"That rug really tied the room together."
WWTDD? What Would The Dude Do? Or, better yet, What Would The Dude Drink?
Seems I forgot myself that WWTDD, is more commonly referred to “What Would Tyler Durden Do?” so I’ve changed the title to avoid any confusion!
That’s But it’s still the question I’m posing today for Friday’s Feature Cocktail. The most obvious answer would be the White Russian, the cocktail The Dude famously downs throughout his feature film, The Big Lebowski (1 1/2 parts vodka, 3/4 part Kahlua, 3/4 part cream built over ice in an Old Fashioned glass). But what if The Dude was having an “off day”? I think we can all fairly assume that The Dude has many particulars in his daily ritual, but I think this recipe may offer just enough of a different “pep in his step” to make it acceptable. Our friends at A History of Drinking featured the Liquid Caramel cocktail this week that holds many similar components to the White Russian: lose the vodka and sub in some Irish Cream and Butterscotch Schnapps. Click on the link to see his version of the recipe with his own tasting notes; I made a few tweaks to the recipe and have my own versions (oops, did I just give away too much?!) disclosed below.
Liquid Caramel (adapted by SJ) 
- 1 part Irish cream
- 1 part Kahlua
- 1 part Hiram Walker Butterscotch Schnapps
- Top with chilled milk (I opted to use cream)
Pour the first three ingredients into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir and slowly top with cream. Garnish with grated nutmeg.
Opening up my bottle of Hiram Walker’s Butterscotch Schnapps, I was immediately met with a nose of sweet butterscotch and caramel. Even among competing ingredients, the schnapps has a nice underlying presence in the final drink; it’s not a sickly sweet additive like some schnapps may tend to be. I can see this making for a great dessert cocktail or – better yet – here comes cocktail number two!! Here is a warm hot coffee beverage (because, yes, there still are amazingly some piles of snow on the ground here in Connecticut):
Hotscotch & Caramel
- 1 part Irish cream
- 1 part Kahlua
- 1 part Hiram Walker Butterscotch Schnapps
- Splash Milk (I opted to use cream)
- 3-4 parts Fresh brewed coffee
Pour the first three ingredients into a Boston shaker filled with ice. Stir and strain into an Irish coffee mug. Fill with fresh brewed coffee and top with a splash of milk. Sprinkle grated nutmeg on top.
I think The Dude just may abide by these.
The drink sounds good, I might have to try it. WWTDD is clearly Tyler Durden, though.
I totally forgot about that website, Erik! Seems I may have to change to “What Would Jeff Lebowski Do?” or is that already taken, too? Hehe.