Law of the Jungle (Black Panther, Gorilla Grodd)

In the last post I introduced couple of cocktails using Ugandan gin, Uganda Waragi.  If you ever get a bottle of Waragi in your hands, please try them out… but since it’s not readily available everywhere, I guess it’s time to use more common spirits in next recipes.

I’m going to stay inspired by my trip to Rwanda and Uganda, to jungles and to savannahs, but moving back to blog’s original theme, superheroes…

 

BLACK PANTHER

Okay, I didn’t visit Wakanda ;P, but nevertheless I’m going to introduce this drink.

1 part white rum

1 part Bols White Cocoa

1 part Gammel Dansk

2 parts cherry juice

1 part apple juice

(black food colouring, see below)

Shake with ice and strain into cocktail glass, garnish with cherry. And as many times before… for cherry juice use concentrate diluted with water 1:1 ratio instead of recommendation (usually 3:1 or 4:1).

You noticed the “off-place” ingredient… why Gammel Dansk? All the other ingredients of the drink are designed to create a whirlwind of “Africa’s Nature’s Aroma” in drinker’s mouth… but there’s also all kind of dangers lurking in that beautiful landscape, and that’s the element I want to represent with the bitterness of Gammel Dansk.

I’m a Big Fan of Fernet Branca, and I’ve used it a lot (eg. Dark Knight, Swamp Thing, Black Widow) …actually too much: some Test Subjects (rightfully) told me to take it easy with Branca. So, I tried Gammel Dansk instead: it cannot be substituted by using less Branca. Even tiny amounts of F.B. have distinct, “violent” taste: Gammel Dansk is bitter all right, but more subtle.

And this is not the first time I’ve utilized Gammel Dansk… I did it in Jack O’Lantern.

 

EDIT: as “Reader D.” pointed out, using black colouring agent really turns it into a Black Panther The Cocktail… I guess many people have done it already; I admit, I’m always more interested in creating the taste, the looks come a distant second… to the point where I ignore it almost completely 😦

To enhance the cocktail to even more blackpanterish… Rim the cocktail glass with suitable purple sugar etc., to give it the purple halo of T’Challa in black costume. I tried it, looks fine, but the photos were so awful I didn’t dare to publish them.

EDIT: Check out another version of Black Panther here.

 

I didn’t see any leopards, black or regular, but I managed to observe some lions in Uganda. However, the absolute highlights of the trip were visits to Volcanoes National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable N.P. to see mountain gorillas…

Silverback taking a nap... and who can blame him, eating 30 kilograms of leaves and bamboo shoots per day sounds exhausting! I heard that sometimes shoots can ferment, resulting in gorillas with hangover… and that brings us to our next cocktail…

 

GORILLA GRODD

No bamboo shoots here, but Gammel Dansk again. I justify using it with same argument as in Black Panther: stalking danger somewhere in the bush… mountain gorillas aren’t aggressive, but Gorilla Grodd sure is!

I decided to go for frappé with this one… it’s my fourth recipe in that concept: first two were Riddler and Kal-El, third was Dr. Octopus last autumn. Purple colour is inspired by G-Grodd’s cape 😀

3 parts Parfait Amour

2 parts Triple Sec

1 part Gammel Dansk

Cool suitable glasses beforehand in the freezer. Just before serving fill them with crushed or shaven ice. Shake ingredients with ice, vigorously until glacially cold, and strain into glasses. Add straw.

I hope these cocktails bring you the feeling of equatorial Africa, I sure need that feeling here in cold and dark Finland in the middle of the winter. Few more pics from the trip…

 

…and so on. I abstain myself of spamming too many travel pics, this blog is about cocktails.

Okay, take care. Stay tuned for more cocktail recipes!