Properly Sauced: The Beulah

By Rob Christopher in Food on Dec 3, 2008 7:05PM

We've been thinking about what sort of cocktail would make a good after-dinner tipple for the cold months. Something a little sweet, a little spicy, with just enough of a punch to let you know it's high-octane. The kind of cocktail you'd like to cozy up to if you were snowbound. So we've been tinkering, testing and tasting and now we're ready to unveil our new creation. We've named our cocktail after beloved Chicago-born character actress Beulah Bondi, who played Jimmy Stewart's mom in It's A Wonderful Life. It'll give you that same homey feeling. Careful though: just like Ma Bailey, it's got hidden strength.

The Beulah

1 1/2 oz. Rhum Barbancourt 3 Star
1 oz. unsweetened apple cider
1/2 oz. falernum
1/2 oz. rye whiskey

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and stir vigorously until very cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Rhum Barbancourt is an outstanding rum from Haiti, bursting with flavor but also incredibly smooth. It mellows the sweetness of the apple cider. Falernum, available in Chicago as John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum from Sam's and Binny's, is a sugar-cane based liqueur with spicy accents of clove, almond and ginger. Those wonderful wintertime flavors pair in the finish with a firm bite from the rye (if you were to use plain whiskey the cocktail would be too sweet).

We imagine this would also be pretty darn tasty as a hot drink too. Just add the rum, falernum and rye to a mug and then top up with hot cider. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.