Whiskey & Movies: Fast Five & Black Manhattan Cocktail
Fast Five + Black Manhattan Cocktail (made with Buffalo Trace & Averna)
I am an all or nothing type of person. My good pal, Dom would say: “I live my life a quarter mile at a time”. The first Fast and the Furious movie was released in 2001, which I saw and haven't seen any others. At the time little did the world know that the original The Fast and the Furious film would turn into one of the great franchises of our lifetime. Fear not, this year I loaded up on NOS and flew through the entire series. Today, I re-watched Fast Five and drank a spin on a classic cocktail.
Purchased on Apple’s iTunes, watched Extended Edition via Apple TV at home.
“We talkin' or we racin?" A hilarious podcast How Did This Get Made? had a major influence on my decision to finally buckle up and watch all eight films. Of course, after each movie, I watched all the DVD extras, read blogs, Reddit comments, fan pages, listened to podcasts, etc. Remember I am all or nothing kind of gal. Most of my friends got a big kick that I turned into a Quarter-Mile crazy fan club member (we meet on Fridays at Five 😉).
iTunes movie description: Get ready for five times the action as Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of all-stars from every chapter of the franchise built on speed. Fugitive Dom Toretto (Diesel) partners with former cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) on the opposite side of the law in exotic Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There, they are hunted by a high-powered U.S. strike force led by its toughest Fed (Dwayne Johnson) and an army of corrupt cops working for a ruthless drug kingpin. To gain their freedom and win this ultimate high-stakes race they must pull off one last job - an insane heist worth $100 million.
Fast Five is my favorite movie of The Fast and the Furious (FAF) franchise. The first four in their own way are entertaining, but it is F5 that finds that special sauce. It is the catalyst that sets the tone for future FAF movies. They defy all logic and reason. It is ludicrous scenes featuring Ludacris, and I am here for it. With the casting of Dwayne Johnson (also highly recommend Ballers on HBO), they solidify that FAF welcomes top tier action stars (later comes Statham) into the franchise. It is much like how the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) started incorporating all sorts of heroes. However, unlike the MCU which has superheroes with superpowers, the FAF characters are street racers that are also mastermind criminals with superhuman abilities. In the first four minutes of F5, it is clear that they are going to pull one crazy stunt after another for pure entertainment's sake. Don’t ask questions, don’t point out all the plot holes. Sit back, make a great cocktail, and also raise a glass to the late Paul Walker.
As I watched this cinematic gold, I made the variation of the classic cocktail The Manhattan called the Black Manhattan. Created by bartender Todd Smith, founder of Bourbon and Branch, the Black Manhattan recipe uses Averna in place of sweet vermouth. I really enjoy bitters and Averna is one of my favorite amaros (Italian for bitters).
Variation I Drank:
2 parts Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1 part Averna Amaro
Dash Angostura bitters and Orange bitters
Stirred and served on ice garnished with dehydrated lime
The Black Manhattan
The story behind the Averna Amaro bottle: An Italian liqueur produced in Sicily since the 19th century, Averna is one of many Italian liqueurs known as an amaro. Generally consumed as an aperitivo before dinner to kick up the appetite, or a digestivo an after dinner drink. Named after its inventor, Salvatore Averna, whose recipe is still a family secret today.
It has been my go-to cocktail at home. I served it on the rocks for two reasons. First, because I drink cocktails served up way too fast, secondly because as the ice melts sweet notes come to the front the meld together among the amaro and bourbon. The Buffalo Trace alongside with the Averna, together they make a great team.
I leave you today with the wise words from our fearless leader Dom:
“The most important thing in life will always be the people in this room.
Right here, right now. Salute, mi familia.”
P.S. Is Dom Italian?!? If so it’s even more perfect that I picked an Italian liqueur… however, the one thing I said we shouldn’t do of this series is to ask questions.
Movie: 🥃🥃🥃🥃/5
Cocktail: 🥃🥃🥃🥃/5