Thirsty Thursday Eve - Peppermint White Russian (December)

This month, I'm discussing a cocktail that isn't so much wintery in and of itself, but one that adopts a winter-themed variation. The peppermint White Russian is basically the cocktail interpretation of those little miniature candy canes you get from the mall Santa Claus.

Recipe:
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce coffee-flavored liqueur
1 ounce heavy cream
1/2 ounce peppermint syrup

The Gemini suggestion for December was critical:

December

• Theme 1: Holiday Indulgence. The month for eggnog. Other options include rich, creamy drinks or cocktails with festive notes of gingerbread or peppermint. A Peppermint White Russian.
• Theme 2: Sparkling Celebrations. Bubbly drinks for New Year's Eve. A Cranberry Champagne Cocktail or a simple Prosecco with a twist.

I've done a spin on eggnog before. I like gingerbread, but I wasn't sure what kind of cocktail would feature it. And the traditional bubbly drinks served at New Year's Eve parties are just not for me. I don't do champagne or prosecco unless it's specifically for a toast, and even then I don't really like it.

A White Russian with peppermint was both revolutionary and unexpected. Oddly enough, I've never had a White Russian before, despite loving coffee and coming around to an appreciation of vodka. I've also never seen "The Big Lebowski," which seems to be what introduces a lot of people to the drink. In any case, it seemed like a good choice for the December cocktail.

I was afraid at first I would have to go buy a bottle of coffee liqueur. It's not something I typically keep on hand, but I ended up finding a disconcertingly old bottle of Kahlúa in the cabinet. I remembered buying a bottle of Grind a while back, and expected I would have gone through the Kahlúa before the Grind, but here we are. An old bottle of Kahlúa is better than having to buy a bottle from the store.

I looked up a few recipes for a White Russian, but each featured the exact same ratio of 2 oz vodka, 1 oz coffee liqueur, and 1 oz heavy cream. With 80+ years of history, I can see why the recipe has stayed pretty much the same once early bartenders dialed it in. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

To start, I made a standard White Russian using my Kirkland Signature American Vodka, just to get a feel of the base cocktail. It was... fine. As one would expect from the ratio of the recipe, the flavor of the vodka is featured very heavily. The American vodka from Costco is certainly cheap, and while it is passable in a vodka and cola, it's not great on its own. The heavy cream also makes it a super decadent drink, which I wasn't really prepared for.

After I added a splash of peppermint syrup, it became a completely new drink. The faint astringency of the vodka was basically imperceptible. The richness of the heavy cream was cut a bit by the sharp sweetness of the peppermint. It pulled together something like a concentrated peppermint latte. I was not disappointed.

With better vodka, the standard White Russian may be able to stand on its own a bit more. I'm still not huge on vodka, so I can't ever see this being a go-to drink for me in any scenario. However, with a splash of peppermint syrup, it becomes significantly more festive of a cocktail. If you've tried a White Russian before and didn't like it, I do think that the introduction of peppermint syrup is a substantial enough change to try.