Erich
the old Sage
from the Anchorage Daily News...
and a happy quack quack pfft new year to ya!!
Beth Bragg: Tracking Alaska's Duck Fart -- a drink layered in history
BETH BRAGG
COMMENT
Published: December 30, 2005
Last Modified: December 30, 2005 at 02:03 AM
In honor of New Year's Eve, we raise a toast to the quintessential Alaska drink, the Duck Fart.
Quintessentially Alaskan because it was invented here. Quintessentially Alaskan because it's got an animal in its name. Quintessentially Alaskan because that less-than-genteel name weeds out the delicate.
A layered drink made of Kahlua, Bailey's Irish cream and Crown Royal (in that order, and ideally with just a float of Crown), the Duck Fart is to Alaska what the Mai-Tai is to Hawaii and the Margarita is to Mexico.
In true Alaska tradition, our drink is the biggest, in that it packs a Denali-sized punch. That's why it comes in a sturdy shot glass instead of the frou-frou stemware those others drinks come in. An ounce of our most famous drink is all you need. (But might not be all you want.)
The Duck Fart was invented 18 years ago this month at the Peanut Farm, although manager Terri Ditty, who's worked at the bar for 10 years, said no one is still around from the heady days when the Peanut Farm was tiny and its bartenders inspired. Its creator, Dave Schmidt, reportedly moved to Oregon several years ago.
Schmidt recalled his brainstorm in a Daily News story in 1991. He was tending an empty bar on a snowy, mid-week night in December 1987 when a woman who looked to be in her 70s walked in and ordered a shot of tequila. Then a B-52. Then a Grasshopper. Pretty soon Schmidt and the woman were experimenting with variations on old themes. At one point Schmidt poured a shot of Kahlua into a glass, then added a shot of Bailey's.
"Pour in a little Crown Royal on top,'' said the woman, whose identity remains unknown.
Schmidt complied, and the woman slammed the drink.
"And then she let out a big 'Bllllpppppp! with her mouth,'' Schmidt said.
Schmidt said he couldn't remember why he and the woman decided to call it a Duck Fart, although maybe her audible reaction had something to do with it. Or maybe it was inspired by the rubber duck beak Schmidt found that night behind the bar and wore while mixing drinks for his lone customer. Or maybe it was inspired by Schmidt's Oregon roots, a theory that presumes he was a University of Oregon fan. Shudder to think of the results had he been an Oregon State fan.
Brien Cole, a sales and marketing manager for K&L Distributors, was a supplier for the Peanut Farm at the time and said Schmidt's invention took off like, well, a shot.
At one point, K&L ordered 6,000 of those little blue velvet Crown Royal bags, silk-screened the words "Alaska Duck Fart'' on one side and filled them with airline-sized bottles of the three ingredients. They sold for about $5 and were wildly popular, especially with tourists. Cole said.
Cole and Paul Taylor, who sells Crown Royal and Bailey's for Alaska Distributors, say the Duck Fart is the only made-in-Alaska drink they know of that's made it big.
"There's nothing that has the legs of the Duck Fart,'' Taylor said.
Early fans helped spread the word. A friend and I traveled to Bozeman, Mont., to celebrate my birthday in March 1988 -- a mere four months after Schmidt's inspiration -- and by the time we left, a bar called the Korner Klub had put up a sign advertising "Ducque Phartes'' for $3.50. The owner figured a French-sounding name would be more palatable to customers. This in a bar that serves screwdrivers by the pitcher.
Today, you can find dozens of online references to the Duck Fart, including recipes for the original drink as well as one for "Duck Fart No. 2,'' a scandalous version that puts the Crown Royal on the bottom and the Bailey's on the top.
The Red Dog Saloon in Juneau offers Duck Fart T-shirts and shot glasses for sale online, but when I tried calling to ask about them, I twice got trapped in the bar's voice-mail system and gave up. What self-respecting bar has a voice-mail system anyway?
With almost 20 years of history, the Duck Fart remains a bar staple in Anchorage. Ditty estimates the Peanut Farm sells about 50 on a weekend night, at $5.50 a pop, although these days martini-style cocktails and Jagermeister shots have surpassed the Duck Fart in popularity, Taylor said.
But an unsettling trend is setting in. Some people, mostly women, are starting to ask for martini versions of Duck Farts -- chilled, shaken and poured into frou-frou glasses. So as you prepare to ring in the New Year, we ask you to do so responsibly. Don't drink and drive, and order your Duck Fart layered, not stirred.
and a happy quack quack pfft new year to ya!!
Beth Bragg: Tracking Alaska's Duck Fart -- a drink layered in history
BETH BRAGG
COMMENT
Published: December 30, 2005
Last Modified: December 30, 2005 at 02:03 AM
In honor of New Year's Eve, we raise a toast to the quintessential Alaska drink, the Duck Fart.
Quintessentially Alaskan because it was invented here. Quintessentially Alaskan because it's got an animal in its name. Quintessentially Alaskan because that less-than-genteel name weeds out the delicate.
A layered drink made of Kahlua, Bailey's Irish cream and Crown Royal (in that order, and ideally with just a float of Crown), the Duck Fart is to Alaska what the Mai-Tai is to Hawaii and the Margarita is to Mexico.
In true Alaska tradition, our drink is the biggest, in that it packs a Denali-sized punch. That's why it comes in a sturdy shot glass instead of the frou-frou stemware those others drinks come in. An ounce of our most famous drink is all you need. (But might not be all you want.)
The Duck Fart was invented 18 years ago this month at the Peanut Farm, although manager Terri Ditty, who's worked at the bar for 10 years, said no one is still around from the heady days when the Peanut Farm was tiny and its bartenders inspired. Its creator, Dave Schmidt, reportedly moved to Oregon several years ago.
Schmidt recalled his brainstorm in a Daily News story in 1991. He was tending an empty bar on a snowy, mid-week night in December 1987 when a woman who looked to be in her 70s walked in and ordered a shot of tequila. Then a B-52. Then a Grasshopper. Pretty soon Schmidt and the woman were experimenting with variations on old themes. At one point Schmidt poured a shot of Kahlua into a glass, then added a shot of Bailey's.
"Pour in a little Crown Royal on top,'' said the woman, whose identity remains unknown.
Schmidt complied, and the woman slammed the drink.
"And then she let out a big 'Bllllpppppp! with her mouth,'' Schmidt said.
Schmidt said he couldn't remember why he and the woman decided to call it a Duck Fart, although maybe her audible reaction had something to do with it. Or maybe it was inspired by the rubber duck beak Schmidt found that night behind the bar and wore while mixing drinks for his lone customer. Or maybe it was inspired by Schmidt's Oregon roots, a theory that presumes he was a University of Oregon fan. Shudder to think of the results had he been an Oregon State fan.
Brien Cole, a sales and marketing manager for K&L Distributors, was a supplier for the Peanut Farm at the time and said Schmidt's invention took off like, well, a shot.
At one point, K&L ordered 6,000 of those little blue velvet Crown Royal bags, silk-screened the words "Alaska Duck Fart'' on one side and filled them with airline-sized bottles of the three ingredients. They sold for about $5 and were wildly popular, especially with tourists. Cole said.
Cole and Paul Taylor, who sells Crown Royal and Bailey's for Alaska Distributors, say the Duck Fart is the only made-in-Alaska drink they know of that's made it big.
"There's nothing that has the legs of the Duck Fart,'' Taylor said.
Early fans helped spread the word. A friend and I traveled to Bozeman, Mont., to celebrate my birthday in March 1988 -- a mere four months after Schmidt's inspiration -- and by the time we left, a bar called the Korner Klub had put up a sign advertising "Ducque Phartes'' for $3.50. The owner figured a French-sounding name would be more palatable to customers. This in a bar that serves screwdrivers by the pitcher.
Today, you can find dozens of online references to the Duck Fart, including recipes for the original drink as well as one for "Duck Fart No. 2,'' a scandalous version that puts the Crown Royal on the bottom and the Bailey's on the top.
The Red Dog Saloon in Juneau offers Duck Fart T-shirts and shot glasses for sale online, but when I tried calling to ask about them, I twice got trapped in the bar's voice-mail system and gave up. What self-respecting bar has a voice-mail system anyway?
With almost 20 years of history, the Duck Fart remains a bar staple in Anchorage. Ditty estimates the Peanut Farm sells about 50 on a weekend night, at $5.50 a pop, although these days martini-style cocktails and Jagermeister shots have surpassed the Duck Fart in popularity, Taylor said.
But an unsettling trend is setting in. Some people, mostly women, are starting to ask for martini versions of Duck Farts -- chilled, shaken and poured into frou-frou glasses. So as you prepare to ring in the New Year, we ask you to do so responsibly. Don't drink and drive, and order your Duck Fart layered, not stirred.