How to Make an Alabama Slammer Cocktail

The Alabama Slammer cocktail offers a tart, sweet, fruity flavor with a subtle almond flavor.

It’s easy to make in about five minutes.

Though I’d say it’s a little too long to slam, however, tailgaters will tell you, drink too many of them, and your head will be slamming with pain the next day.

Who invented the Alabama Slammer?

The exact origins of the Alabama Slammer cocktail are unclear, and there are several different claims about who invented the drink. Here are a few of the most popular theories:

1. University of Alabama: Some sources credit a bartender at the University of Alabama with inventing the drink in the 1970s. The story goes that the bartender created the drink for a customer who was from California and was looking for something sweet and fruity to drink. The name “Alabama Slammer” is said to have come from the customer’s teasing that the drink would “slam” them down. It’s the Alabama Crimson Tide Football team’s signature cocktail. The drink is crimson, like the University of Alabama.
2. John “Fuzzy” Bishop: Another claim is that the Alabama Slammer was created by a man named John “Fuzzy” Bishop, who was a bartender at a bar in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the 1970s. Bishop is said to have created the drink for a customer who was from California, and the drink became popular among the college crowd.
3. Southern Comfort: Some sources credit the creators of Southern Comfort with inventing the Alabama Slammer as a way to market their product. Southern Comfort is a liqueur that is often used in the drink, and the company included a recipe for the Alabama Slammer on their product labels in the 1980s.
4. The Playboy Bartender’s Guide: In 1971, it appeared in The Playboy Bartender’s Guide by Thomas Mario. 
5. Cocktail, the Movie: Some may remember it in the 1988 Cocktail movie, based on the novel by Heywood Gould that was semi-autobiographical and starred Tom Cruise. In the movie, Cruise’s character, Brian, gives “The World’s Last Bartender” speech:

I am the last barman poet 

I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make

Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake

The sex on the beach

The schnapps made from peach

The velvet hammer

The Alabama slammer. 

I make things with juice and froth

The pink squirrel 

The three-toed sloth. 

I make drinks so sweet and snazzy

The iced tea

The kamakazi

The orgasm 

The death spasm 

The Singapore sling

The dingaling. 

America, you’ve just been devoted to every flavor I got

 But if you want to get loaded

Why don’t you just order a shot?

Bar is open.

Regardless of its origins, the Alabama Slammer has become a popular cocktail in the United States and is enjoyed by many people today.

Southern Comfort in an Alabama Slammer:

Let’s face it, with a name featuring Alabama; Southern roots will come into play.

The traditional alcohol features “Southern Comfort,” but it’s not a whiskey but a liqueur. 

It was created in New Orleans in 1874 by Martin Wilkes Heron, a bartender in the French Quarter.

To add sweetness and smoothness, he blended fruits and spices like orange, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon with low-quality whiskey and peach brandy. 

Feel free to substitute the whiskey in this recipe with Southern Comfort if you want the more traditional cocktail

Sloe Gin Varies from Gin:

Sloe gin and gin are two different spirits with distinct characteristics and production methods.

Gin is a clear spirit made from a base of neutral grain alcohol and flavored with botanicals, most notably juniper berries. Other botanicals commonly used in gin include coriander, angelica root, citrus peel, and orris root. These ingredients are added during distillation or after the distillation process through steeping or infusion.

Sloe gin, on the other hand, is a liqueur made by steeping sloe berries in gin along with sugar. Sloe berries are the fruit of the blackthorn bush and have a tart and slightly bitter taste. The steeping process allows the flavor of the sloe berries to infuse into the gin, creating a sweet and fruity liqueur. The sugar added to the mixture helps to balance out the tartness of the sloe berries and creates a smoother, more approachable flavor.

In terms of taste, sloe gin is sweeter and fruitier than gin, with a lower alcohol content. It is typically enjoyed as a sipping liqueur or as a component in cocktails, such as the classic Sloe Gin Fizz.

Overall, while gin and sloe gin share a similar base spirit, they differ significantly in terms of flavor profile and production methods.

 

Alabama Slammer Cocktail Recipe:

Here’s a classic recipe for an Alabama Slammer cocktail:

Ingredients:

• 1 oz sloe gin
• 1 oz Southern Comfort
• 1 oz amaretto
• 2 oz orange juice
• Splash of grenadine
• Orange slice (for garnish)

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