Buttermilk Collaboration

I was fortunate enough to get an invitation from Juuls Vinhandel to a tasting at the launch of a small batch collaboration between Teeling Whiskey and Plantation Rum.

Basically the two producers exchange casks and experiment with finishing rum with whiskey notes ande whiskey with rum influences.

Alex Chasko of Teeling and Alexander Gabriel of Plantation took us through the process from idea to finished products. And we got to taste them two - as well as other spirits from the two companies.

Afterwards a friend and I stopped by one of Copenhagens best bars Duck and Cover for a cocktail. As always one is not enough and at the end of the evening we were both treated to a mystery cocktail on the house. Both made with buttermilk whey.

Mine had a base of Germana Caetano's Cachaca and cherry wine and my friend got a aquavit, gooseberry and Jerusalem artichoke cocktail. They were pretty amazing and I wanted to know all about the buttermilk whey.

In both drinks the whey had the effect of reminding your taste buds of something without your brain being able to pick out precisely what it was. I like that.

And it was a great experience right after listening to Alexander Gabriel reminding us that our noses and palates are more precise than any instrument in any laboratory and can pick up more smells and tastes.

He also let us in on the secret that distillers work mostly with the 1-2 procent of a bottle that is not alcohol or water. Then for a cocktail bartender that work only multiply on an exponential scale with 7-8 ingredients added.

So for full disclosure - I didn't not pay for the tasting - I took away a lot of interesting information, 2 cl of the Teeling Whiskey having spend 12 month in Plantation casks and a cute key chain hip flask.

And from Duck and Cover I payed for every drink I ordered and got one free that set my brain wizzing with ideas for buttermilk whey drinks.

One of which is Buttermilk Collaboration:

• 2 cl Teeling Whiskey finished in Plantation casks
• 2,5 cl Plantation Stiggins fancy Pineapple Rum  
• 1 cl orgeat
• 3 cl pineapple juice
• 3 cl buttermilk whey (I brought 500 ml of organic buttermilk with a bit of lime zest, limejuice and pineapplejuice add up to about 50 C in a saucepan at which point it split and then strained it through a fine sieve through cheese cloth)
• 2 cl aquafaba - from chickpeas

I added everthing to a shaker and gave it a quick dry shake before adding ice cubes and shaking it fiercely. Strain into low glass and garnish with pineapple or a good cocktail cherry.