War Planes for Dracula, or B52 vs. Vampiro

Welcome back!  This was an interesting match - one drink was a shot, and the other was a tall one.  The IBA recipe for the B52 says that it should be lit - I tried to light it, but I couldn't get it to flame, so this was an unlit B52.  Actually, upon further research, I've found that a B52 that's lit is called a Flaming B52...something quite different...okay, not quite different, just a bit flamier.

So the title's a little incorrect, because in my research, I found that the B52 wasn't named after the plane, but a band; a bartender in Banff, Alberta created the drink, and named his drinks after his favorite bands - so this drink was named after The B-52s.  Come to think of it, the drink really was named after a plane because the band got its name from the plane. See? Mixology can be so confusing...

B52

1 oz. Kahlua

1 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream

1 oz. Grand Marnier

Layer ingredients one at a time starting with Kahlua, followed by Bailey's Irish Cream and top with Grand Marnier.

B52 divided by three

I really enjoyed this shot - it's coffee, cream, and orange all rolled into one.  It's a type of drink called a pousse-café, or layered drink.  You build the drink one ingredient at a time.  The specific gravity of each type of alcohol is different, so one will sit upon another, making it look pretty cool.  I could see these getting sneaky on you and causing a pretty bad hangover...

...speaking of pretty bad hangovers, the Vampiro was introduced in at the 2009 New Orleans Tales of the Cocktail conference, at the session called "Paying the Piper: Your Hangover and You." (Nice segue, Dave!  My writing teachers would be so proud)!

The multitude of Vampiro ingredients

B52 and The Vampiro

It's reminiscent of a Bloody Mary, or for you Canadians, a Caesar, only with much more spice, prep work, and clean-up.  The orange juice was a nice touch.  I really couldn't taste the tequila at all, but I'm thinking that's the idea behind all of the tomato based cocktails - if I'm mistaken, chime in and let me know.

Vampiro

1 3/4 oz. Tequila (silver)
2 1/2 oz. Tomato Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice, Fresh
1/3 oz. Lime Juice, Fresh
1 tsp. Clear Honey
Half slice finely chopped onion
Few slices fresh red hot chili peppers
Few drops Worchestershire sauce
Salt

Pour all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well, to relaese the flavour of the chili. Strain into a highball glass, filled with ice. Garnish with a wedge of lime and a chili (green or red).

It was good - the problem is that it wasn't great.  In all fairness, I think that the Bloody Mary will lose it's match too (wait, spoiler alert....oh....too late.....sorry about that....).  I'm just not that into tomato juice based cocktails I suppose....c'est la vie (for those non-francophones, I'm pretty sure that c'est la vie means "no-tomato-juice-based-cocktails-for-me-please-and-thank-you-very-much").

The Winner!

The Ingredients

For the B52:

Coffee Liqueur - Kahlua

Irish Cream - Bailey's

Orange Liqueur - Grand Marnier

For the Vampiro:

Silver Tequila - Espolon Silver Tequila
Tomato Juice - Store Brand
Fresh Orange and Lime Juice
Clover Honey

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