The Revolver is a unique cocktail made with bourbon and coffee liqueur. It was created by a famous bartender out in San Fransisco named Jon Santer around 2003. It was originally made using Bulleit Bourbon, a rye-heavy & spicy bourbon, but since the nation is on lockdown due to COVID-19, just use whatever bourbon or whiskey you’ve got.

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If you’re curious about what the difference between bourbon and whiskey is, bourbon HAS to be: 1) made in America, 2) made of at least 51% corn, and 3) stored in new charred-oak barrels without any additives. So, all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. Ya follow? There are a lot of interesting laws in place about how to properly name and create certain liquors, aren’t there?

I don’t have any bourbon in my bar cart at the moment but I DO have a corn whiskey. Baby Blue from Balcones is 100% corn, additive-free, aged for 6 months in oak barrels. But since it’s not stored in new or charred oak barrels, it’s not considered a bourbon. At least that’s my understanding. I eventually do want to try this recipe the way the bartender intended it to be made.

If you don’t have an old coffee liqueur in your bar cart (or maybe it’s real old… like, older than 2-3 years), I’ve got an easy and instant recipe for homemade coffee liqueur using either vodka or rum. If you are rationing your bar staples, halve or third the recipe.

I’m also out of orange bitters, which the recipe calls for, so I just used Angostura bitters and tried to squeeze a little extra oil from the orange rind to get a little more orange oil flav. We’re working with what we got here, Jon. Don’t hate me for having to alter your drink.

The original recipe also calls for a flamed orange peel. I followed the instructions in this video:

Here’s footage from my first-ever flamed orange peel attempt. Aside from the shoddy camera work, I did alright! I’ll admit, I was actually nervous (as evidenced by the recoil) but I survived. And with all body hair intact, too. I’d say that’s a win. Shout out to my nail polish! Death Valley Nails is a company owned by my friend out in LA. All of DVN polish is 10-free, vegan, nontoxic, cruelty-free, and hand-mixed. AND it performs better than any nail polish I ever used. Scout’s honor.

The Ingredients for a Revolver

• 2 oz bourbon (a rye-heavy bourbon is recommended)
• 1/2 oz coffee liqueur
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• flamed orange peel

The Ingredients I Resorted To

• 2 oz corn whiskey (Balcones’ Baby Blue is 100% Corn so it’s gluten-free! Celiacs rejoice!)
• 1/2 oz coffee liqueur
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• flamed orange peel

The How-To

Add bourbon, coffee liqueur, and bitters to a shaker or large glass filled with ice. Stir until very cold and blended. Strain into a Nick and Nora glass* or a coupe glass. You don’t have to flame the orange peel, but why not. I know “sheltering in place” has you anxious for some sort of entertainment and excitement.

Get a large swath of orange peel (1 inch by 2 inches). Warm the peel up by holding the flame of a match or lighter close to it. Then, carefully squeeze the peel. The oils from the peel should spray through the flame into the glass. It’ll be a small spurt of fire, nothing crazy. Rub the peel along the rim of the glass to get even more smokey orange goodness going. You can discard the peel or place it in the drink.

*A Nick and Nora glass is a small glass that looks like a mix between a wine glass and a coupe glass in my opinion. Totally adorable. They’re typically used to serve cocktails without citrus juice in them, but who’s to say you couldn’t drink chocolate milk out of one? Fun fact: these glasses get their name from the two characters in the movie The Thin Man. They sipped their cocktails out of this style of glass back in the 1930s and made the glassware popular as a result.