Minty in the Strawb

Long Winded Instructions

When I was in 5th grade, our music teacher made us learn Turkey in the Straw on our flutophones. I think I’ve only ever heard the song from a flutophone or ice cream truck. I’ve never heard someone break out Turkey in the Straw during their Saturday night bar gig or acoustic coffee shop set. I’ve never been to a concert where the headliner seamlessly transitioned into Turkey in the Straw during the breakdown jam in the middle of their radio hit (that they waited until the 2nd encore to play at all). I guess what I’m trying to say is, where is the love for Turkey in the Straw?

For awhile I was tempted to think that our 5th grade music teacher wasted our time, but I guess you can’t start with Stairway to Heaven. Recently, however, I’ve thought about it differently because the ol’ tune gave us a great idea. I’m going to share this with you now because I trust you won’t rip us off. And... we’re like... totally gonna do it... we just have to secure funding which is gonna happen any day now because it’s such a great business plan. Instead of an ice cream truck that plays Turkey in the Straw while driving around neighborhoods selling push pops to kids, there should be cocktail trucks that play Turkey in the Straw while driving around neighborhoods selling cocktails to adults. Think about it! Adults have more money than kids, they often just sit on their front porch staring at the street, and they love cocktails! Yep, it’s brilliant.

But that’s not what we came here to discuss today, is it? No, you’re here for a reason that has nothing to do with the last two paragraphs at all! You want to learn how to make the Minty in the Strawb. So let’s get right in to it.

Start with some strawbs and toss them into your mixing glass. Now get ready to muddle those strawbs well. Ready? Ok go for it. Once you’ve made a nice strawberry mush, spoon a little bit out into the bottom of your martini glass. That’ll serve as a nice little bed for your cocktail and also a nice treat at the end of your drink. Now add a bunch of fresh mint. You’re going to muddle those as well. Now you’re well on your way.

Add your vodka and simple syrup. It’s time to shake things up. I mean that literally. I know that sounds like an idiom, but I actually want you to shake things. The things in this case are your drink and some ice. Shake it well for 30 to 45 seconds because cold is better. Now strain that drink into your glass, nice and slow so as not to disturb the bed you laid earlier.

That would be good enough, but you can kicks things up here by adding some garnish. Now, I don’t mean you should literally kick anything at this point. I know last time I said a thing that sounded like an idiom but turned out not to be. This time I’m using an idiom as a regular idiom. I apologize for the confusion. Grab a fancy tooth pick and skewer a couple nice mint leaves. Now put a strawb on there as well and rest it on your glass.

That’s it!

*** Duh da duh, da duh da duh da duh da duh da duh duh, da da duh duh duh duh da duh duh duh duh... ***

Oop! The cocktail truck is here! Gotta run!