Mac's Final Boogie: A Tribute to Dr. John

"See, I don't know nothing about singing. I never wanted to be a frontman. Frontmen had big egos and was always crazy and aggravating. I just never thought that was a good idea." -Mac "Dr.John" Rebennack

Welcome back thirsty readers! It was a sad day here in New Orleans on June 6. We lost a legend, the great Dr. John. Nobody could deny the importance of the man and his work. Young and old, everyone danced to the music which so strongly represented the identity of the city. The second lines were beautiful, but since I don't play a horn, I thought my best way to tribute the man would be with a drink as colorful as the man himself. I decided to base this cocktail on a crowd-pleaser of a drink i did a few years earlier while at The Franklin Mortgage in Philadelphia. We had a separate tiki bar upstairs, and the presentations were over the top to say the least. We had a cocktail called Deep Blue Sea, inspired by the movie. I thought I was about time to bring this back and re-work it in honor of the good Doctor. Only this time, we probably wouldn't garnish it with a plastic shark.

While I was at Jeepney in New York, I experimented with a number of out of the ordinary ingredients for tropical drinks. I made syrups from prickly pear and cantaloupe, and orgeats form cashews, split peas, even red beans. I mentioned the red beans to a coworker here and New Orleans, and she had the great idea to add rice horchata to the mix and make it a Red Beans and Rice Orgeat! I worked out the recipe below, so you can enjoy it for yourself!

Red Beans & Rice Orgeat

1lb Dried Red Kidney Beans

1 cup Dried white rice

12 cups water

9 cups white sugar

1.5tsp Orange Blossom Water

1.5tsp Vanilla Extract

Combine Red Beans wit 4 cups hot water in an 8quart Cambro.

Allow 2 hours for beans to soak and expand.

Strain and discard water.

Puree with 4 cups hot water in blender until fully pureed

Strain out bean milk with super bag.

Set aside.

Combine 1 cup white rice and 2 cups hot water in blender

Blend until fully cloudy and strain out rice horchata

Combine 4 cups Bean milk with 2 cups rice horchata

Combine with 9 cups white sugar, orange blossom water, and vanilla.

Blend until fully incorporated.

Now that you have your syrup ready, it's time to make Mac's Final Boogie!

Mac's Final Boogie

1.5oz Vodka

.5oz Blue Curacao

.25oz Allspice Dram

.75oz Red Beans & Rice Orgeat

.25oz Passion Fruit Syrup

.5oz Lemon

.5oz Lime

Combine ingredients in a shaker tin, and add 1.5 cups crushed ice.

Blend with spindle mixer and pour into a collins glass.

Garnish with mint, orange slice, and orchid.

There you have it, a summer cocktail worthy of any second line parade. While you enjoy this cocktail, don't forget about the great music Dr. John played while you sip. I'll see you all soon at Tales of the Cocktai l. Until next time, keep shaking!