The Cranky Cocktail: Lighting Your Fire

With Hallowe'en coming up, The Cranky Cocktail has been racking his brains for appropriately ghoulish cocktails to write about, but while we can all agree that, say, The Pink Drink Book is pretty damn scary, it's not exactly seasonal. TCC was reminded, however, of an eerie party trick that he's fond of, wherein he dims the lights, pours a shot of sambuca into his mouth and then carefully lights the liquor on fire. Blue flames shoot from his mouth and light the room. Men gasp, women swoon, &c &c. It's quite striking.

At this point, prudence -- and the specter of a liability suit -- requires us to warn you not to try this without proper supervision and safety precautions. Attempting this stunt without the correct preparations without knowing what you're doing (or even worse, while drunk) can be very dangerous. You need to use a specific amount of a specific kind of booze, hold your head a certain way, your mouth a certain way... Remember, what you're essentially doing is lighting a fire in the middle of your face. It's like fire eating -- you wouldn't just try to shove a flaming skewer in your mouth, would you? If you're mad enough to try this, we can't be held responsible for any consequences, including but not limited to loss of taste, loss of facial hair, loss of facial skin, or loss of face.

It's not exactly spooky, but that trick always reminds The Cranky Cocktail of one of the most famous stunt-bartending cocktails of all time, "Professor" Jerry Thomas' Blue Blazer (pictured). When mixed with flair and elan, this flaming beverage creates quite a stir, what with the whooshing roar as the column of blue flame flies through the air. Of course, it's entirely possible to mix this drink without any such crowd-pleasing shenanigans -- and that's probably a lot safer. "Professor" Thomas originally created this drink as a tonic against cold weather or a pick-me-up for those suffering from a cold or flu, and while we're not saying this can protect you against the much-hyped bird flu pandemic, it probably won't make you any worse.

Please find below the recipe and proper mixing instructions for that extremely flashy drink, The Blue Blazer.