Flaming Homer

Matthew Bellanger, Donna | Brooklyn, NY

flaming homer cocktail recipe illustration

The Simpsons’ Flaming Homer is one of television’s greatest bar experiments. Necessity is the mother of invention, and when all the beer is gone, Homer creates his own cocktail. After mixing all the leftover spirits he can find (at least six bottles worth) into a blender, he tops it off with a bottle of Krusty’s (importantly “Non-Narkotik”) Kough Syrup. When Homer’s sister-in-law Patty accidentally ashes her cigarette into the drink it bursts into flames, and though Homer doesn’t know “the scientific explanation,” he does know that “fire made it good.” New York City bartender Matthew Belanger turned Homer’s fictional work of art into a real drink using cherry-forward Maurin Quina to (safely) mirror cough syrup and a rum-soaked lime shell to create a vessel for pre-sipping flames.

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 1 ounce Maurin Quina
  • 1 ounce Maurin Quina
  • 3/4 ounce El Dorado 3 year rum
  • 3/4 ounce El Dorado 3 year rum
  • 1/2 ounce Flor de Caña 7 year rum
  • 1/2 ounce Flor de Caña 7 year rum
  • 1/4 ounce Smith and Cross Jamaican rum
  • 1/4 ounce Smith and Cross Jamaican rum
  • 1 teaspoon Tempus Fugit Crème de Noyaux
  • 1 teaspoon Tempus Fugit Crème de Noyaux
  • 3/4 ounce grapefruit juice
  • 3/4 ounce grapefruit juice
  • 3/4 ounce lime juice
  • 3/4 ounce lime juice
  • 1/2 ounce grenadine
  • 1/2 ounce grenadine
  • 1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup (see Editor's Note)
  • 1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup (see Editor's Note)
  • 1/4 ounce orgeat
  • 1/4 ounce orgeat
  • 1 dash Angostura bitters
  • 1 dash Angostura bitters
  • 1 dash absinthe
  • 1 dash absinthe

Garnish: an over-proof rum-soaked lime shell

Directions
  1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
  2. Add ice and shake until chilled.
  3. Strain into a tiki mug over crushed ice.
  4. Invert a half lime shell and set atop the cocktail to garnish.
  5. Add a sugar cube atop the lime shell and soak with a splash of overproof rum.
  6. Carefully light the sugar cube and let it burn.
  7. Blow out the fire before attempting to take a sip.
Editor's Note

To make cinnamon syrup, add 1 tsp cinnamon to 1 cup simple syrup (1:1, sugar:water).