Shoot to kill (Deadshot)

I don’t understand logic behind drinking shots. Maybe that’s because I prefer to taste what I drink, enjoy the aroma; I don’t want to just wash the drink down as quickly as possible. Okay, I understand that people do shots when they want to get wasted… but still: you could sip your glass with haste, meaning that you get shitfaced more quickly (if that’s you’re goal) and still get some idea what you’re actually gulping down.

I don’t have to understand every drinking habit in the world, that’s fine. I don’t drink shots, but that doesn’t mean I can’t develop one and introduce it to those who like them.

And hey, let’s face it… If the drink is called “Deadshot”… of course it must be a shot.

 

DEADSHOT

It’s time to soak things in alcohol again. Jelly beans in gold tequila, to be exact. Yes, notorious gold tequila that tequila afficionados (as myself) shun and others knock back in shot glasses or in Tequila Sunrises. This time that cheap kinda-tequila is actually going to taste good.

Put some jelly beans in the jar and cover them with tequila. Two hours is enough to give you liquid coloured between yellow (as in picture) and orange-reddish, depending on the brand of candy you used. There’s going to be some nasty slimethreads floating around, strain them. And unlike alcohol-infused licorice in post #2, these jelly beans taste pretty awesome! Sure, they’re are semi-transparent sponge-like oddities… but hey, if you’re gonna drink shots just to get pissed you might as well munch those lollapaloozas with a spoon!

About colour… it seems that despite of all those green and blue beans the final result turns out something in yellow-reddish-spectrum. Just to be on the safe side you could pick suspicious colours out before soaking (and use them in “Power Up!”, below). If you think the final colour is too yellow, adjust with red grenadine.

And now for the actual recipe, which is pretty simple…

-2 parts jelly bean-infused gold tequila

-1 part apple juice

-1 part lemon juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into chilled shot glass.

Natural sourness of gold tequila is balanced with jelly bean flavour: people (those infamous Test Subjects of mine again) notice the booze in the glass is something else than regular vodka but they can’t figure it out… lemon gives the drink that always welcome citrus lightness, and apple juice is basically a neutral element to dillute the drink down a bit. Skip it if you want stronger shots.

On the contrary: if you fancy the taste you can do longer version…

 

POWER UP!

I made these in my friend’s party. I used vodka instead of gold tequila, but that was a mistake: result was too “jellybeanish” without tequila’s sour counterweight. Some liked it, I didn’t, do your own experiments.

-2 parts jelly bean-infused booze

-1 part lemon juice

-3 parts apple juice

Shake with ice and strain into highball glass with some ice and those blue/green jelly beans in it. You don’t actually need a straw to drink this, but use one anyway: you’ll need some kind of implement to scoop out those jelly beans after you’ve finished the actual drink. It seems everyone wants to devour them after observing them in the bottom of the glass!

 

I mentioned I am a tequila fan. It sure is A Gift from Gods, greatest distilled alcohol ever invented (along mezcal and rum). Next time I’ll intoduce two recipes using tequila: first is something only tequila-lovers enjoy, I suppose, but the other one is the exact opposite. You can clearly taste tequila, but even people who beforehand told me they hate “that vile Mexican booze” are surprised… “Can tequila-based cocktail taste this good?”