For the unlikely minority of you who don't know me IRL, I'm a late-stage grad student (I'd make a joke here about how I'm close to terminal, but that's probably in bad taste). At this point, my day consists of picking tasks that best let me put off all other tasks while producing the least guilt. Sometimes, that task is making and writing about drinks. Other times, such as when the drink involved has "asbestos gloves" in the equipment section, reading 23 year old computer science papers merits a position of the utmost importance. With my paper stack empty and class prep done, however, it's time to stop putting off writing about this next drink.
First of all, here is some fire:
First of all, here is some fire:
The drink in the suspiciously colorful picture above (Credits: Tony Cenicola/New York Times ) is the Blue Blazer. This drink was invented by Jerry Thomas, who was a bartender in San Francisco during the Gold Rush. He also published one of the earliest mixing books, The Bar-tender's Guide, which I now have on order. His other book, The Bon Vivant's Companion, is free on Google Books (link) and is an entertaining read. For the Blue Blazer, the book considers it "the nectar for Pluto rather than for Bacchus," and proceeds with recommendations to practice tossing water back and forth between mugs to avoid burning.
Even the drink's creator seems to have been a little afraid of this drink and rarely made it: it was purportedly served only when the temperature in San Francisco was at or below 10ºF (which it may never have been; the coldest recorded SF temp was 27ºF in 1932) or when the customer had the flu (which, in the mid-19th century, tended to mean they were not in bars).
Will try ordering at every bar from now on, just for the show.
Even the drink's creator seems to have been a little afraid of this drink and rarely made it: it was purportedly served only when the temperature in San Francisco was at or below 10ºF (which it may never have been; the coldest recorded SF temp was 27ºF in 1932) or when the customer had the flu (which, in the mid-19th century, tended to mean they were not in bars).
Drink #7: Blue Blazer
- 4 oz scotch
- 4 oz boiling water
- 2 tsp honey
Wear asbestos gloves (we didn't). Mix the honey into the boiling water and dissolve. Simmer the scotch in a chafing dish (we used an Indian frying pan/spoon hybrid). Ignite. Use 16oz pitchers (we used Pyrex measuring cups), pour the flaming scotch into one pitcher, the water in the other. Pour the scotch into the water and pour back and forth until the flame goes out.
Our cameras were not awesome enough to get a good picture, but we did end up with a surprising amount of fire. Even though the scotch barely ignites, the act of pouring it back and forth between pitchers acts as a bellows to increase the flame. It's pretty damn cool.
As for the taste, the fire burned off the alcohol in the whiskey, so what was left tasted very mild, bordering on watery. We used Balvenie, but I think next time a big peaty Islay scotch (Laphroaig, maybe?) would do this drink more credit. Also, instead of honey I want to try ground turbinado sugar to better approximate what would originally have been in this drink.
Final Verdict
Will try ordering at every bar from now on, just for the show.
