Introducing The Hottest New Adult Beverage: Sweet Joe [Kicking Back with Jersey Joe]

It’s one of those things that I can now check off my bucket list – I got a drink named after me! Get ready to take a sip of the adult beverage that will have your feeling like you’re on a cruise ship or a Caribbean Island! You can say you gave it a try – before it swept the country!

It all started on a Friday afternoon last year, when my friend Mike and I were hanging out at one of our favorite taverns, O’Hara’s Downtown in Jersey City, NJ.

In the mood for something different; bartender Sibel Aydemir had an idea. After pouring a few bottles of this and shaking a mixing glass of that, she produced a very awesome looking orange-yellow mixed drink. Before I could even blink, a second one appeared in front of me.

A Sweet Joe.

“Try this,” she says.

After taking a taste, “Wow!” is all I could think to say.

If I had closed my eyes, I could have been sitting on the deck of a Carnival cruise ship, somewhere in the middle of a calm ocean, enjoying a refreshing dessert. That’s right – this drink tastes like a dessert!

Who doesn’t love desserts? The first taste sensation was that of eating a piece vanilla cake, with a hint of orange/pineapple icing. It’s truly a different taste and extremely refreshing.

The Sweet Joe is made of:

1/3 Vanilla Cake Vodka (Three Olives is the brand she used, but others may be substituted)

1/3 orange juice

1/3 pineapple juice

Pour into a mixer and shake.  Garnish with fruit such as an orange slice or cherry.

While I prefer mine served in a pint glass on the rocks, others who are not a fan of giant sweet drinks suggest serving as a shot.

A shot of Sweet Joe.

With little recorded history on where exactly Vodka was first distilled, the first recorded use of the word was in Poland in 1405.  Some records claim of distilleries uncovered in other parts of the world from mid 1100’s.  It is officially recorded, that in the 1500’s vodka was exported to Russia by the Polish government for medicinal use, but they already had their own working version known as “the water of life.”

Most Vodka produced today comes from grains such as corn, rye, or wheat. Many more traditional recipes include creating from potatoes, molasses, grapes, rice, soybeans, sugar beats, oil byproducts, and sugar with yeast. The base produced is reduced down into a gelatinous mash that is heated and cooled. The mash then passes through numerous charcoal filters to remove any impurities. It is then air locked into a large still where it is left to ferment. After fermenting, water or yeast may be added, and the mash is heated again and again, until the desired taste and alcohol content is achieved.

Most Vodka in the United States start a 40% alcohol, making what is known as 80 proof. Polish vodka maxes out at 96% alcohol or 192 proof. In the US, Everclear has the highest alcohol content at 95% and 190 proof, leading many states to ban its sale.

Home brewed vodka is nicknamed “bathtub gin,” for the often unconventional means by which is produced and sold to avoid taxation, prohibition, and legal restrictions.

Flavor infused vodkas are now all the rage in bars and liquor stores. While more traditional flavored vodkas have been popular for centuries overseas, they are really spreading in popularity in the US as the demand for the latest unique cocktails continues. New, and more outrageous flavors, are being released every day.

Some of the more outrageous flavors include bacon, pepper, chocolate, Swedish Fish, vanilla cake, marshmallow, S’mores, root beer, bubble gun, and even cotton candy. It is these unusual flavors like these that Sibel had at her fingertips to create my signature drink.

Sibel prepares another Sweet Joe at O'Hara's Downtown, Jersey City, New Jersey

THE 411

Name: Sweet Joe

What: hot new adult alcoholic beverage, named for the author of this F & N blogumn

Serving size: cocktail glass, large pint glass, or shot glass

JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:  I certainly hope you will give this a try.  Impress your friends when you can serve up or order what hopefully with be the nation’s hottest new drink!  They’re perfect for both men and women.  Let us know if you see it on the menu anywhere and if you’re in Jersey City, New Jersey; hang a right before entering the Holland Tunnel to stop by O’Hara’s Downtown and give one a try.  Three Olives’ mixed drinks are often on special for $3 or $4.

If you are making this at home, any brand of vanilla cake Vodka can be substituted.

As always, drink responsibly, don’t drink and drive and all of that. Use your head.

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