Black Rock Shooter

Usually I focus on substance more than style. However, this week I had to come up with something stylish, because it's Mixology Monday again. The topic focuses more on the backstory of the cocktail rather than the cocktail itself, but fear not, as the resulting mixture of coffee, grenadine and scotch turned out to be tasty nevertheless.

The theme is provided by Rebecca of The Shrubbery blog and is best described in her own words.

The thing that unites everyone who participates in MxMo is our love of of cocktails. We love the history, the alchemy, the artistry, and of course the drinking. Loads of us go to conventions, collect memorabilia, read books about all manner of boozy subjects, and tour distilleries like they're sacred places. One might say, we're nerds.

I say, what else are you nerdy for?

For the purposes of this challenge I'm going to define a nerdy pursuit as: anything from or related to science, science fiction, fantasy, video games, role playing games/characters, or comics. Come up with a cocktail that celebrates or is inspired by a nerdy thing you love.

[...]

Anything you are enthusiastic about. And since the best part of being nerdy is sharing that enthusiasm with others, tell us about the thing you're drawing your inspiration from. – Rebecca

Well despite not being the kind of person who would call himself nerdy, I am quite enthusiastic about lots of the aforementioned things. One of my favorite past times since I was a teenager, besides playing video games, is watching anime.

In my opinion it's a great form of entertainment, able to tell stories that sometimes just wouldn't work in real life television. And while there have been times I took a short break from keeping up with the newest series, I always try to take some time and catch up when my schedule permits it.

Burning Brightly

For the topic at hand I went ahead and tried to decide which piece of Japanese animation would provide a good basis for an exciting cocktail. I believe I found something that allows me to use some unusual colors and make a stupid pun. Double win.

Today's cocktail is about Black Rock Shooter. Who or what is a Black Rock Shooter? Describing the whole thing would be too detailed for this post, but the short version is: It's a character designed by a Japanese artist, that was turned into a song, a OVA and finally into games and an anime series and manga.

There's lots more to discover about the Black Rock Shooter universe if you want to. I find the art very beautiful and interesting. It's rather dark which makes the occasional color stand out even more. The anime and OVA have some nice fight scenes and all the different characters are rather unique. If you like action mixed with teen angst then I recommend watching the anime, but my favorite is the great art book which contains a lot more than just Black Rock Shooter related pictures.

For my cocktail I want to focus on the dark color scheme of the titular character. So it's going to be a dark cocktail. Black if you will. And since I want to incorporate the blue flame, it's going to be a shot that can be lit on fire. Overall it's a Black Rock Shot.

Gently heat the Drambuie 15 in a small pan or pot. Meanwhile pour the coffee liqueur, espresso and grenadine into a mixing glass filled with ice and stir for 15 seconds. Strain into a shot glass. Take a barspoonful of Drambuie and ignite it. While burning, pour the Drambuie over the prepared shot. Extinguish before drinking.

Lighting things on fire always makes for a good show, but this shot also tastes great. The grenadine adds sweetness to the coffee and gives it a pleasant and fruity aroma. By adding Drambuie it's a shot reminiscent of the Irish Coffee, but with a nice Scottish liqueur instead. All the parts work well together and while it's a bit on the sweet side, it works because it's just a shot and not a full fledged cocktail.

If it's too sweet for you, I suggest reducing the amount of grenadine, especially if you use a sweeter coffee liqueur like Kahlúa. Nuevas Rias is a bit drier than usual coffee liqueurs and therefore can take a bit more sugar. Also I suggest making your own grenadine as this ensures you will actually have some taste of pomegranate in your drink.

As this shot contains lots of caffeine and sugar it's just the right thing if you need a boost during a long night. And everybody loves setting things on fire, so that's a huge bonus. Pouring burning liquid around isn't easy, so be careful not to set everything on fire.

Wrapping Up

It was kind of fun to combine two of my hobbies. Maybe I will try that more often and come up with more themed cocktails. It certainly is a new challenge I didn't consider before and gives me the chance to write about some more or less obscure things. It's not easy to make something that fits the tone and look of a character and tastes good.

I hope you enjoyed this contribution to Mixology Monday and find time to recreate this shot. Or maybe go ahead and check out Black Rock Shooter or some of huke's art. Next time I will continue my series about The Right Tools. If you want to get informed about updates, follow me on Twitter or subscribe. Also you can leave a comment below and give some feedback if you'd like.