Joker's Wild by Thomas Waugh

For the Jack in the Box puzzle box I made a Joker’s Wild cocktail, a crazy unusual and delicious creation from one of the great mixology innovators, Thomas Waugh, who served as head bartender at New York’s famed Death and Company for many years. In this drink he used Pacharan, a liqueur from the Navarra Basque region of Spain where blackthorn sloe berries grow wild. Similar to sloe gin but made with a sweet anise liqueur base, Pacharan (Patxaran in Basque) has additional infusions of coffee and cinnamon. I made a quick homemade version with sloe gin, coffee liqueur and Arak, a Lebanese anise liqueur, but the traditional Spanish liqueur is available in specialty stores as well. 

A wild assortment of flavors

The drink is based with Pisco, the Peruvian clear grape brandy, and combines it with all the surprising flavors in Pacharan plus a little vanilla sweetness. Finally a few dashes of absinthe ties things together. Wild! I’m always amazed at drinks like this one, with such a mix of surprising flavors that would not seem to go well together but somehow create an unexpectedly delicious drink. Here’s to Jacks and Jokers – may they always be surprising and wild. Cheers!

A Straight Flush

Joker’s Wild by Thomas Waugh (2011)

½ oz Pisco

1 ½ oz Pacharan (I used 1 oz Sloe Gin, ¼ oz Arak and ¼ oz Coffee Liqueur)

2 dashes absinthe

¾ oz lemon

½ oz simple syurp

¼ oz vanilla syrup

Club soda

Shake initial ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite tall glass with ice. Top with club soda and garnish with shaker foam, or a festive card juggling citrus peel Jester riding a lemon wheel unicycle. Cheers!