Please don’t judge me. I ordered a cocoa puff infused old fashioned Saturday night. Unlike my earlier post, when I tried the spicy chicken sandwich on a doughnut from Do-Rite and that unique combination of two wonderful things turned out amazing, this combo didn't fare quite as well. Why did I order this in the first place you might be asking? Well, I’ve made a rule when it comes to reviewing old fashioneds for this blog and it’s quite simple. If the bar has one on their menu, I’m ordering it. No matter how it's made. There’s no fun in reading about how every bar succeeds or fails in making me the same exact old fashioned over and over and then comparing the different ice cube formats. If there’s nothing on the menu, then I’ll roll the dice and see what the bartender whips up. I want my input to be minimal. So here we go. After dinner on Saturday night, I head over to Broken Shaker for a cocktail to help digest my tortellini from Quartino. The bar itself is great. It’s located inside the Freehand hotel here in Chicago. I’ve been to the original Freehand in Miami and their version of the Broken Shaker bar is very cool and definitely worth checking out if you’re ever in South Beach. I’ve had a normal old fashioned from Broken Shaker (at both locations) and they were great so don’t let this review steer you away from this establishment. This cocoa puff cocktail was located on the first page under “Shaker Hits”, so while it sounded weird to me, I was optimistic that a lot of people must like it if it’s a “shaker hit”. The whiskey that is infused with cocoa puffs is Old Forester which I'm a fan of, so that also provided me with some comfort. It arrives with a good clean presentation. Nice cold cocktail glass with one large clear cube and a thin orange peel. I take my first sip and it goes down very smoothly, like a regular well-made old fashioned. That’s when the drink went coo coo for cocoa puffs. The after taste comes flying in like that lunatic, Sonny the Cuckoo Bird (more on him later).
It’s not disgusting, and it grows on you a little after a few more sips but the cocoa puffs do linger a little and it just doesn’t do the bourbon any favors. The after-taste kind of reminds me of that cinnamon toast crunch shot w/ Fireball & RumChata. The cocktail is much better and smoother than that, but the cereal aftertaste reminded me of it. Ultimately, the cocktail does taste like it’s titled so I was never too upset. It’d be like ordering a pizza with mushrooms and being upset that your pizza tastes like it has mushrooms on it. If there was a contest for best cocoa puff infused old fashioneds, they might even win. That being said, my 13 dollars would've been much better spent on a standard old fashioned. Oh well, rules are rules. Broken Shaker is a trendy bar in a trendy hotel in a trendy neighborhood. There are a lot of young patrons that I could see enjoying this drink and just not knowing any better. I don’t think it’d be on the “Shaker Hits” if that wasn’t the case (unless this was a failed project by Broken Shaker and they're hustling people to get rid of it). So, maybe I’m in the minority for this review but I just prefer a classic drink to be made in a classic way. Hopefully the next bar I attend isn’t infusing their whiskey in peas. Back to Sonny the Cuckoo Bird. While it wasn’t necessary whatsoever to watch a YouTube clip of him for this article, I couldn’t help it for the sake of nostalgia. That poor bird needs Jesus, and rehab. He has a horrible support system from his friends and family. At times, you see him trying to kick the urge. He tries to distance himself from those munchy, crunchy, chocolatey puffs of greatness. And then everyone just shoves them in his face and describes everything that is amazing about them, when they clearly know he has control issues. It isn’t right, and I feel sorry for the guy. Sonny, if you’re reading this, you are more than welcome to come stay with me. I have cereal occasionally, but it’s usually the simple stuff like Frosted Flakes. Get well soon, brotha.
Comments