flaming drinks are a family of cocktails that are either prepared or served on fire for dramatic effect. Flamed drinks are produced either by floating high-strength alcohol on top of the cocktail and setting fire to it, by firing a “jet” of burning alcohol over the surface of the drink, or via flambé of the drink in its entirety. Even 40 percent ABV liquor will burn readily if warmed above 28° C, and spirits of 55 percent ABV and over will burn just fine at room temperature.
History tells us that for as long as humans have been distilling spirits, we have been setting fire to them, and flaming bowls of punch were common in Europe from the eighteenth century on. See Feuerzangenbowle and punch. But it was Jerry Thomas’s Blue Blazer, which involves pouring an arc of flaming whisky back and forth between two mugs, that was the first cocktail to harness alcohol’s flammable disposition for the betterment of bar room spectacle. See Blue Blazer and Thomas, Jeremiah P. “Jerry”. A century later, the Tiki movement gleefully adopted fire as its ally; cocktails like the Volcano Bowl, with a flaming float of overproof rum, proved popular in the 1970s along with further riffs on punches and the Zombie cocktail, often garnished with a hollowed-out passion fruit (or lime) shell filled with a shot of flaming liquor. See tiki.
The sense of drama and apprehension that fire presented also made it an obvious choice for the flair bartending community, who in the closing decades of the twentieth century integrated the hot stuff into their performances. The period also saw the rise of the Flaming Ferrari (and subsequent twist Flaming Lamborghini), which was invented by Thai Dang at the London celebrity hangout Nam Long Le Shaker. The Flaming Ferrari is a layered drink comprised of, in order, grenadine, Galliano, black sambuca, and green Chartreuse. The (high-proof) Chartreuse is set on fire and the lucky patron instructed to drink the liquid continuously through a straw as fresh shots of Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge and overproof rum are poured in to keep the flames burning See flair bartending.
Berry, Jeff. Beach Bum Berry Remixed. San Jose, CA: SLG, 2009.
Wondrich, David. Punch. New York: Perigee, 2010.
By: Tristan Stephenson