With its inherent sweetness, whiskey is a better mixer than scotch. And while I love Jameson, it's a waste to mix clean Irish whiskey when American whiskey is such a robust partner. So Joe Public, go and grab some Jack or Dickel and drink up.
For our recipe I decided to riff from the classic Sazerac utilizing Coke as a surgaring agent rather than simple syrup. Like the Sazerac, you first need to coat the inside of a rocks glass or snifter with an anise liqueur like Herbsaint. To do this, pour a tablespoon in the glass, turn the glass sideways and roll it 360 degrees. If you have a steady hand you can get the liqueur within a 1/2 inch of the lip of the glass. Fill with 3-4 ice cubes and set aside. You should not have extra anise in the bottom of the glass. If you do, remove it (drink your slop!). Here's the rest of the drink...
1 tablespoon Herbsaint (for the wash)
1 1/2 oz of American Whiskey (I used Stranahan's single malt)
1 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
3-6 dashes of Angostura bitters (I do 2 heavy shakes)
1 - 1/12 oz. of Coke Classic (no Pepsi)
Shake all the remaining ingredients except the Coke. Strain into the glass with the prior anise wash. Top with Coke. Stir gently. Garnish with a swath of lemon peel.
The conceit of this drink is that we rename it depending on the anise in its wash. Remember if your wash is close to the lip, it should remain higher than the poured drink, so that its scent remains to mix with the lemon peel.
Here are the other Dionysi (?) that we suggest here at the Firewater Lounge...
Dionysus (Original) - Ouzo wash.
American Dionysus - Herbsaint wash.
Italian Dionysus - Black Sambuca wash.
French Dionysus - Pernod wash.
Mexican Dionysus - Xtabentun wash. (Do it, Stiff!)
I'll do a Mexican Dionysus for sure. I'll also use Mexican imported Coca-Cola; it comes in the old glass bottles we had as kids and is sweetened with real azucar (sugar), not corn syrup! Should be yummy
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