The Coot Matthews

I’ve really been enjoying the moonshine my mother-in-law gave me, and this is a cocktail I found and played around with a week or two ago and have been itching to share because it’s quickly become a favorite of mine — which is unexpected in the sense that this baby is HOT, just super spicy on the finish, which isn’t what I’d normally go for.

I got it off a website called the New York Cork Report; a writer/restaurateur thought up the drink to a) help move more corn whiskey at his bar; b) taste like jalapeno cornbread. How cool is that? Thus, you’ve got the corn whiskey = cornbread; heat = Tabasco; a citrus taste that goes with spicy food = lime; buttery mouth-feel = corn whiskey’s oily mouth-feel; jam you might spread on your jalapeno cornbread = apricot brandy. I am going to have to remember this trick — building a drink from scratch by imagining a specific, culinary reference.

Did I mention yet this drink is hot? It’s very hot.

The Coot Matthews

(Adapted Taken verbatim from the New York Cork Report)

2 ounces Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey

1 ounce apricot brandy

1 ounce lime juice

2 dashes Tabasco

1 dash Fee Brothers Peach Bitters

Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for about 20 seconds. Strain into cocktail glass. If you like, garnish with lime peel.

Tasting Notes:

I really didn’t change a thing from this recipe — but I did, obvs, use my Georgia Moon; the original recipe employs Glen Thunder Corn Whiskey, produced by Finger Lakes Distilling.