No matter how deep down the rabbit hole of the beverage industry we go, I feel like there are always new and exciting surprises, and deeper yet to go. The past few weeks have been a heavy focus on personal development. I’m glad that Angie and I enjoy studying together. Enjoying some coffee, tea, or a cocktail on the patio together with our eyes glued to these magical paper collections of knowledge is just a wonderful way to pass time. She has her nose buried in The Wine Bible in preparation for level one sommelier certification, while I’ve been bouncing between Servsafe, Cocktail Codex, and my Cicerone materials. I have had my food management certification for a while, but I recently added my food handler and alcohol Servsafe certifications to the mix. Now, I’m working on my CBS for the first step toward becoming a Certified Cicerone.
Naturally, our Big, Beautiful Book is always at the front of our repertoire. A month or so ago, Angie placed several sticky notes in the book to mark pages of cocktails with shared ingredients from our last trip to Minneapolis. After some peeling and thumbing through its pages, we set our eyes on a new cocktail. Enter: Sweet Potato.
Now that Angie and I have experienced the wonders of the sweet and savory Meloncholy, we were more excited than ever to taste these drinks with unique and off-the-beaten-path flavors. The Sweet Potato calls for smoked paprika, Ancho Reyes Ancho Chile Liqueur, orange blossom honey, smoked salt, orange juice, and, you guessed it, a sweet potato. The concept sounds interesting and in the same alley of Meloncholy, with intertwined sweet, juicy, and savory elements.
We started with the sweet potato. We baked it in the oven until it was nice and soft–it took about an hour. Then, we gently gutted the poor sweet potato for all of its gold and put it in a vacuum pack bag. Many recipes call for sous vide syrups, like this one. However, we don’t have a vacuum sealer at home, so we have to get creative. We pulled out some leftover FoodSaver seal rolls, and Angie used her hair straightener to seal the bag 95% of the way while we filled our kitchen sink with water. Then, we submerged the entire bag except for the little corner that was not sealed to release the air, finished sealing the bag, and voila! Poor-man’s vacuum sealed and sous vide ready potato. Next, we subjected our poor little potato to 2 hours of 195℉ sous vide cooking mayhem while we prepared the ice.
The ice required a smoked paprika stock, orange blossom honey, the Chile liqueur, some citric acid, and smoked salt. So, Angie opened the smoked paprika, gave it a sniff, and promptly ruins our flavor expectations for this cocktail. “This smells just like Pup-Peroni.” And the smoked salt? “Beggin Strips.” I love this girl.
With the connection made, it couldn’t be shaken. Smoked paprika and salt smell like dog treats. Angie is absolutely right, the “natural smoke flavor” of dog treats seems pretty similar to smoked paprika. Groovy.
As we’ve walked through life together, Angie and I have really developed our palettes. I was definitely that little kid that always wanted cheeseburgers and mac & cheese. Sometimes I still am that kid… However, now I can’t honestly think of something I won’t eat and at least appreciate the flavors of to some degree. This is a recent development. I used to avoid spicy food, tomatoes, mustards, pickles, and so much more. I slowly grew as I worked in fine dining and worked with cocktails. Last August was the game changer for me, though. I had the incredible opportunity to go with Angie to Korea and meet her mother’s side of the family, and it ended up with the added bonus of ripping me away from my comfort food and plunging me into the depths of exploration. There was one week where we stayed with her family just outside of Seoul and we literally ate some of the spiciest food I’ve had in my life. Honestly, the spice levels weren’t nearly as difficult as eating spicy food consistently for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for the entire week. Needless to say, Korea has stolen my heart and my squeamish appetite.
Moving forward, the stock and ice mixtures were easy. Blend the stock, strain, and refrigerate. Stir the mixture, strain, pour into the ice molds, then freeze. Nothing to break a sweat over. Then came our poor little potato. As if we haven’t tortured him enough, we pulled his soft, orange remains from the pot and rapidly cooled him in an ice bath. Then, we used a chinois and spoon to push every bit of liquid life out of the potato. If he wasn’t a goner yet, he sure is now. RIP May 2019.
Once we had effectively juiced the tears of our potato, we mixed it with sugar and a touch of salt before straining, labeling, and storing it in the fridge. We were finished with our prep and the next day, we would make our cocktail.
Time passed, ice froze, and funeral services were held for our potato. We decided to retrieve a family member from the grocery store when we realized we need another victim–er, potato for the photo session. I juiced an orange, mixed it with citric acid, and we were ready to go. This cocktail is an easy party recipe. Tequila Fortaleza Blanco, sweet potato syrup, and acidulated orange juice shaken and double strained over smoked paprika ice. That’s all there is to it. We were also very pleased with the photo session. This cocktail begs for pictures. Don’t most glamorous things consume the tears of the innocent to enhance their screen presence? Asking for a Sweet Potato.
The Sweet Potato’s flavor was interesting. It starts off bright, yet balanced. The acidulated orange juice packs a punch but is mellowed by the smooth sweet potato syrup and rich tequila. None of the flavors fight each other, they just hold hands and talk about their differences. The nifty factor, though, is time. As time goes on, the flavor shifts to something more savory and spicy. The colors almost seem to burn from a bright sun to a deep red sunset. It’s beautiful. And it kinda tastes like dog treats. Angie didn’t like it, but I really enjoyed it, and definitely made myself another as we vegged out feeling accomplished for the night.
