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When it's cold outside, nothing beats sitting by the fire and sipping on some brown liquor.
And if you're in America, it's likely that someone's gonna break out the s'mores,
that delicious combo of graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow.
Well, what if we could combine all of those elements into one amazing, "Dad Bod"-inducing cocktail?
...I'm on it.
We're gonna start by infusing some cocoa nibs into an aged rum;
this is gonna give us some of that chocolate flavor without making the rum sweet.
I really like this Mount Gay rum, it is full-bodied and delicious.
We're gonna add about 200 mL of that to a mason jar,
and then add 25 grams or 2 tablespoons of your cocoa nibs into the jar.
Let it sit for about three hours, shaking occasionally, and then strain out the cocoa nibs.
Next we're gonna prepare a graham cracker rim for this coupe glass, that'll give some texture to the drink.
Now, to help this graham cracker stick to the rim of the glass, we're gonna whip up some homemade magic shell.
So, to start we're gonna add half a cup of dark chocolate chips to a bowl,
then we're gonna add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil which will increase the saturated fat content and help it harden;
I'd recommend using refined coconut oil unless you want that coconut taste,
then microwave that for about a minute and you'll have this nice chocolate sauce.
Then, grab some Amazon-brand graham crackers, smash them up in a bag, and then dump them out onto a plate.
All right, let's get on with the rimjob.
Dip the glass in the chocolate sauce, and then slowly dab the outside of the glass in your crushed graham cracker.
The chocolate will soon harden against the cool glass, and you'll have this nice graham cracker rim.
All right, now let's make the cocktail.
We're gonna make a variant of a rum Manhattan, starting with 2 oz. or 60 mL of our chocolate rum.
To that, we're gonna add 1 oz. or 30 mL of sweet vermouth.
Hit that with 2 dashes of chocolate bitters, and then 2 dashes of Angostura bitters.
While we stir that up, let's learn some fun facts about s'mores.
So, s'more is a contraction of the phrase "some more", and apparently the first recipe was published around the 1920s.
There's also a National S'mores Day, which is celebrated annually on August 10th.
And now that you know these fun facts, you'll be a hit at the next campfire.
After stirring for about 45 seconds, we're gonna strain that into our coupe glass.
Then we're gonna garnish with a marshmallow...
But what kind of monster would eat an untoasted marshmallow?
To create our fire, we're first gonna need to make a fire pit.
So, we're gonna do that by taking a mandarin orange,
cutting it in half cross-wise, and then hollowing out one half with a spoon.
For our wick, we're just gonna use a plain sugar cube, and for our fuel, some peppermint extract, which typically is around 90% alcohol.
Then take your little fire pit and float it next to the marshmallow.
Then ignite it for your guest, and right away you'll see a bright, beautiful flame coming off that peppermint oil.
And now your guest can toast their marshmallow however they like it.
I personally always try to go for that perfectly-even, golden-brown toast, but always end up catching it on fire in the end.
What about you guys?
You should also serve this alongside a little bowl and a spoon, so your guests can fish out that fire pit when they're done.
Okay, let's see if we've successfully brought the s'mores experience to a cocktail, starting with this perfectly... Burnt-to-a-crisp marshmallow...
We get that graham cracker from the rim which also gives it a nice texture, and the cocktail itself is awesome.
I feel like all we're missing is a ghost story to complete the campfire experience.
Thanks for watching, guys!
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Cheers!