that should provide a nice blast. It’s called a Burning Bush.

And I’ll leave you that…

Cheers!

— Mark