The Shot Winner Is: Big Fat Elvis
Updated: February 12, 2015
Ah, shots! I knew that this would be a fun contest and it was. The original shooter recipes that came in during January are some of the most creative drinks that have come in yet. It was everything that I expected and more, so I thank everyone who took the time to share their shooters.
Amid the ingenious, creative recipes that came into the contest, there was one that stood out just a little more than the rest and I'm sure that the bacon-lovers of the world will be happy to know that the winning shooter is Jason Westplate's Big Fat Elvis.
The name is only half of the fun when it comes to this recipe. First of all, it gives you the excuse to fry up (and eat) more of that bacon you love and recycle the fat to create a smoky, bacon-laced over-proof rye whiskey with as heavy a flavor as you like. Second: peanut butter amaretto (enough said there). Then, you will put everything together, beginning with a little maple syrup and finishing up with applewood-smoked salt. It is breakfast in a shot glass and Westplate has done a fantastic job with balancing some very distinct flavors.
Is all of this too much work for a shot? Not really, especially when one looks at the many lengths people have gone to in an attempt to bacon-ize everything. Also, the recipe is designed for 4 shots at a time and the housemade spirits are very useful for multiple rounds of the Big Fat Elvis and other drink experiments. Have fun with this one! Get the full Big Fat Elvis recipe...
Congratulations Jason!
I encourage you to browse all of the shooter entries below because they are each fantastic in their own right. The collection as a whole is a great example of what the modern shooter can be and there are some very creative minds behind them. Two that I would like to point out are the the Black River and D.S.D. They are of two completely different profiles - one with chili and cinnamon infused vodkas laced with tequila, and the other a 'fancier' shot of absinthe, Fernet, and gin - each are powerful and flavorful and quite fun.
Browse shooter recipes....
Learn more about the cocktail contest and browse more results...
Submitted by:Jason Westplate, Cocktailian, JMW
Servings: 4
Glass Type: 1.5oz shot glass
Ingredients:
Directions:
fat washing a spirit: 1 tbsp. of clarified fat to 500ml of base spirit. Combine and agitate to thoroughly combine--repeat this process for the desired wash time. Freeze, and repeatedly strain until clear and devoid of solid fat.
peanut butter infusion: 1 tbsp. of creamy peanut butter to 250ml of liqueur. Combine and agitate to thoroughly combine--let stand for half an hour, and then strain until smooth (similar to a cream liqueur texture).
Method:
Add 1 teaspoon of maple syrup to the bottom of all four shot glasses. In a cocktail shaker with ice, add rye and amaretto until chilled (~10 seconds)--strain and pour over the tail of a cocktail spoon to layer. Add a pinch of salt to the top of the shots and enjoy.
Inspiration: For better or worse, the eating habits of the late, great Elvis Presley have provided us ample inspiration when it comes to food and beverage, and for me, shooters are all about balance of textures and dynamic taste. This shot has a full, rich profile--in both mouth feel and combination of flavor, and allows for a lot of creativity without loosing the solid character that the overproofed whiskey and fantastic amaretto provide. It's a fun shooter because of the repeated profiles of sweet, savory and salty.More »
Submitted by: Nick Lynch, aka The Alchemist
Glass Wear: Shooter glass
Garnish – none
Ingredients
Method
More from Lynch: The flavor profile is one of hot spicy Christmas pudding and has a delightful linger on the palate. The chili is complimented by the cinnamon which also compliments the tones of Apple from the sourze and all of it goes magically well with the tequila and Kahlua. I genuinely love this shooter and everyone I’ve made it for loves it too. I really hope you attempt to make it for yourself and you will agree, I am sure, it is one damn fine shooter cocktail. And a real Cocktail with clearly strong Mexican influences, but hey we don’t distill any of this stuff in Zimbabwe!
My name is Nick Lynch – aka The Alchemist – and I’m Zimbabwe’s first accredited Mixo and extreme bar arts performance artist. We are not a formal company, but more a rag tag collection of cocktailian enthusiasts who cater for certain special events. I’m mostly based outside of Africa now and am presently in Australia.
You can see us on FB – Alchemy Cocktails & Entertainment - we cover what we call 'the collective bar-arts' including extreme demonstration Flair, Pro Pole dancing - Mixology - Liquor industry news - Music - humor - and popular culture stuff.....it's good fun!
Submitted by: Robert Watrous
Build in a shooter glass. Neat.
Drink. Sleep. Dream
More from Watrous: I have this every night before going to sleep—thus the name. For variety I change the bitters every night. Besides the Aztec Chocolate Bitters, others that are good in it include Fee Brothers Cherry, Rhubarb, Peach, Plum, Cranberry, West Indian Orange and Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit and Xocolatl Mole Bitters, as well as Scrappy’s Grapefruit and Lavender Bitters. Sometimes more or less is needed of the bitters for getting the right balance with the strong Fernet-Branca. Cheers.
Submitted by: Marliz3e, Bar Manager at The Rabbit Hole Restaurant, Krugerdorp, South Africa
Layer equal parts of Ponchos (Coffee flavoured Tequila) and Strawberry Lips ( a strawberry cream liqueur laced with gold tequila) carefully layered top with a small squirt of Whipped cream.
More from Marliz3e: I work as bar manager at The Rabbit Hole Restaurant, in Krugersdorp, South Africa. This shooter was dreamed up (literally) one night, tested the next and on the menu with in a week. It is also a customer favourite!
Submitted by: Shaun Daugherty of www.ShaunTheBartender.com and Ray's Place Eatery and Tavern in Fairlawn, Ohio
In a mixing glass, add the sprig of thyme and white rum. Gently muddle the two ingredients. Add ice. Add the Borducan and cream. Cap with a tin and shake well. Double strain into a stemmed cordial glass, using a hawthorne and a mesh strainer.
More from Daugherty: Thyme is becoming one of my favorite ingredients to enhance the overall flavor of a cocktail. Not only does it give you the aromatic properties in it's own right, it also seems to bring out the flavor of the other ingredients as well. I hope you enjoy!
Follow me on www.ShaunTheBartender.com, where I introduce a daily drink with a video showing you step-by-step how to make it. Perfect for the home entertainer.
Submitted by: Michael S. Gatlin, bartender at Outliers Eatery in Portland, Maine
Combine ingredients, shake with ice, strain and pour...
More from Gatlin: Outliers Eatery has a vast collection of Ralph Steadman art work - so all my drink names have some sort of Hunter Thompson reference. The ticket - is named from his famous line - "Buy the ticket - take the ride."
Ah, shots! I knew that this would be a fun contest and it was. The original shooter recipes that came in during January are some of the most creative drinks that have come in yet. It was everything that I expected and more, so I thank everyone who took the time to share their shooters.
Amid the ingenious, creative recipes that came into the contest, there was one that stood out just a little more than the rest and I'm sure that the bacon-lovers of the world will be happy to know that the winning shooter is Jason Westplate's Big Fat Elvis.
The name is only half of the fun when it comes to this recipe. First of all, it gives you the excuse to fry up (and eat) more of that bacon you love and recycle the fat to create a smoky, bacon-laced over-proof rye whiskey with as heavy a flavor as you like. Second: peanut butter amaretto (enough said there). Then, you will put everything together, beginning with a little maple syrup and finishing up with applewood-smoked salt. It is breakfast in a shot glass and Westplate has done a fantastic job with balancing some very distinct flavors.
Is all of this too much work for a shot? Not really, especially when one looks at the many lengths people have gone to in an attempt to bacon-ize everything. Also, the recipe is designed for 4 shots at a time and the housemade spirits are very useful for multiple rounds of the Big Fat Elvis and other drink experiments. Have fun with this one! Get the full Big Fat Elvis recipe...
Congratulations Jason!
I encourage you to browse all of the shooter entries below because they are each fantastic in their own right. The collection as a whole is a great example of what the modern shooter can be and there are some very creative minds behind them. Two that I would like to point out are the the Black River and D.S.D. They are of two completely different profiles - one with chili and cinnamon infused vodkas laced with tequila, and the other a 'fancier' shot of absinthe, Fernet, and gin - each are powerful and flavorful and quite fun.
Browse shooter recipes....
Learn more about the cocktail contest and browse more results...
•Big Fat Elvis
Submitted by:Jason Westplate, Cocktailian, JMW
Servings: 4
Glass Type: 1.5oz shot glass
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces bacon fat washed Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey (100 proof)
- 1.5 ounces peanut butter infused Lazzaroni Amaretto Liqueur
- 4 teaspoons grade A maple syrup (chilled)
- 4 pinches applewood smoked sea salt
Directions:
fat washing a spirit: 1 tbsp. of clarified fat to 500ml of base spirit. Combine and agitate to thoroughly combine--repeat this process for the desired wash time. Freeze, and repeatedly strain until clear and devoid of solid fat.
peanut butter infusion: 1 tbsp. of creamy peanut butter to 250ml of liqueur. Combine and agitate to thoroughly combine--let stand for half an hour, and then strain until smooth (similar to a cream liqueur texture).
Method:
Add 1 teaspoon of maple syrup to the bottom of all four shot glasses. In a cocktail shaker with ice, add rye and amaretto until chilled (~10 seconds)--strain and pour over the tail of a cocktail spoon to layer. Add a pinch of salt to the top of the shots and enjoy.
Inspiration: For better or worse, the eating habits of the late, great Elvis Presley have provided us ample inspiration when it comes to food and beverage, and for me, shooters are all about balance of textures and dynamic taste. This shot has a full, rich profile--in both mouth feel and combination of flavor, and allows for a lot of creativity without loosing the solid character that the overproofed whiskey and fantastic amaretto provide. It's a fun shooter because of the repeated profiles of sweet, savory and salty.More »
•Black River
Submitted by: Nick Lynch, aka The Alchemist
Glass Wear: Shooter glass
Garnish – none
Ingredients
- Chili infused vodka (I make mine quite hot and spicy and use 1 Habanero chili infused into ½ a litre of good quality vodka allowed to stand for a few days before use.
- Cinnamon infused vodka – I place a couple of cinnamon sticks in about ½ a litre of vodka and allow to stand for a few days before use – the longer the better.
- Kahlúa
- Blanco Tequila or preferably Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila: Chosen for its pert spicy tones and mild fruitiness which compliment the other ingredients.
- Apple Sourz
Method
- Pour into your shooter glass 5 ml of the Chili infused vodka – next – add 2.5 ml (dash) of the Cinnamon infused vodka – next – pouring over the back of the bar spoon add 10 ml of Kahlua – next add 10ml of Tequila – next cap off the shooter with a good dash 2.5ml of Apple Sourz.
- The shooter is layered, but this is barely visible with only a slightly more clear base to the drink that is noticeable – in the darker light of a bar the shooter appears mostly Black – hence the name and it sounded bad-ass at the time!
- This shooter is shot in one hit and is not sipped – then ideally rolled in the mouth once before swallowing.
More from Lynch: The flavor profile is one of hot spicy Christmas pudding and has a delightful linger on the palate. The chili is complimented by the cinnamon which also compliments the tones of Apple from the sourze and all of it goes magically well with the tequila and Kahlua. I genuinely love this shooter and everyone I’ve made it for loves it too. I really hope you attempt to make it for yourself and you will agree, I am sure, it is one damn fine shooter cocktail. And a real Cocktail with clearly strong Mexican influences, but hey we don’t distill any of this stuff in Zimbabwe!
My name is Nick Lynch – aka The Alchemist – and I’m Zimbabwe’s first accredited Mixo and extreme bar arts performance artist. We are not a formal company, but more a rag tag collection of cocktailian enthusiasts who cater for certain special events. I’m mostly based outside of Africa now and am presently in Australia.
You can see us on FB – Alchemy Cocktails & Entertainment - we cover what we call 'the collective bar-arts' including extreme demonstration Flair, Pro Pole dancing - Mixology - Liquor industry news - Music - humor - and popular culture stuff.....it's good fun!
•D.S.D.
Submitted by: Robert Watrous
Build in a shooter glass. Neat.
- 1 spray of St. George Absinthe Verte
- ¼ tsp or 4 easy dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
- 1 oz Fernet-Branca
- ½ oz New Amsterdam No. 485 Gin
Drink. Sleep. Dream
More from Watrous: I have this every night before going to sleep—thus the name. For variety I change the bitters every night. Besides the Aztec Chocolate Bitters, others that are good in it include Fee Brothers Cherry, Rhubarb, Peach, Plum, Cranberry, West Indian Orange and Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit and Xocolatl Mole Bitters, as well as Scrappy’s Grapefruit and Lavender Bitters. Sometimes more or less is needed of the bitters for getting the right balance with the strong Fernet-Branca. Cheers.
•Tequila Bunny
Submitted by: Marliz3e, Bar Manager at The Rabbit Hole Restaurant, Krugerdorp, South Africa
Layer equal parts of Ponchos (Coffee flavoured Tequila) and Strawberry Lips ( a strawberry cream liqueur laced with gold tequila) carefully layered top with a small squirt of Whipped cream.
More from Marliz3e: I work as bar manager at The Rabbit Hole Restaurant, in Krugersdorp, South Africa. This shooter was dreamed up (literally) one night, tested the next and on the menu with in a week. It is also a customer favourite!
•Thymely Kiss
Submitted by: Shaun Daugherty of www.ShaunTheBartender.com and Ray's Place Eatery and Tavern in Fairlawn, Ohio
- 1 Sprig of Thyme
- 3/4 oz. White Rum
- 1/2 oz. Borducan Italian Orange Liqueur
- 1/2 oz. Irish Cream Liqueur
In a mixing glass, add the sprig of thyme and white rum. Gently muddle the two ingredients. Add ice. Add the Borducan and cream. Cap with a tin and shake well. Double strain into a stemmed cordial glass, using a hawthorne and a mesh strainer.
More from Daugherty: Thyme is becoming one of my favorite ingredients to enhance the overall flavor of a cocktail. Not only does it give you the aromatic properties in it's own right, it also seems to bring out the flavor of the other ingredients as well. I hope you enjoy!
Follow me on www.ShaunTheBartender.com, where I introduce a daily drink with a video showing you step-by-step how to make it. Perfect for the home entertainer.
•The Ticket
Submitted by: Michael S. Gatlin, bartender at Outliers Eatery in Portland, Maine
- 3/4 oz Four Roses Bourbon
- 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
- 1/2 oz Cherry Heering
- 1/4 oz Tawny Port
Combine ingredients, shake with ice, strain and pour...
More from Gatlin: Outliers Eatery has a vast collection of Ralph Steadman art work - so all my drink names have some sort of Hunter Thompson reference. The ticket - is named from his famous line - "Buy the ticket - take the ride."
Source...