Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Beggars Can’t Be Choosers

Happy…October Friday? Where the hell did this year go? How is it already October? I was not consulted on this, and I do not approve. I am very much a summer person, despite my appreciation of fall (and winter) sports and enjoyment of Fall and Winter holidays. Apparently being in a semi-locked down state and still (for the most part) avoiding going out to bars/restaurants does nothing to prevent the year from flying by.

Though one good thing about the fall is that it is easily the best drinking season. Fall beers are the best, and as far as cocktails go, bolder, and more seasonal flavors start to come out. Take this week’s selection for example. The Beggars Banquet calls for bourbon and maple syrup, and topped with a lager. While those can be (and I have) used in summer drinks, I always feel that combination makes for excellent fall cocktails and tend to combine them around this time.  Lets get mixing!

Beggars Banquet:

2 ounces bourbon
.75 oz. maple syrup
.5 oz. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
5 oz. lager, chilled
Garnish: orange half-wheel

Add the bourbon, maple syrup and lemon juice into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with lager and stir gently and briefly to combine. Garnish with an orange half-wheel.

No aroma to this at all. A little surprising to me. I know the orange garnish would add one, but sadly, my oranges were not up to the task  and needed to be disposed of. Either way, I figured the lemon might be able to cut through, but I get nothing here. Not even the lager gives off a scent. Not that it has a strong one to begin with, but at least the lager that didn’t make it into the drink has a slight aroma to it.

This is interesting. It starts out heavy on the lemon, and the carbonation of the lager. It almost tastes like someone made their own lime soda…but different. After a second or two the whiskey comes in. I get slight hints of it. Nothing over the top, but it is definitely there underneath. I feel like the addition of the whiskey is more to offset the maple syrup. Much like the lemon juice is designed to do. The flavor of the lager gets easily overshadowed here. I suspect that is by design. A stronger beer flavor would not do well with this flavor balance. The carbonation it adds is a very nice touch to lighten this one up.

I think this was a great choice for me this week. It was bright and flavorful like a warm weather cocktail should be. But it also started to work in some more ingredients I imagine I’ll be featuring more prominently as the Fall season really kicks into gear.

(Banner image found here)