Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week, On the Road: The DIY In-Flight Cocktail

I do not like to fly. However, I will not let that stop me from going places (hence last week’s update from Brighton in the UK). At the time of this writing, I’m 36,000 feet above the North Atlantic, en route back home after a week in England. What does this have to do with drinking? A lot actually. My usual routine is downing as many alcoholic beverages as I can pre-flight, and then having a couple more while mid-air. Even on three hour flights to Chicago, I’ll have more than a few while in transit. As a gift, I received this Carry On cocktail kit, and decided to bring it with me on this trip. I was able to sleep a bit on the flight out to London so I never tapped it. This return leg, however, is in the middle of the day, so sleep is more than likely not going to happen. So, I ordered the closest thing I could find to bourbon (Jack Daniels) and gave it a whirl. The kit contains 1 packet of cane sugar, a mini bottle of bitters and a mixing spoon.

Old Fashioned from the Carry On Cocktail Kit:

1 Mini bottle bourbon (50 ml)

1 stick cane sugar

3 Dashes bitters

Procure a mini bottle of bourbon, one cup of ice and one empty cup. Combine cane sugar, bitters and bourbon into the empty cup. With the muddler end of the bar spoon, lightly crush the sugar and stir to dissolve. Pour the cocktail over the ice, stir for 15 seconds, and enjoy.

Well, it’s more of an old fashioned than anyone else on this flight is drinking. The cane sugar is a nice touch. I think plain white sugar would be too sweet in this environment. The bitters are not as good of quality as angostura, but then again I can’t exactly be picky here. Also, this is a first in making an old fashioned with Jack Daniels. It was either that or Glenlivet, and that certainly was not going to mix well at all. So, is this the best old fashioned I’ve ever had? Definitely not. However, I’m the only one having an old fashioned on this flight so that counts for something.

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