Bar Nuts

A cocktail competition held in Manchester, UK has showcased some unusual beverage ideas, including a peanut butter and jelly cocktail.
The popular sandwich filling was combined with El Dorado rum and Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut to make the quirky cocktail. The peanut butter was served next to the jelly in a lunch-box with a packet of crisps, a chocolate bar and a tangerine. As well as the rum and coconut liqueur, the peanut butter was also mixed with lime juice. The strawberry jelly was enhanced with rum, lime juice and cherry juice. Competition winner, Mark Main, said his drink was inspired by the packed lunches his mum used to make him for school.

Competition rules stated that each entrant must make two original cocktails. One had to be a Twisted Pina Colada using Coco Lopez and El Dorado rum, blended with a Hamilton Beach blender. Mark used Irn Bru to add a punchy twist to his Pina Colada, as a way to celebrate his Scottish roots. He also used Blue Curacao, lime juice and pineapple chunks to garnish.

The other drink was to be a creation of their own making, but had to contain 20ml of both of the sponsored drinks.

Interestingly, this is not the first time peanut butter has been used to flavour a cocktail. The internet is full of alcoholic peanut butter recipes. The sticky, nutty, delicious spread has been a key ingredient in many a beverage including the Peanut Butter Martini. Created using 40ml vodka, 12ml rum, 12ml chocolate schnapps, 75ml milk or cream and 1.5 teaspoons of peanut butter, the mixture is shaken and then strained into a martini glass and garnished with a Reese’s cup. Sounds amazing right?

If you are not convinced, perhaps you would prefer a Peanut Butter and Jealous Cocktail? Made with raspberry vodka and raspberry liqueur poured over muddled raspberries into a glass that has been rimmed in honey and peanut butter and topped up with cranberry juice, it certainly sounds like a sweet drink. The garnish is the best bit-a peanut butter sandwich triangle perched on top of the glass.

My personal favourite is the Peanut Butter, Banana and Bailey’s Smoothie (although the name needs some work). Made with three tablespoons of Baileys, four large bananas, plain yogurt, coconut sugar, cayenne pepper and half a cup of peanut butter mixed with a lot of ice, this is creamy, sweet and delicious, and could almost (almost) pass as a suitable breakfast meal.

Why not try something nutty this weekend?