Banshee

Garret Richard | Brooklyn, New York

photo: Shannon Sturgis
Banshee Punch

The Banshee is one in a triumvirate of dairy-driven drinks invented in the middle decades of the 20th century at Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge in Milwaukee. Garret Richard’s take on the banana-and-chocolate tropical dessert drink calls on a homemade liqueur made with banana schnapps, layers of chocolate, a small measure of rum and a nutmeg garnish. The whole thing gets flash-blended and served over crushed ice, which Richard says lightens the texture while also lengthening the drink’s life.

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 1 ounce crème de cacao, preferably Tempus Fugit
  • 1 ounce crème de cacao, preferably Tempus Fugit
  • 1 ounce Banana Bunch liqueur (see Editor’s Note)
  • 1 ounce Banana Bunch liqueur (see Editor’s Note)
  • 1 ounce half-and-half
  • 1 ounce half-and-half
  • 1/2 ounce Demerara rum, preferably Hamilton 86
  • 1/2 ounce Demerara rum, preferably Hamilton 86
  • 1 dash Dave Arnold’s Chocolate Bitters (see Editor’s Note) or store-bought chocolate bitters
  • 1 dash Dave Arnold’s Chocolate Bitters (see Editor’s Note) or store-bought chocolate bitters
  • 5 drops salt solution (4:1, water to salt)
  • 5 drops salt solution (4:1, water to salt)

Garnish: freshly grated nutmeg, plantain chip (optional)

Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin with 8 ounces of crushed ice.
  2. Flash-blend for 5 seconds and pour, unstrained, into a double Old-Fashioned glass with 4 ounces of crushed ice.
  3. Grate fresh nutmeg on top and serve with a straw and an optional plantain chip.
Editor's Note

Banana Bunch Liqueur
500 milliliters 99 Bananas liqueur
75 grams freeze-dried bananas

Combine the ingredients in a container and infuse for 24 hours. Fine-strain, then bottle. Keeps, refrigerated, for 6 months.

Dave Arnold’s Chocolate Bitters
350 milliliters 80-proof neutral spirit
100 grams cacao nibs, preferably Valrhona
3 grams mace
1.5 grams dried gentian
1.5 grams quassia bark

Break up the mace, then combine all of the ingredients in a cream whipper. Charge with two 7.5 gram N2O chargers and allow the mixture to infuse for 1 hour. Vent all at once with the spigot pointed up into a container to catch any spray. Let the mixture settle in the whipper until the bubbling stops (around 5 minutes). Strain the infusion, pressing the solids to extract the most liquid. Fine-strain, then bottle. Keeps indefinitely at room temperature.

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