Lunch.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Mudslides. I acknowledge this is an unpopular opinion, it’s just…you know, if I want ice cream, I want ice cream. If I want a cocktail, I don’t want to add hundreds of calories to it; I’d rather have the cocktail…and then, maybe later on, have ice cream that doesn’t taste like alcohol. You know?
But apparently real Mudslides – by which I mean the ones made where the drink was invented, The Wreck on Grand Cayman’s Rum Point – don’t have any ice cream in them at all. As the story goes, they were created in the 1970s when a customer came in wanting a White Russian (vodka, Kahlua, and cream), but since the bar was out of cream, the bartender substituted Bailey’s Irish Cream. He threw it all in a blender, and ta da: A drink that’s milkshake-level delicious, but not saturated in sweetness. (So you can have two. Just proceed with caution; these may not taste like anything but wonderfulness, but they’re deceptively strong.)
The Grand Cayman Mudslide
- 1½ ounces Absolut vodka
- 1½ ounces Kahlua coffee liqueur, plus extra for the straw
- 1½ ounces Bailey’s Irish Cream
- Brandied cherry, for garnish
- Grated cinnamon, for garnish
Combine all ingredients except garnishes in a blender with 1 cup ice. Blend until slushy; serve in a tall glass. Dip a straw into the Kahlua bottle to fill it with coffee liqueur, then place a finger over the top of the straw to transfer the filled straw to the glass (this is called a “floater”). Garnish with cinnamon and cherry.
