As I’ve frequently mentioned before, I get a lot of emails from PR representatives for liquor companies promoting their client’s product. For most established brand, the messages usually are requests to promote new recipes using their product — often focused around an upcoming holiday. Thanksgiving, July 4th, Halloween, New Years, Mardi Gras…you name the holiday and there is probably a PR email somewhere in my inbox with new and marginally creative ideas for a special cocktail. Sometimes the cocktail ideas are good. Usually they look sweet, unbalanced, and unappealing.
But only rarely do they look laughably bad.
Today I received an email promoting Jagermeister-based Mardi Gras cocktails that included this recipe:
Bourbon Treat
1/3 oz. Blue Curacao
1/3 oz. Goldschlager
1/3 oz. Jägermeister
1/3 oz. Ouzo
1/3 oz. Rumple Minze
1/3 oz. BourbonLayer in a 2 oz. shot glass in the given order.
Now, I’m guessing since this is a layered shot, it looks fairly cool in a glass. But it’s really hard for me to imagine a recipe that, at least on paper, looks worse tasting than this concoction without specifically calling for spoiled milk or Marmite. I mean, orange, cinnamon, Jager, anise, peppermint and bourbon? Really??
It got me thinking – what’s the worst cocktail you’ve ever seen marketed or put on a menu in a bar? I’m not thinking about things you drank in college for the sake of getting drunk. I’m talking about something that someone, somewhere, presumably with a straight face, said, “Gee, I think people will like this!”
So, let me know in the comments – what’s the worst cocktail you’ve ever seen or tasted?
A Jigger of Blog 
Sure that wasn’t “Bourbon Threat”?
By: Frederic on February 16, 2010
at 2:55 pm
Easy, the worst Cocktail ever served to me was 2 years ago by a friend of mine.
He was working for a local bar with the probably worst backboard ever seen. Since I knew him for such a long time, I thought:”Ahh whatever he will serve me something good.”
I ended up with a cocktail that was slightly atomic green with a white cream in it. (Reminded me of something and I tried very hard to ignore that)
I could barely drink one sip of this:
4cl Berentzen Sour Apple
2cl Midori
1cl Absinth
2cl Vodka
1cl cream
I don’t remember his excuse for this something something in my mouth and his explanation for the cream in it. But I bet they were good because we’re still friends
By: Jigger on February 20, 2010
at 2:25 pm
[…] the stuff we do now in offline format. Cheers to you and to your ability to stomach this sweet Bourbon Treat we like to call ThePubShow. […]
By: We spoke, the fans listened. We’re going to Oktoberfest!! : The Pub Show on September 24, 2012
at 10:36 am
Worst cocktail ever? That’s easy! A high-end bar in my neighborhood that will remain nameless was promoting its new Sake cocktails so I opted to try the Sake Sangria. Now, to more than a few purists out there, a sake cocktail is sacrilege and I took this into consideration when I sampled the drink… it was aweful. But I since then I have tried something a little more straight-forward – I love this punchy Saketini and hope you will too! http://www.bitememore.com/drinkme/73/saketini-cocktail-recipe
By: BiteMeMore on June 23, 2013
at 9:52 pm