What's the Best Whiskey Chaser?

WHO INVENTED THE JAMESON PICKLEBACK SHOT?
Guest blog by Kanna Smith

My mom and I may not have gotten along when I was younger, but boy do things change. After an exhausting December day filled with obligations, we decided to grab a drink.

I’d never done shots with my mom before, and she was long past her shot days, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer.

After all, “Jameson and good decisions” was my life motto.

I might be less than classy after six or seven shots, but I’m the best version of myself with a little Irish in me. So we were off to the Hermosa Saloon.

Little did I know that it would end with me giving this tiny woman a piggyback ride on our trek home.

Like everyone’s favorite party-harty man-whore, Jameson is everywhere —loved by many and despised by those he fucked over (the weak). And those people are easily coaxed back to Jame-o with a simple pickleback.

If you're going to be an asshole who orders a chaser, try pickle juice. The judgmental stare of a bartender seems to soften when you request a pickleback.

Though she was hesitant, my mom is a drinking champion. It was pretty impressive to watch a 5’3” 105 pound woman toss back shots the way she did. I finally knew where I got it from. One shot turned to two, two shots turned to three, and three shots turned into forcing the bartender to join in our fun.

Like most nights that end in mornings hunched over toilets regretting every life-choice ever
made, we’d had no intention of getting so wrecked.

Between the shots, we mended a once-broken relationship. Picklebacks helped.

Who knew that brine would cut the burn of alcohol and the past? A goddamned genius.

Piggybacks after Picklebacks

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Legend has it an old lady with gold teeth walked into the Bushwick Country Club one night and asked for multiple shots and chasers of brine. The bartender liked it so much, he coined the term "pickleback" back in 2006.

Mostly people in NYC shot pickle brine behind Old Crow Bourbon. Salt changes the PH and seems to lessen the burn of ethanol. Alcohol burn whilst doing many shots can lead to sore throats and worse hangovers.

I like to think it's Las Vegas's obsession with Jameson Irish Whiskey is what propelled the pickleback to international notoriety.

Liquid Nitrogen and Centrifuges

Liquid nitrogen is a toy I'd love to play with. I remember thinking it could freeze a person instantly like Sylvester Stalone and Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man. Now I want to chill glasses with it and make weird caviar things.

Maybe it's my love of science, maybe it's my love of good show, but I really want to have a go with it. What excitement people demonstrate when they see the explosion of gas or get super-cooled strawberries in their mouths and breath cold white smoke out their noses like dragons! And it happens to be useful.

I also want a centrifuge. I want to separate the solids out of juices and carbonate them in bottles. Once at Billy Sunday in Chicago I had a Fernet and Cola in a bottle that was made that way. I don't know if they used a centrifuge, but it was a perfect drink, and I think doing Gin and Tonics that way could be incredible. Also, punches might be interesting to serve in house bottles. ARGH! the possibilities are limitless.

If I get to manage a cocktail bar soon, or if I start my own speak easy up again, I'm going to get a centrifuge at the very least. I'd love to get a freezer cold enough for liquid nitro, but that might have to wait. They're a little expensive.

But the future of mixology is now!

Some of it's so old it's new again. Dave Arnold is also using hot pokers to burn up some hot cocktails the way they did in the olden days at his bar, Booker and Dax. I love this guy and what he's doing.

Here's a link to an article about some of the cooler cocktail bars I like out there »