O Canada! (Aurora, Northstar… and Maple Leaf, Caribou)

Any fans of John Byrne’s Alpha Flight out there? Here’s a treat for you, Beaubier Twins in cocktail form!

 

AURORA

2 (or more) parts licorice vodka

2 parts coffee

1 part maple syrup

Stir with ice and strain into a shot glass OR stir without ice, to create house temperature shot for those cold winter nights when cooled down shots are a bit too much. In either case, top with cream… or I’d prefer whipped cream.

Licorice vodka, what is it? I’ve used it in many cocktails, check out Harley Quinn how it’s done.

About coffee… don’t use your strongest espresso, please see Black Mamba and Princess Python what kind of brew we’re looking for.

 

NORTHSTAR

3 parts licorice vodka

1 part blanco tequila or (for more sting) mezcal

2 parts coffee

1 part maple syrup

As with Aurora… either stir with or without ice, strain into cocktail glass and top with (whipped) cream.

 

I’d really like to visit Canada one day. Everyone I know who has visited or lived in that country say it’s a nice place, friendly people.

I don’t care about cities much. I admit I’m “a nature freak”, I like to spend my vacations in wilderness… and there is plenty of that in Canada, I gather. I’m not very excited about frozen wilderness, we got plenty of that here in Finland during wintertime (althought I know it’s different there)…

British Columbia would be nice, to see temperate rainforests during summer. I love forests, especially rainforests… and my love for tropical jungles forces me to visit them again and again…

…so I guess I’ll never have money for visiting Canada and her forests Every time there’s “too much money” accumulated in my bank account, I start planning my next trip… and I either end up visiting my relatives in Ireland, or more often, get drawn towards sweating and stumbling in the tropical jungle 😀

Oh my, I feel like spamming couple of travel photos… I’ve done it four times before: inspired by my trip to Rwanda and Uganda (Non-superhero cocktails Punishment Island and Pygmy Dance and Black Panther and Gorilla Grodd), one picture of the beach in Tobago (Aquaman, Namor) and random pictures from Ireland (Riddler and Kal-El)… they’re all written long time ago, so I guess it’s okay to do that again…

 

View from Surinamese jungle. Nothing special here, for me it’s okay just to hike in the jungle “without any highlights” (to me, every second there is sensational)… just wanted to photograph those bright red heliconias in the middle of the evergreen jungle. On the background you can see an opening, that’s River Suriname…

 

…The same river at the very first light of dawn. I left my hut in the middle of the night to take a nighttime hike in the jungle by myself, it was awesome! I made it back to the clearing just in time to see this sunrise.

And let’s not forget this blog’s theme, alcohol… while in Suriname you should try local rum, borgoe! 15 yo brands tend to be too smooth for my taste, 8 yo’s have decent “sharp/smooth-ratio”. Cheaper ones, even total “cheapos”, are also okay when you do the trick I learned from friendly locals in nation’s capital Paramaribo before hitting The Bush: little splash of lime and Coke turn even the cheapest “firewater” palatable.

…and if you’re into “firewater adventure”, check out Mariënburg Very Strong Rum, it’s 90%/180 proof! It really “clears your throat”… I enjoyed it straight, accompanied with a LARGE glass of water. It was an experience, I assure you.

And now it’s time to get back to actual topic, the cocktails!

 

MAPLE LEAF

2 parts bourbon

1 part lemon juice

maple syrup, to taste

Shake with ice and strain into cocktail glass with some crushed ice in it. Feel free to adjust bourbon/lemon juice-ratio.

I guess everyone knew this cocktail already? When I started this blog I wanted to bring up some excellent cocktails which, to my knowledge, aren’t widely known… Silk Stocking, Dirty Devil, French Intervention, Bullfrog, Jack Frost, Vida Verde, Tony Bennett (NOT the usual version), Freedom Fighter and Crocodile and Alligator.

Somewhere along the way I forgot about publishing those recipes, got too carried away with my own designs… but that’s what this blog is about after all, superhero cocktails! I just thought to make sure everyone knows Maple Leaf…

…and then there’s Caribou.

CARIBOU

Sorry, no pic. Looks like a glass of red wine.

This is widely known, at least in Quebec. As with Maple Leaf above: just making sure everyone is informed…

My version of Caribou:

2 parts red wine

1 part Canadian whisky

up to 1/3 part maple syrup

Stir with ice and strain into wine glass. Sometimes I crave for an ice cube in this.

There seems to be about kwazillion versions of Caribou. I compiled the prevailing principles for making the drink…

1. The drink can be either cold or warmed up. Sometimes some ice can be added to cold version, or it can even be served in a glass made out of ice.

2. The main ingredient is red and/or port wine, sometimes with some sherry. Any given mixture makes up the majority of the drink, up to 75%.

3. Smaller and stronger part consists of one, some or all of the following alcohols: whisky, vodka, brandy or even rum.

4. It’s sweetened using maple syrup or sugar.

5. Sometimes, especially when served heated, spices are added; cloves and nutmeg are obvious choices.

So everyone has her/his favourite version of Caribou, feel free to explore. Be warned: mixture of distilled alcohol and wine is dangerous to some, I’ve noticed. People easily start drinking it as quickly and as much as plain wine… resulting in too much alcohol, too severe hangover.

I don’t have this problem (I might be a drunk but I know my limits 😀 ) but I’ve noticed that many people have: there’s something deceiving in mixing wine and spirits.

Keeping that in mind… enjoy your cocktails! See you next week!