If you’ve been watching HBO’s new Elvis documentary, you’ve probably wondered how the pelvis-rattling Adonis turned into such a hunka hunka burning tub.
One prime suspect is the peanut-butter, banana and bacon sandwiches cited as the King’s favorites. While the monstrosity is no stranger to regional menus, one New York bartender has turned it into a popular cocktail called the Blue Suede Shoes.
For the drink, Sen Sakana beverage director Zachary Gross employs his own peanut butter fat-washed bourbon that he says, “enables the spirit to take on the flavor of the peanut butter, without it becoming thick.”
Mixing the bourbon with ingredients like Nikka coffee grain whiskey, chocolate bitters and Gifford banana, the end result is a cocktail packed with peanut butter, chocolate and banana flavors, a drink that Gross intends to be “a delicious, boozy, homage to the King of Rock N Roll.”
If you’d like to raise one of these cocktails for Elvis or simply learn the ins and outs of making peanut butter fat-washed bourbon at home, we’ve go the recipes behind both right here.
The Blue Suede Shoes
1 oz Peanut Butter Fat Washed Bourbon**
1/5 oz Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky
1 1/2 oz Giffard Banana Liqueur
1 oz Banana Puree (made with fresh bananas, lemon and lime juice)
Dash of Chocolate Bitters
Shake and serve over ice. Garnish with dehydrated banana chips.
**Peanut Butter Fat-Washed Bourbon: Spread peanut butter (one pound of peanut butter for every liter of bourbon) to across the bottom of a pan. Pour Bourbon on top of the peanut butter. Cover and let sit for 2 days. Strain with a cheese cloth until all the liquid is out. Pour it back into the bourbon bottle for use.