Windex

Lest we forget that cooking involves not only solids, but liquids as well. And as we all know, the best liquids are alcoholic liquids. For this cooking challenge I chose to to copycat Windex. Because really, who hasn't been cleaning windows some day and taken a long look at that bottle and said, "I bet this tastes like a cool ocean breeze." But just like the ocean, Windex can be a fickle lover....both can kill you if enjoyed in the wrong way. Although I personally would rather die from chugging a bottle of Windex than taking a chance of a jellyfish latching onto my crotch.

As Stubs knows, I've been down this road before many moons ago. I first came across a recipe for a drink called 'Windex' in an esteemed collection of drinks entitled "Donna Sue's Down Home Trailer Park Bartender's Guide". If you haven't explored this volume before, you really should. Donna Sue is regarded as the Julia Child of alcoholic drinks. Well, by me at least. So, Stubs and I have sampled Donna Sue's version of Windex before....and it's pretty much undrinkable. So for this challenge I wanted to make a drinkable version of Windex.....because that's just how I roll. I also wanted to remove the tequila from the recipe which Donna Sue includes because nothing good has ever resulted from drinking tequila. Nothing.

After considering my options, my final lineup included:



My version of Windex includes:

1 oz vodka
1 oz rum
1 1/2 oz blue curacoa
1/2 gin (I used Tanqueray because it's slightly sweet)
1/2 oz lime juice (fresh preferable, but it was late)
splash of triple sec

Some of my logic here was to include gin because I like it. Donna Sue has gin in her recipe, but others exclude it. I added a splash of triple sec to take the edge off the gin and lime juice. Here's some action photos:




I think you'll agree it looks just like Windex.

Verdict



The first sip was a bit harsh, but that could be because I wasn't ready for it. The lime juice was a bit harsh and I would use fresh if I could. After the initial harshness it turned into a pretty enjoyable drink and something you can add to your recipe book as a novelty drink. Definitely enjoyable. I still think it needs a little something to bring the edge off that is a bit sweet, but not as orangey as triple sec. I haven't figured it out yet. But by God, I'll keep trying. I may not make it to work tomorrow, but I'll keep trying.

Does it taste like Windex? Hell, I don't know. Maybe. There's some idiots drinking Windex on YouTube, but I wasn't going to do it. But you get to drink something blue and it will make you feel pretty good.