Cocktail Thursday: Kentucky Edition.

It's thursday again, and time for you to prepare for weekend football viewing. I personally am not going to Lexington for the game, choosing instead to sit on the couch and imbibe the paranoid styling on one Lawrence Munson. If you go to Kentucky, I'll ask you to remember it's not the worst place in the world to watch an SEC football game (at least until South Carolina moves to the Big East. Love 'ya Gamecock fans!). And when in Lexington, do as the Kentuckians: celebrate the Bourbon. Really, they have a bourbon festival in Bardstown. I think that's way cooler than an asparagus festival, fig festival or other local product party anywhere else. So, as you make the long and boring trek up I-75, through the hollers and shanties of Tennessee and into the heart of distillery country, you can enjoy the Official Drink of the 2006 Kentucky Bourbon Festival, the Island Mango Slush (created by Chris Howerton of Bourbons Bistro):

9oz. Kentucky Bourbon
¾ each Mango, peeled & diced
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Ginger Root, peeled & diced
4 oz. Ginger Ale
4 cups Ice
1 sprig Mint, Leaves Picked
Combine all ingredients in blender and pulse until slushy consistency. Serve in cocktail glass and garnish with mint and mango.

I know, in the past I've expressed disdain for fruity drinks. But fruity drinks with 9 ounces of bourbon get a pass because, wow, that's a crapload of hard liquor, and I've likewise expressed the fact that you can't go wrong with bourbon.

I'll certainly be back later with more football related posts, but for now, you've got mangos to buy.