tom dempsey

1 oz Dark Spiced Rum
1/2 oz Rye
1/2 oz Benedictine
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters
1 oz Stout Beer

Stir all but the beer with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Top off with an ounce of stout, and garnish with a coin-sized piece of lemon peel twisted over the top and then floated.

This weekend I submitted my entry for the Superbowl Sunday "Drink Like a Saint" contest. The contest's description and rules were as follows:

This week, everything must be black and gold. That includes our drinks. Think you have what it takes to create a cocktail that's a champion? Enter the Times-Picayune/Tales of the Cocktail "Drink like a Saint" competition. The rules are simple. Only amateur bartenders can enter. Each drink must celebrate the Saints. And, of course, it must taste great, or it wouldn't be worthy of our team.

When I gave some thought about the Saints, I returned to one of my early memories of the team. As a kid, I loved to read our copy of Guinness Book of World Records and I remembered the photo and story of the longest field goal. The fact that the kicker not only made the record-breaking 63 yard field goal but did it even with a physical handicap to bring victory against substantial odds was rather inspirational. Therefore, I named the drink the Tom Dempsey.
I knew that the drink had to be manly and reasonably strong akin to the horse racing-themed Suburban, and spiced rum and whiskey popped into my head (perhaps to parallel the Suburban's rye and dark rum). The spiced rum element was a good excuse to try out our newly purchased bottle of dark Kraken Spiced Rum. For the other spirits, I used Sazerac 6 year Rye and local Ipswich Stout. Moreover, Abita's Imperial Stout and Old New Orleans Cajun Spice Rum would make fine New Orleans-appropriate substitutions. The rum, Benedictine, and bitters add a nice level of spice to the rich malt flavors donated by the beer and whiskey. The Benedictine, once made by Monks, was the first spirit that popped into my head when I thought about saints. And the black drink with the golden garnish floating on top reminded me a bit of the Saints' helmet. The Tom Dempsey cocktail might even be appropriate if you choose to watch the Puppy Bowl on Sunday instead.