{"id":465,"date":"2022-11-08T21:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cocktailians.com\/2022\/11\/thinking-and-drinking.html"},"modified":"2022-11-08T21:15:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T21:15:00","slug":"thinking-and-drinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/?p=465","title":{"rendered":"Thinking and Drinking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Cocktailians tend to be <em>Jeopardy!<\/em> fans; co-author Tony Hightower is, as has been <a href=\"\/2011\/12\/08\/ill-make-it-a-true-daily-double-shot-alex\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">previously noted here<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/j-archive.com\/showplayer.php?player_id=7592\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Tony&#39;s page on J! Archive\">former <em>J!<\/em> champion<\/a> who mentioned this li&#39;l ol&#39; blog in one of his chats with Alex. (And, your humble correspondent was a Season 17 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BvUZijEuNDQ\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"or, as no one really puts it, I pulled a Weird Al.\">one-and-done<\/a>.) Of course, one of our favorite categories would have to be <a href=\"https:\/\/jeopardyquestions.com\/category\/potent-potables\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Potent Potables<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">So here&#39;s the story on my <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jeopardy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jeopardy<\/a> TOCktails:<\/p>\n<p>The SuperChamp mule is inspired by Matt&#39;s CT being home state of the Moscow mule, modified for Mattea with a Canadian Rye and floated on top with the national drink of the Bay Area for Amy: Fernet Branca. <\/p>\n<p>The other one is purple. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Si50gAA8xA\">pic.twitter.com\/Si50gAA8xA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Austin Tyler Rogers (@austintylerro) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/austintylerro\/status\/1587894241149198336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p>Which made us especially interested when the show posted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeopardy.com\/jbuzz\/tournament-champions\/enjoy-these-tournament-champions-cocktails-created-jeopardy-champ-austin\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this lineup of &quot;TOCktails&quot;<\/a> themed to the show&#39;s currently airing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeopardy.com\/contestant-zone\/2022\/tournament-champions\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tournament of Champions.<\/a> The drinks were created by <a href=\"https:\/\/j-archive.com\/showplayer.php?player_id=11663\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">12-game superchamp<\/a> Austin Rogers: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austinrogerstrivia.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">trivia host<\/a>, bartender, and owner of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gafwest.com\/home\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gaf West<\/a> bar in Manhattan. The first drink, the Super-Champ Mule, was inspired by the geographic origins of the three biggest superchamps of Seasons 37 and 38: <a href=\"https:\/\/j-archive.com\/showplayer.php?player_id=14315\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Amy Schneider<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/j-archive.com\/showplayer.php?player_id=14127\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Amodio<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/j-archive.com\/showplayer.php?player_id=14568\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mattea Roach<\/a>. (They each got a first-round bye in the TOC, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=n8NrMKd1OHo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">played an exhibition game tonight<\/a>.) As Austin explains it:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Austin, the owner of the Gaf West in Manhattan, looked to Matt Amodio\u2019s hometown of Hartford, Conn., to come up with the base for the first cocktail, the Super-Champ Mule.&#0160;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did not know the Moscow Mule had origins in Connecticut,\u201d Austin said. \u201cBut that\u2019s the beauty of being a Jeopardy! fan\u2014you get to figure these things out as you go along.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To put a Tournament of Champions twist on the classic mule recipe of vodka, ginger beer and lime juice, Austin turned to Mattea Roach\u2019s home country of Canada.&#0160;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCanada is really famous for their rye [whiskeys], so the next part is we take out the vodka from the mule and supplant it with a nice hardy Canadian rye,\u201d Austin said.&#0160;<\/p>\n<p>To balance out the recipe, Austin added a bit of Amy Schneider\u2019s hometown of Oakland into the mix with a dash of Fernet-Branca, an Italian-style bitters that\u2019s widely enjoyed in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Bay Area consumes more fernet than anywhere else in the world except for maybe Argentina,\u201d Austin explained.&#0160;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>Super-Champ Mule<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 oz. rye<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd oz. fresh lime juice<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd oz. honey syrup (honey diluted in hot water 1:1)<\/li>\n<li>Ginger beer<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd oz. Fernet-Branca<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Shake rye, lime, and honey syrup, strain into highball glass with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and float Fernet-Branca on top, garnish with lime wedge.<\/p>\n<p>I did some tweaks to this recipe; the original mixed &quot;parts&quot; of rye with half-ounce measurements of the lime, honey syrup, and fernet. I think Rogers meant to use ounce measurements throughout. I also switched the mixing method from the originally-specified stir to a shake since it incorporated citrus juice. Also, I wasn&#39;t aware that the Moscow Mule originated in Connecticut; there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liquor.com\/articles\/behind-the-drink-the-moscow-mule\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">varying<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moscowmuled.com\/blogs\/blog\/moscow-mule-history-and-origin\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stories<\/a>, but <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20070314000752\/http:\/\/www.thinkingbartender.com\/bartenderthinking\/2007\/01\/moscow_mule.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">most seem to agree<\/a> that John Martin, president of the Heublein Company of Hartford (which imported Smirnoff vodka), got together with Jack Morgan of the Cock N&#39; Bull Tavern in Hollywood (which <a href=\"http:\/\/cocknbull.us\/cockn-bull-products\/#original-ginger-beer\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">produced (and still produces) ginger beer<\/a>), and came up with the recipe, which is essentially a <a href=\"https:\/\/punchdrink.com\/recipes\/mamie-taylor\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mamie Taylor<\/a> with vodka subbed for Scotch. This happened either at New York&#39;s Chatham Hotel or at the Cock N&#39; Bull in Hollywood, but at any rate it was mentioned in the press <a href=\"https:\/\/warontherocks.com\/2016\/03\/from-los-angeles-with-love\/\" title=\"in Edith Gwynn&#39;s &quot;Inside Hollywood&quot; column\">as early as December 1942<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rogers also supplied a low-abv version of this drink, using strong tea instead of rye, and vanilla extract instead of Fernet-Branca; I didn&#39;t try it but think that tea may not substitute well for whiskey on its own. Also, a warning to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kenjennings\/status\/1295917857872650240?lang=en\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">teetotal<\/a> (such as <em>J!<\/em> host <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ken-jennings.com\/about#:~:text=He%20spent%20a%20month%20making,to%20his%20surprise%2C%20Ken&#39;s%20Jeopardy!\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Ken, as a Mormon, doesn&#39;t drink alcohol.\">Ken Jennings<\/a>): half an ounce of vanilla extract isn&#39;t exactly alcohol-free (vanilla extract <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accessdata.fda.gov\/scripts\/cdrh\/cfdocs\/cfcfr\/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=169.175#:~:text=(a)%20Vanilla%20extract%20is%20the,than%20one%20unit%20per%20gallon.\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has to be at least 35% alcohol per federal law<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.andygreenlaw.com\/general\/alcohol-volume-popular-whiskeys-vodka-gin-rum\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">same 70 proof as Southern Comfort or Captain Morgan<\/a>!) And, vanilla extract has a <em>really<\/em> strong flavor! I&#39;d think I might go with ginger beer, aromatic bitters, and a squeeze of lime.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tyler rhode alexa geltzeiler\" class=\"asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00d8345190b469e202af14a544fc200b img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/6a00d8345190b469e202af14a544fc200b-250wi.jpg\" style=\"width: 240px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;\" title=\"Tyler rhode alexa geltzeiler\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">The other drink, served at J! 5-game champ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeopardy.com\/contestant-zone\/2022\/tournament-champions#contestant-bio-236\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyler Rhode<\/a>&#39;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tylerthinksthis\/status\/1587992049571270656\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">watch party<\/a> for his own <a href=\"https:\/\/j-archive.com\/showgame.php?game_id=7494\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tournament of Champions game<\/a> (and mixed up by Alexa Geltzeiler) was a little different; as Rogers explained it, he was thinking of a drink to match one of <em>Jeopardy!<\/em>&#39;s colors, and got some assistance from Gaf West mixologist Corey. &quot;The second drink I was actually averse to. . .I did not want to make a drink that emulated the colors of <em>Jeopardy!<\/em> because I think colored drinks are cheesy. But better wisdom prevailed, and Corey said &#39;let me convince you to go otherwise.&#39; . . . It&#39;s got a nice rich purple color, which is a <em>Jeopardy!<\/em> legacy color, and a cool frothy top. I think it&#39;s just sweet enough that it&#39;ll be [palatable] to the people out there who have a sort of sweet tooth for their cocktail but it&#39;s definitely boozy enough for someone who wants to get a kick out of it.&quot;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><strong>Make It A True Daily Double<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 oz. vodka<\/li>\n<li>1 oz. creme de cassis<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd oz. fresh lemon juice<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd oz. triple sec<\/li>\n<li>dash grenadine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into chilled coupe or cocktail glass, garnish with lemon wedge.<\/p>\n<p>I also haven&#39;t tried this one as I&#39;m not generally a fan of vodka drinks, but it seems like it&#39;d be tasty and fruity, as long as there&#39;s enough lemon to keep all the sugary ingredients in balance.&#0160;<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy your Daily Double Shot!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In which we consider the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions-themed cocktails concocted by former Jeopardy! superchamp Austin Tyler Rogers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recipes","category-seen-elsewhere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}