Sometimes the name of the cocktail precedes the drink itself.
Such was the case with this one. I keep a running list of cocktail names for those occasions when I come up with a good drink but can’t think of an appropriate title. I consult the list, and if there’s a good match, the drink gets a name.
For years, “Power Ballad” was languishing on that list. But as badly I wanted to use it, I hadn’t really come up with any drinks deserving of the name.
But eventually I learned that my buddy Adam, aka Mr. Muddle, also kept a list of names for his drinks, and much to my chagrin, “Power Ballad” was on his list as well. That put us in a sticky spot; how could either of us use the name without upsetting the other?
The solution — we’d each make a Power Ballad cocktail an unveil them on the same day. We did exactly that, and released them on Valentine’s Day (2/14/20; I know, I’m a little late writing up the post, but you can find the original posting on Instagram). It was sort of an indirect collaboration, since neither of us how the other would approach the task, and we both came up with very different drinks.
With my recipe I tried to capture all the bombast of a heartfelt heavy metal slow jam. I wanted a drink brimming with passion, emotion, and melodrama. A paean to the joys and sorrows of love as delivered by a dude with big hair and leather pants, illuminated by lasers, wreathed in smoke, pouring his heart out for a packed arena while a fleet of Marshall amps roars behind him.
That calls for a drink that’s big and bold, sweet and sour, exhilarating and unapologetically excessive. A guitar solo in a glass, if you will…
Headlined by a power trio of overproof spirits, this one will have you swaying in the aisles.
1 oz Laird’s straight apple brandy (50% ABV)
½ oz Plantation O.F.T.D. rum (69%, ABV, how appropriate)
½ oz Bull Run American whiskey ((60.66% ABV)
½ oz Ramazzotti
¾ oz pineapple juice
½ oz fresh grapefruit juice
½ oz cinnamon-vanilla syrup
3 dashes Miracle Mile Polite as Fuck bitters
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a double rocks glass with small ice cubes or cracked ice. Give your audience a special thrill with a flaming lime shell garnish.
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