12 shots of Christmas: No. 5

The Challenge: Two people, six bars, 12 shots.

The Players: Kerry Leonard, Metromix producer and Thomas Hardwicke, Metromix photographer and contributor.

Shot No. 5: Spiced Cider, created by bartender Nate at Big Whiskey's and slurped on by Kerry.

Ingredients: Goldschlager, Tuaca (an Italian liqueur) and Apple Pucker

What it tastes like: If you forgot that you were chewing a stick of Big Red gum and then took a swill of apple cider. Tasty, but pretty sweet. After we reacted positively, about four other people at the bar requested one and before we knew it, a specialty shot was born.

As far as a shot is concerned, it was pretty spot on in execution. It did what a shot is supposed to do:  accurately replicate the flavors of one drink using not one of the ingredients intrinsic to that drink. Oh, that and mess you up. The tricks up bartenders’ sleeves will never cease to amaze me. They can throw 12 of the most putrid, bile-rousing, kersosene-flavored kinds of liquor into a shaker, add ice, do some sort of besotted sleight of hand, and then pour you a drink that tastes exactly like purple Lik-M-Aid. I don’t know how they do it. All I can do is pour warm vodka into a glass and even then it tastes like pulled pork, no thanks to the leftovers-adjacent ice cube trays in my freezer.

This, too, was a large shot – so large I had a couple of sips and threw in the towel. But those few sips of the Spiced Cider shot did the trick – warmed me to my core and put me in a state of giddy satiety – just like the real deal.

Back to roundup