Alabama Slammer
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 13.1% ABV ∙
The Alabama Slammer is a fruity highball built from vodka, Southern-style whisky liqueur, amaretto, sloe gin, and orange and lemon juice. Peachy amaretto sweetness leads, sloe gin adds a berry-tinged edge, and fresh orange and lemon juice keep it light enough for an easy, sociable round.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: Vodka 30 mlSouthern / Louisiana-style whisky liqueur 20 mlAmaretto liqueur 15 mlSloe gin 15 mlOrange juice 90 mlLemon juice 10 ml
- Strain into the ice-filled glass
- Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry on a skewer
Tips
- Stir with ice for only 10-15 seconds before straining; over-stirring waters down the vodka and the three liqueurs and mutes the orange-lemon balance.
- Measure the vodka, whisky liqueur, amaretto and sloe gin carefully - the 90 ml of orange juice will hide a heavy hand on any of them until the drink is already sweet.
- Use freshly squeezed juices in the 90:10 orange-to-lemon ratio; bottled juice throws off the tartness balance against the sweeter sloe gin and amaretto.
- Slide the orange slice onto the rim and drop the maraschino cherry in last so it sits visibly on top rather than sinking under the ice.
History
The Alabama Slammer is generally traced to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where it is said to have originated as a shot in the late 1960s or early 1970s among students celebrating Crimson Tide football, its name playing on the practice of "slamming" back a shot glass. The exact creator and precise date remain undocumented, and Harry's Bar in Tuscaloosa has been credited by some, though the drink is thought to predate the bar's 1972 opening. Its earliest known print appearance is in the 1971 Playboy Bartender's Guide by Thomas Mario, calling for Southern Comfort, sloe gin, amaretto, and lemon juice rather than orange juice; the 1984 Mr. Boston 50th Anniversary Bartender's Guide likewise specified lemon juice. Orange juice became the standard mixer only in later versions of the recipe. The drink grew into a fixture of college tailgating culture through the 1970s and 1980s and gained wider notice after being namechecked in Tom Cruise's bar-top speech in the 1988 film Cocktail.
