Late Summer Libation

The Sand Trap “You can get lost in them”

BY BART POTTER • CG STAFF WRITER

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Justin Cox supposes he could make this issue’s featured 19th Hole cocktail with any old Irish whiskey. But without Tullamore D.E.W. Irish, it wouldn’t be the same.

It wouldn’t be The Sand Trap.

Cox, 41, is beverage director of the Yes Parade Restaurant Group, which includes the Rhein Haus in Seattle’s Capitol Hill, located at 912 12th Ave.

The Sand Trap is a golf cocktail Cox created when Yes Parade had a bar called Stadium Golf (now closed) in Tacoma. Cox’s ingredients for The Sand Trap include house made beer syrup, espresso cold shots and coconut rum.

But Tullamore D.E.W. is the base — and the heart and soul — of The Sand Trap, which is on the Rhein Haus cocktail active list this summer.

“When you’re working with flavors like coconut and coffee,” Cox says, “you’ve got to have something in there that tells you, like, this is an Irish whiskey.”

What he loves about Irish whiskey in general is the predominant flavor of the barley. It’s just softer, he says. As for Irish whiskey in particular, it’s Tully.

“It brings a lot more, you know, just a lot more dimensional notes,” Cox says. “It has a little bit more character. It does such a wonderful job of working together. I mean, that’s kind of the beauty of Irish whiskey.”

Tullamore D.E.W. is part of the family of spirits marketed worldwide by William Grant & Sons Global Brands Ltd. The company’s single biggest account for Tullamore is the legendary Buena Vista bar in San Francisco, which Cox makes a point of visiting when he’s there so he can watch the rock-star bartenders turn out thousands of Irish coffees — made, of course, with Tullamore.

For The Sand Trap, which is a little like a cold Irish coffee, Cox taps into one of his favorite breweries, Icicle, in Leavenworth, Wash., and its German Chocolate Porter and reduces it into a bitter chocolate beer syrup.

He picks up cold shots of pressurized extracted espresso at the Caffe Vita on nearby Pike Street.

Planteray Cut & Dry coconut-infused rum lends its own character to the mixture, which is shaken with fresh ice and strained into a Nick and Nora glass. The last touch is a light layer of creamy cold foam flavored with real maple syrup, with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top.

“So it’s kind of like an Irish coffee, but drinks kind of like an espresso martini,” Cox says. “You have all the flavors, a little bit of tropicalness, and you’ve got great whiskey.”

Like real golf-course bunkers, Sand Traps can be hazardous. Cox says, “You can get lost in them.”

At Home Bar Mixology

The Sand Trap

By Justin Cox • Yes Parade Restaurant Group Seattle

INGREDIENTS

• 1 oz. Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey

• .5 oz. Dark Persuasion beer syrup

• .5 oz. Planteray Cut & Dry

• 1 oz. Caffe Vita cold shot

INSTRUCTIONS

• Shake ingredients with fresh ice

• Strain into a Nick and Nora glass or equivalent.

• Top with maple syrup cold foam.

• Sprinkle shaved nutmeg on top.

• Sip and enjoy responsibly.

More On Tully

Tullamore D.E.W. is the original triple blend Irish whiskey known the world over for its smooth and gentle complexity. This whiskey, made in Ireland, is the perfect balance of both fruit and spice. A blend of three spirits, you won’t find another whiskey like Tullamore D.E.W.

DISTINCTIVE TASTE

Three spirits blend together to give a balance of flavor like no other. Grain whiskey gives sweet flavors. Malt whiskey gives fruit flavors. And pot still whiskey gives spice flavors. This final product makes Tully stand alone.

CASK FINISH

The complex yet approachable flavors in the whiskey are derived from three types of grain, triple distillation and the blend of all three Irish whiskeys.

HOW IT’S MADE

Triple cask-matured for depth and balance. Over a period of several years, Tullamore D.E.W. Original is aged in traditional refill barrels, ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry butts.

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