What I’m Drinking: The Mississippi Morning
Sometimes, I’m a bit lucky (now, I’m not like tootin’ my own horn here or anything. I’m unlucky lots of times, too), and when I come home from the coal mine I work days at I find a package on my doorstep, and sometimes, sometimes that package is filled with bottles from which flow delicious elixirs. Meaning: booze. Recently, in one box that was on the doorstep was a bottle of Hoodoo chicory liqueur. Made in Mississippi at the Cathead distillery (where they also make the mighty fine Cathead vodka, Cathead honeysuckle vodka, and Bristow gin), Hoodoo is a rich mix, not too sweet, and with herbal and coffee notes jumping all around just the tiniest bitter whispers. I’ve always thought of chicory tied up with coffee (and probably remember hearing of it first the first time I went to New Orleans and visited Café Du Monde years and years ago), and so when I started playing around with this liqueur in drinks – which is what I do with a new liqueur, after I taste it – my first thought was to mix it with coffee. But then I started thinking back to when I was growing up in Kansas, and when I’d see farmers in the doughnut shop get coffee then add a splash of bourbon or rye to it. To sort-of invert the ratio (hey, I’m not in Kansas anymore), I decide to try adding a splash of the Hoodoo to a large bit of the brown. To round things out, and to add a few more herbal touches, I added a smaller splash of Carpano Antica. And the Mississippi Morning was born. While it is a dandy drink for the a-m, it also shines at night. And after you’ve gotten up from a nap.
The Mississippi Morning
Cracked ice
2 ounces rye
3/4 ounces Hoodoo liqueur
1/4 ounce Carpano Antica
1. Fill a mixing glass or cocktail shaker halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drink up.
A Note: Here’s a funny thing: I used Woodinville Whiskey Company rye, which I love. But, currently (but hopefully not forever) Hoodoo isn’t available in Washington State, where I live. So track down some Hoodoo and use the rye of your choice – unless you can track down some Woodinville rye as well. But if that’s the case, you’re some sort-of jetsetter. And lucky yourself.
