Sorry for the gap in content. We took a nap.
THE MUTA
Today we have the second half of the two sided cat character, Muta. The real-world presence (aka the non-magical version) of the great glutton Renaldo Moon, from the excellent film The Cat Returns.
While Renaldo Moon is bitter and strong, with a sweet streak of the "deep down nice guy" anti-hero, Muta is... a cat, who is small compared to a human, and likes to eat cake (honestly I can't believe he's not dead, you'd think he would have gotten into some chocolate or something by now).
With that in mind, we bring you what is an original cocktail recipe (probably... we didn't really try to look this up) based on this furry kitty who probably has an open tab for bottle service at a casino in Macau that you don't know about. The looks smells and taste should roll up into one nice package.
Those cake flavored vodkas out there can be extremely nasty. We're purists and think that adulterating a spirit (even a well one or straight up moonshine) with the same artificial flavors used in discount gas station ice cream, well... that's just wrong. But some people like what they like. So this is a sweet drink that your wussy friends might like as long as they aren't allergic to coconut or catnip. ...or vodka, but... is that a thing?
So the "Renaldo Moon" is actually the previous episode, where we make a similar drink but with a much different personality. Honestly, we think the "Muta" is going to taste better because we just can't stand Cachaça and we don't know what we were thinking using it in that. Would have worked much better with Batavia Arrack. Hell, Bacardi Silver would have been better than Leblon.
What you will need:
Vodka (one of those dessert flavors like cookie dough or something, perhaps just regular vanilla might work as well) If you are going to use real milk/cream instead of coconut milk, you might even want to go with strawberry.
Coconut Milk. Unlike any dairy products, it won't curdle with alcohol and it's vegan friendly. FYI that doesn't mean it's health food, it can be fattening.
Bourbon. Or any whiskey, or brandy, or gold rum, or anejo tequela, or Fireball, or... you get the idea.
Catnip. It's just for garnish this time. Yes it's safe. No you won't trip balls, because you're not a cat, but look on the bright side, you can eat chocolate and drink vodka and that would kill a cat so there.
Ice. Ice is going to be in this, so if your local water source smells like the pool at the YMCA or worse, you might want to use filtered or distilled water to make it.
A Shaker: you have got to know what those are by now.
A Tulip Glass: Like last time, we're using a Belgian Ale tulip glass which looks like a shorter version of the Hurricane glass... which you can also use if you have one / feel like it / whatever.
Yes the can is upside down. That's because the other end had a pull-tab style top which would open the entire can and make it difficult to pour out in measured amounts. Opening it this way allows for much better management in terms of potion control.
It's very important, to shake the crap out of the can of coconut milk. The fats can often separate and collect on top of the water content and you end up with coconut sludge on the top and coconut water on the bottom.
Some people like very sweet drinks and so here would be the point to add some more sweetener. You can't add any at the end because this is going to be a layered drink and so it's not going stay that way if you have to add more simple syrup later.
What is a "big ice cube"? Well you already know it's not some little thing that comes out of one of those commercial ice makers you find at finer movie concession stands and run of the mill bars all over the country. A "big ice cube" is well over an ounce of water. If you would like to see a comparison of ice cubes, please see our ice cube episode. ...yes that was a thing that happened. And it was awesome.
Widow Jane gives tours of the Brooklyn Location. Their tasting room has been shown in our Red Dead Redemption episode.
We love Widow Jane, and it's probably the best bourbon out there that you can buy that isn't some insane collectible bullshit that's been aged 700 years in barrels charred by fire breathing dragons and touched by the hand of Stonewall Jackson himself, sealed with the bloods of said fire breathing dragon and Carrie Nation. The good people at Widow Jane do think that their whiskey is best enjoyed neat, and by mixing it with all this stuff it might be a bit of a waste. ...the good people at Widow Jane also know that the more people who buy their stuff the better, and so they won't be too mad if you use it for literally everything ever and start buying it by the caseload.
Layering this is very tricky. It's something that you really should only attempt with a bar spoon or a very steady hand. We didn't do the best job here, but at this point we were just antsy to get back to enjoying the Widow Jane.
There you have it. A cocktail based on the character Muta. See it even looks like him.
Coming up next:
Moscow Mule. Mexican Mule. Montreal Mule.
...It's gonna get weird.
