Lookin’ for Lewis and Clark.

Lewis and Clark + Sarsaparilla.

In the last exciting episode of Proofcocktails.nl I was blabbering on about how I’ve been neglecting the poor old Old Fashioned so I’m doing another one for good measure. Kind of. We’ll get back to it in a bit, but first, sarsaparilla.

Sarsaparilla.

“What’s that about?” you ask. Well I was recently at my local spice merchant when I espied a bag of sarsaparilla and said to myself, “What’s that about?” And bought some, obvs. All I knew is that it has some Wild West vibes evoking images of dusty saloons and thirsty cowboys. Turns out dem cowboys were drinking fake sarsaparilla made of some other shizzle but never mind. Real sarsaparilla is a more oriental affair altogether being a popular drink that usually goes by some variation of the name Sarsi/Sarsae in countries surrounding the South China Sea. I proceeded as I usually do with unfamiliar dried ingredients and made a tincture of it by soaking a heaped teaspoon of it in 100ml of strong neutral spirit for three days before straining and bottling it. Hot diggity if it’s not some tasty stuff! A little goes a long way and just a couple of drops add a deliciously addictive vanillaesque woodiness to anything you drop it in (gin being a personal favourite). While you could certainly use it to make some soft drinks via a sarsaparilla syrup that’s not where we’re going today. Nope, we’re going back out west by incorporating it in our twisted Old Fashioned, the:

Lewis and Clark.

In case you were snoozing in school these two dudes forged a way to the Pacific ocean in 1805 at the invite of President Thomas Jefferson who had just purchased and enormous chunk of the now USA from the French for 15 megabucks* sight unseen and wondered what it might look like. Stopping those other Europeans laying claim it and informing the surprised locals that there were now under the jurisdiction of a random bunch of wigged pale faces on the other side of the big river were also part of the jaunt. Lewis and Clark turned out to be a right pair of dicks who would certainly have perished were it not for their slave and dog as well as the general friendliness of the locals who did not yet realise the enormous crock of colonial shit that was about to land on them. The reason I’m using the name of these two muppets for a cocktail is that they took 120 gallons of whisky (as well as an unrecorded amount of rum, brandy and wine) with them and yet somehow managed to drink it all long before they returned. So we gotta give them some points for being top scoopers. And finally to our drink. The Lewis and Clark is simply an Old Fashioned that uses honey syrup instead of sugar, a little sarsaparilla and a tiny amount of citrus for balance. The version below is made with rum but you could also use whisky or brandy too as the expedition carried all three in abundance. If going for the latter two use a disc of lemon instead of lime.

Lewis and Clark.

2oz / 60ml aged rum.

1 tsp / 5ml 3:1 honey syrup.

2 dashes sarsaparilla tincture (see text).

2 dashes aromatic bitters.

Squeeze of a lime disc (just a few drops) – see below.

Stir with ice and strain into a whisky tumbler containing a big block or sphere of clear ice. Drop in the squeezed lime disc. Alternatively stir with the disc included.

Note: Cut a small disc from the side of a lime (‘Ti Punch style). About the size of a large coin.

Toast York, Sacagawea and Seaman** the dog without whom the whole expedition would have gone tits up yet got little thanks.

*History does not recall how much the French paid the native Americans for it but we can probably hazard a guess…

**I did think about naming the drink after the dog but Mrs Proof advised against.