The Chip Shot

Last week, I drowned my bogus Bigfoot sorrows in Georgia Bigfoot Cocktails. Well, one, actually. They’re pretty strong. This week’s cocktail recipe highlights yet another of my small obsessions. Coffee. I simply adore a good cup of coffee. My favorite purveyor? Caffe Calabria. You can literally walk in there and have a cup of coffee made with beans that were just roasted that morning. They also supply a number of restaurants, but I won’t ask them which. It’s a little game I play; a test for my palate. I’ll have a cup of coffee somewhere and just KNOW if it’s Calabria coffee. I’m proud to say I haven’t been wrong yet.

I first discovered today’s drink at a hip-crazy-cool, billiards-themed nightclub, now long defunct. The place was huge. One half was taken up with at least half a dozen beautiful pool tables with purple or gold or red felt, no boring green. The walls were also painted a warm gold and displayed elaborately framed reproductions of paintings by Van Gogh and other expressionists.

The other end of the club was darker with a stage for live music, a dance floor and tall bar tables. Separating the two and kind of forming an island in the middle was a beautiful curved and immaculate bar. One night, while waiting for a friend, the smiling, friendly bartender made me one of these.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce:

The Chip Shot

1 oz Tuaca
1 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 oz (or so) Hot Coffee

Serve in a brandy snifter and float a whole coffee bean on top for garnish.

TIP: If you order this out, do not let them try to put it in a double glass or one of those glass Irish Coffee cups. INSIST on the brandy snifter. Catching those esters is half the joy of a Chip Shot.

Cheers!

Oh, and incidentally - the slick billiards club? It’s an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet now.

Yep.