MxMo LXXI: From Crass to Craft

Hello everyone. It's Mixology Monday, and this month's theme is "From Crass to Craft", and it's being hosted by Scott at Shake, Strain, and Sip. It turns out, there are quite a few cocktail blogs with names made of common bartending verbs.James and I were inspired by a shot called the Oatmeal Cookie, which is made with equal parts of buttershots, cinnamon schnapps, and Bailey's. I wanted to create this drink without using any of those things, so we found alternative routes for bringing all of those flavors together.For the cinnamon and butterscotch, I infused a cinnamon stick and four Werther's Originals into eight ounces of bourbon until the candy was dissolved, about ten hours. It was surprisingly not disgusting, although there is a little bit of processed milk in the candy, which will separate from the bourbon if you let it sit for a while. It's not a big deal, and it integrates nicely into the drink when shaken.For the Bailey's, we used this recipe from Serious Eats as a reference, and used it to build the other ingredients in the drink. We did not take all of the flavors from the Bailey's, but we got the important ones, specifically chocolate, coffee, cream, and almond extract.We omitted the honey, vanilla extract, and condensed milk, and reasoned that the bourbon base of the infusion was a good stand-in for the whiskey base of the Bailey's.

Artisanal Oatmeal Cookie1.5 oz Butterscotch/Cinnamon-Infused Bourbon.5 oz Espresso.5 oz Heavy Cream.25 oz Simple Syrup (could be honey syrup).25 oz Creme de Cacao (homemade)drop of almond extractDry shake (to froth the cream) and then shake over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. No Garnish.

This drink accomplished its purpose; specifically, it tasted like Bailey's, Butterscotch, and Cinnamon. For that matter, it did taste vaguely like an oatmeal cookie. Even though the ingredients were craft, with the exception of the butterscotch candy, the drink could not escape its origins; it was sweet, and even though we used a "deconstructed" Irish Cream, it still tasted Irish cream, which is a flavor I try to avoid.Thanks for hosting, Scott!