Bourbon A La Creme

The idea here is to infuse your bourbon with vanilla flavors and then thicken it up with a sugary chocolate liqueur. This is one of the prettier flavored bourbon drinks, though, and I had a chance to do it properly.

First, the recipe asks that you prepare some bourbon by placing 2 vanilla beans in bourbon for an hour before drinking the cocktail. Whether you make the cocktail first and refrigerate it with the beans in it or just in the bourbon is a little unclear.

It says to put all ingredients in a shaker and refrigerate--with ice. Shake it and put it in the fridge for an hour. What? All the ice will melt. But I see where this is going. Of all the cocktails in the New York Bartender's guide, this is the only one that hints at making an infusion. And the idea is sound, if not the method.

So I infused the bourbon first with the vanilla. But then I used MurLarkey's cocoa infused whiskey and a little sugar for the creme de cacao for real bittersweet chocolate and whiskey flavors. This was a good move. MurLarkey's infused white whiskey allows you to control for sweetness. You can add enough simple to really make a creme out of it, or drink it neat for dryness. It's up to you.

• 2 oz. bourbon (infused with vanilla)
• 1/2 oz. creme de cacao (MurLarkey cocoa whiskey and 1/2 tsp. sugar used)
• 3 vanilla beans

Set bourbon aside in a shaker without ice. Add vanilla beans and allow to infuse for an hour. Add chocolate spirit and shake. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.