Now being served: Russian Devil

Several years ago, during my three week trip to Alaska, my cousin and I made a side trip to Seward, a small town on Resurrection Bay. Seward is a delightful port for huge cruise ships, commercial fisherman, and private boaters, alike. Although the town isn’t very big, it is incredibly picturesque. Cute shops, interesting things to see and do, and fantastic restaurants. Our primary purpose for being in Seaward was to go on a Glacier Tour in the Kenai Peninsula.

The first of the two times we ate at Seward’s Ray’s Waterfront, I discovered their Red Hot Russian, a tasty cocktail that starts out with a White Russian base and adds Fireball cinnamon whiskey to give it a nice little kick.

Needless to say, when we returned to Seward for a second try at the tour (the weather did not cooperate on our first attempt), we ate at Ray’s, again. This didn’t hurt my feelings one bit, as it also meant another round or two of Red Hot Russians for me. And no, I wasn’t driving. 😉

The likelihood of being able to get up to Seward, again, or Alaska, for that matter, anytime soon, isn’t good. It’s currently the dead of winter and it’s not like one just ‘pops’ up there, but Ray’s Red Hot Russians continue to call to me. Left without any other acceptable options, I decided to come up with my own version. It’s complete guesswork and experimentation on my part, but I’m not unhappy with the results.

After a bit of tinkering and taste testing, here is the Russian Devil, perfect for warming you up on these cold nights.

A friend introduced me to Fireball. He’s not much of a fussy-mixed-drink kind of guy, so he usually drank it in a shot, which was quite tolerable. I’m assuming the name comes from the Atomic Fireball cinnamon jawbreaker candies. Although I was never a huge fan of them, I do love cinnamon flavor, in general. If you’d like to know more about it, you can do that here.

Ray’s decorated the rim of the serving glass with crushed red-hots, and they were the perfect accompaniment, but the drink is equally wonderful without them.

I usually make it in a Waterford old fashioned glass. If you’d like information about it, you can find it in this previous post: Nutty Monk.

If you like cinnamon, this is the cocktail for you. Not too sweet, not too spicy, a balanced blend of rich and creamy with a lovely subtle bite.

To your health as the new year approaches!