the vellocet

This month's Mixology Monday theme, "Garnish Grandiloquence" (MxMo LXVII), was picked by Joseph Tkach of the Measure and Stir blog. Joseph's challenge was "I'm always shocked by the way that an orange peel or a lemon peel can transform the experience of drinking a mixed drink from something mundane to something magical. In a similar vein, eating the olive in a martini will totally transform the imbiber's perception of the drink. So this Mixology Monday, let's really make a study of art of the garnish, by mixing up drinks where the garnish plays a central role in the experience of the drink... This type of garnish is traditionally in the realm of tiki, but you could mix anything, so long as the garnish is the star of the show."

In thinking of what garnishes have been the star of the show, one of the things that I latched on to was fire. Drinks like the Rubicon, Cradle of Life, and Krakatoa have been quite memorable due to the flames involved in the process or in the garnish itself. I soon realized that there was a drink I had not yet made that fit the bill in Beta Cocktails.  The Vellocet, created by the Cure's Kirk Estopinal, is probably A Clockwork Orange reference for an amphetamine:

There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

I hoped that this drink would not set me in the mood for some of the old ultra-violence, but with a little over 2 ounces of 110 proof Green Chartreuse, it was almost as likely as me getting sleepy as revved up. Instead of being solely for show like in the Cradle of Life, the fire in the Vellocet transformed a garnish as it did the Rubicon. In place of the Rubicon's rosemary, the fire affected sprigs of mint. The recipe is as follows:

The Vellocet
• 2 oz Green Chartreuse
• 1 1/4 oz Pineapple Juice
• 3/4 oz Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
• 2 dash Angostura Bitters
• 2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with a mint sprig, and pour 1/4 oz of flaming Green Chartreuse over the mint Blue Blazer-style so as to burn the mint.

Unlike the other drinks I mentioned, the flames in the Vellocet were very short lived. Spectacular with the lights out, but once the flaming liquid hit the top of the crushed ice, it did not last too much longer and there was no need to blow out the flames.  I believe the strong glow in the upper right of the photo is the metal jigger doing the fire pouring.
The burning Chartreuse charred the garnish's leaves such that a burnt herbal note reminiscent of college joined the mint aroma. The sip was full of lime and flowed into a pineapple and Green Chartreuse swallow. Next, the Vellocet finished with clove from the falernum as well as other spice elements from the bitters. Aside from the flamed mint, the drink was not all too different from the Chartreuse Swizzle.
Cheers to Joseph from Measure and Stir for giving me an excuse to light things on fire and for hosting this month's Mixology Monday!