One of my favorite drinks I’ve ever come up with has never been tasted by anyone but me. Okay, that’s not entirely true but there are like five people in the world who’ve ever tried it. And I’ve been going through my site lately (as a currently unemployed bar manager, I have all this time on my hands now) I’ve been thinking about what I should add to this already very large body of work. And then it hit me.
Okay, so a little backstory. The story of this blended ice cream milkshake is a lot like the story of the Clyde Common Eggnog. If you remember, my original plan with the eggnog was to have a different interesting eggnog every week during the holidays. I had all these ideas sketched out, like a Manhattan eggnog with bourbon and Carpano Antica Formula, a Cynar eggnog, I even had an aged rum and Madeira eggnog all sketched out.
The first one I debuted was the tequila-sherry eggnog you probably know by now, and the guest response was so overwhelming that I would have been an idiot to take it away and replace it with another one of these eggnogs. And now it’s been on the menu every holiday season for the past decade.
Well, the PX Sherry Mudslide has a similar story. When I put together the bar program for Pepe Le Moko, I wanted to have a rotating seasonal milkshake drink. And so again, I had a bunch of ideas sketched out. A Rumpleminze Candy Cane milkshake (with real pieces of candy cane!). A Tequila Por Mi Amante (strawberry infused tequila, the recipe can be found in my first book, The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique), and the PX Sherry Mudslide.
But the first milkshake I put on the menu was the Grasshopper, and it went kind of viral. So I almost immediately abandoned the plans to rotate that slot with any other milkshakes.
But the PX Sherry Mudslide always occupied a special place in my heart and I’ve made it at home for friends over the years. I mean, who doesn’t love a traditional Mudslide (coffee liqueur, Irish cream, and vodka)? I certainly do. And no, this isn’t exactly a traditional Mudslide, but once you try it you’ll see that there was really nothing else I could have called it.
The result is a wonderful, creamy milkshake built around flavors of coffee, rum raisin, vanilla, cinnamon, and dark chocolate. It’s… kind of out of this world.
That’s it. I really hope you enjoy the drink.
PX Sherry Mudslide Print Me
- 1½ oz/45 ml Pedro Ximenez sherry
- 1½ oz/45 ml Tia Maria or your favorite coffee liqueur
- 1 oz/30 ml half and half
- Pinch of sea salt
- ½ cup/120 ml vanilla ice cream
- 1 cup/240 ml crushed ice
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Serve in a chilled milkshake glass, if you've got one. If not, a chilled Collins glass will work just great.
Note that PX (Pedro Ximenez) sherry is wonderfully sweet, please don’t try to substitute, say, fino or Amontillado sherry here unless you’re going to add additional sweetener. Also note that I’ve found that the drink blends a lot better if you keep the booze in the fridge and use it when it’s cold.
Recipe printed courtesy of jeffreymorgenthaler.com
Best mocha milkshake ever
🤗🤗🤗
From what you described putting together a bar menu is a lot like putting together a photo book, a lot of what you intended to be included gets cut. I’d be interested in seeing more of your creations that didn’t make the cut.
Well, most of the creations that don’t make the cut don’t make it for a good reason: they’re usually not very good. This is one of the few exceptions, and it didn’t make the cut for the reasons above. 🙂
My brotha, so gonna give this a go with Mr Black Cold Brew Liqueur. PX and Arabica is a no brainer. Hope you’re well brother, hope to run into you soon when this is all over.
Do you have any substitute recommendations for the coffee liqueur?
Kahlua works great too! I also love the XO Cafe from Patron.
Might as well dig out the blender too. I’ve had to dust off every other kitchen appliance in the last ten weeks… Thanks for this, Jeff. Made it last night. It’s delicious! Stay strong…
So glad you enjoyed it!
Yay, you’re posting again! : )
Definitely. I never stopped, it’s just a little more frequent now.
sounds amaaaaazing. gonna try this once I lose the quarantine 15 lol
I always suggest not delaying gratification. There’s plenty of time to be healthy. 🙂
What’s your go-to PX sherry? Lustau?
You’re onto something with Cynar and egg nog. I’ve made a mezcal, cynar, sherry, Mexican chocolate egg nog that’s super tasty. Cheers!
Yeah Cynar eggnog has been a favorite ever since I tried Ben Sandrof’s Cynar Flip way back in the day.
Soon as I get some ice cream I have a half bottle of PX with this written all over it.
How bout a gofundme with the other nogs and ice cream drinks you were planning?
No need to coax them out of me with crowdfunding. They’ll all get posted… eventually. 😂
I’m trying to imagine a Manhattan egg nog and it’s hurting my brain.
Think of a really soft, sweet bourbon paired with a lighter-bodied Spanish sweet vermouth, or even Dolin rouge. And omit the bitters, of course. It’s actually really beautiful when you get the proportions correct.