Breakfast cereal is no longer reserved for kids on Saturday morning or college students in need of a late night snack. Breakfast cereal has now gotten boozy.
Mixologists across the country are concocting breakfast cereal-flavored cocktails that take drinkers on a nostalgic, albeit alcohol-rich, trip. Bartenders at Canon in Seattle, Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City and Music City Tippler in Nashville, infuse cereal into milk and strain the mixture before using the milk in dairy-based cocktails like White Russians. Other bartenders infuse the taste of breakfast cereal into the liquor itself. Either way, you end up with a cocktail that tastes like something you used to enjoy while watching Saturday morning cartoons.
“It’s funny because Cinnamon Toast Crunch infused in rum ends up tasting like the cereal,” says Sam Gabrielli, bar manager at Russell House Tavern, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is famous for its Cinnamon Toast Mudslide. “[These drinks] make you feel like a kid. Every time I have one, I forget I’m a 31-year-old and feel like a 13-year-old.”
And you don’t even have to get out of your jammies and slippers to enjoy one of these trendy cocktails. Making a breakfast cereal drink at home is easier than you’d think, and budget friendly, too.
“I wouldn’t even use top shelf liquor,” says Gabrielli. “Don’t waste your money.”
All you need is about eight ounces of cereal, two pints of liquor and a strainer or coffee filter. Simply let the cereal steep in the liquor, or milk if you choose to use it, strain, then mix with other liquors of your choice and garnish with cereal. Daquiris, a sweet old fashioned, a fun twist on the White Russian…the sky’s the limit.
Try this cereal twist on the White Russian to get you started.
Cocoa Puffs White Russian
Ingredients
2 oz. vodka
1 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. Cocoa Puff-infused cream
Directions
To infuse the cream, pour a cup of Cocoa Puffs into a large glass of milk or cream and let sit for 45 minutes, before pouring the mixture through a fine strainer. Add ingredients and ice to a cocktail shaker and shake. Pour into a tumbler and garnish with Cocoa Puffs. Turn on Adult Swim and enjoy.