The Carrot and Stick Approach Recipe

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By: Torrence O’Haire, Wine Director & Experience Specialist, The Downtown Market Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Recipe:

  • 1 1/4 ounces Pusser’s Gunpowder Proof rum
  • 3/4 ounce Barrow’s Intense Ginger liqueur
  • 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 ounce fresh carrot juice
  • 1/4 ounce Monin pineapple syrup
  • Approx. 2 ounces Fever-Tree Premium soda water (to fill glass)
  • 2 dashes Bittercube Blackstrap bitters

Directions:

  • Combine the first five ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice.
  • Shake very well, until foamy and well-chilled. Strain over large cubes in a copper mug and top with soda water to fill.
  • Stir gently, and dash bitters over the surface of the drink.

Inspiration:

I started composing this drink from a culinary standpoint — what sorts of things do I like to do with ginger when I’m cooking? I threw a dinner party once where I made a salad of shaved carrot, fresh ginger, and fresh pineapple, topped with a brown sugar-cumin vinagrette, and it was a smash hit on a stormy summer evening. Combining the “summer storm” cocktail-hour (where the drinks should be both refreshing and conversation-starting, as you’re stuck indoors) with the basic idea of that recipe began my conceptualization of this cocktail. The name refers to the challenge some bartenders have in selling overproof spirits regularly. By “luring” the novice bar guest with the sweet, earthy, perfumey combination of carrot, pineapple, and spice, the burn of the ginger and the pop of the rich high-proof rum comes in with an exciting wallop that keeps one’s mouth watering. Plus, when I think of a mule, I think of the carrot dangling from a string at the end of a long stick, encouraging the stubborn beast to keep moving. Even at my most stubborn, one of these will definitely keep me heading forward.