I don’t particularly enjoy eating fresh peaches, despite the fact that I think peach is a really nice fragrance. It’s not that I don’t like the flavor of peaches, it’s just that fuzziness I always associate with them. The fuzziness from the outside of the peach, and that graininess from the parts around the pit. I know, if you peel the skin, and if you cut carefully around the pit, you can avoid all that. But who wants to go to all that trouble? Not me, and not anyone who’s cutting up my peaches.
But peach schnapps has the pleasant taste and fragrance of peaches, without the unappealing mouthfeel. Plus it’s alcoholic. What more could you ask for? Well, some cocktails made with peach schnapps, for a start.
I started with the fuzzy navel, a classic drink that’s often considered girly.
Fuzzy Navel
2 oz peach schnapps
2 oz orange juice
2 oz lemonade
orange slice
maraschino cherry
I actually didn’t find this drink to be overpoweringly sweet like I thought it’d be. Maybe it’s because I made my lemonade myself, by mixing together some lemon juice and sugar, and it was a bit less sweet than you might get from a bottle. There’s a nice peach flavor from the peach schnapps that goes well with the citrus.
I made another classic, Sex on the Beach.
Sex on the Beach
2 oz vodka
1 oz peach schnapps
2 oz orange juice
2 oz cranberry juice
orange slice
maraschino cherry
This drink is pretty potent with two ounces of vodka, yet pleasantly sweet with the peach schnapps and the juices. The vodka’s definitely noticeable in this drink, but the peach flavor with the juices manage to hide most of it. This one could be dangerous.
Finally, I tried a bourbon drink, thinking maybe this time I might conquer my dislike of bourbon.
Peach Creek
1 oz peach schnapps
2 oz bourbon
1 oz sour mix
lemon twist
You’re actually supposed to use Knob Creek Bourbon for this (hence the “Creek” in the name), but I just used Maker’s Mark since they all taste the same to me anyway. This definitely has a strong bourbon taste, but the peach flavor goes surprisingly well with it. This was a rare bourbon drink that I actually enjoyed.