Hello, Friends of Cocktails. Jägermeister and Red Bull - the combination is not exactly a synonym for class and taste, but can it be? We’ll find out today, as we’ll recreate this infamous college party drink, which, to be fair, has earned its notorious reputation. It’s been quite a long time since I ordered one of these, but I'll give the original a try today first, then I’ll show you my elevated version using Red Bull Foam!
Stick around to see how it’s made, but first, not something I thought I’d say again: it’s Jägerbomb time! To begin, did you know that the Jägerbomb goes by different names? In Mexico, it is called a ‘Perla Negra’ or the Black Pearl, in Finland it’s called the ‘Akkuhappo’ meaning ‘battery acid’, and in Germany it’s also known as the ‘Turbojäger’ or Flying Stag - with flying coming from Red Bull’s marketing slogan "Red Bull gives you wings" and a ‘stag’ being the iconic Jägermeister logo.
Jägermeister was created in 1934 by Curt Mast in what was then his family’s vinegar factory in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. The herbal liqueur is made with 56 botanicals, clockintg in at 35% ABV, and 53 years later, Austrian businessman Dietrich Mateschitz created Red Bull, inspired by functional drinks from East Asia. Alongside the energy drink he also developed a unique marketing concept and launched Red Bull on April 1st 1987.
Also, according to the internet, the Jägerbomb was created 10 years later, in 1997 somewhere around Lake Tahoe in California. That’s apparently where some skiers first dropped Red Bull into Jägermeister, and called it the Red Bull Blaster. It doesn’t say if it was chugged or not, but it was the ‘90s so you be the judge. I’ll make the classic first and take a few sips, since the chugging days are well behind me.
Before I do though, a word of warning, why mixing energy drinks and alcohol is really not a great idea. Caffeine in the energy drinks can mask the sedative effects of alcohol, making you feel more alert and thinking you can drink more. As a result, you can get more drunk than you realize, increasing the risks that come with alcohol. But in the name of science… and to try and improve the cocktail, let’s make the Jägerbomb.
Jägerbomb
● 90mL · 3oz Red Bull
● 45mL · 1.5oz Jägermeister
Start with a cold can of Red Bull and pour it into a rocks glass. Jägermeister is then poured into a separate shot glass and, like a bomb, dropped into Red Bull. Chug at your own risk, but I’ll take a sip to see what we can do to fix it, cheers! Beneath the sweet bomb that is the combination of an energy drink and a liqueur, you’ll be able to detect aromatic herbal notes of Jägermeister with the zesty, slightly tangy profile of Red Bull.
It has a slightly herbal, almost a candy-like taste - not that that is the point of this drink, but we have something to work off of. So let’s move on to the second part of the episode, making the ingredients for our Elevated Jägerbomb. We’ll keep the Jägermeister as it is for now, and only focus on replacing the energy drink, and to do that we’ll make a No Bull Soda and a Red Bull Foam. The soda will mimic Red Bull, without the caffeine, and a tiny amount of Red Bull to get that distinct aroma.
So before I show you the recipe for the cocktail let’s go over how to make these two ingredients. To make the soda we’ll start by making a clarified cordial, for which you’ll need tea, sugar, citric acid, lime peels, sichuan pepper, and agar agar.
No Bull Soda
● 350g Water
● 5g Dried Lemongrass
● 1,5g Mace
● 2,5g Lime Peels
● 0,2g Sichuan Pepper
● 130g Sugar
● 12,5g Citric Acid
● 0,7g Agar Agar
● 510mL · 17oz Water
● 10 drops 20% Saline Solution
● 1 CO2 Cartridge
To make the tea I'm boiling the water to create a lemongrass and mace tea. This spice is made from the reddish covering of the nutmeg seed and has a similar, but more delicate flavor than nutmeg. Crush the mace with a mortar and pestle and, since it has some oil that would stick to the mortar, rinse it out with water and pour back in the saucepan. Add the lemon grass, cover and let it steep for 6 minutes, then strain through a fine strainer and allow it to cool.
We’ll need 300 ml of this tea for our cordial, so pour that into a blender alongside the other ingredients, and make sure to find limes with food grade peels! With all of these ingredients we’ll make a No Bull with less sugar and more acidity than Red Bull, to improve the cocktail's overall balance, but we’re also making sure there’s plenty of citrus notes.
To clarify this cordial I’ll take approximately a quarter of the liquid and pour it into a saucepan, where I will dissolve the agar agar. Stir constantly as you heat it up over medium heat and once it begins to simmer take it off the heat and add the rest of the cordial, while still stirring. This will chill it down, but for agar to work its magic we need to cool it completely, so place it in the freezer or an ice bath for the gel to form.
Once the cordial thickens it’s time to filter it through a coffee filter. As always, if the first liquid coming through isn’t completely clear yet just refilter this first part to get the best result. After filtering we’ll need 210 ml of our cordial mixed with 510 ml of water. To make the flavors really pop I’ll also add saline solution, and I’ll then use a CO2 cartridge in the iSi Twist&Sparkle - not sponsored by the way… yet, hopefully - because it’s just a great tool to carbonate flavored liquids.
If you don’t have this just mix the cordial with soda water and you’re good to go, but we now have our No Bull Soda ready. But if you are like me, and like to be as efficient as possible, the time it takes for the cordial to chill in the freezer would be a great time to make the Red Bull Foam, so let’s see how it’s made.
Red Bull Foam
● 1 can Red Bull
● 1,35g Methylcellulose
● 0,4g Xanthan Gum
● 0,1g Turmeric Powder
Start by getting rid of as many bubbles as you can from the carbonated energy drink. I’m using a milk frother, but a whisk would work as well. Then add it with the other ingredients into the blender, and blend the mixture for about 30 seconds. Make sure you get all of that turmeric into our cordial before pouring it into an iSi cream whipper and charging it with an N2O cartridge. Shake a few times, place it in the fridge and with that we’re ready to make our Elevated Flying Stag - that means clear ice, so make sure you let it temper first.
Elevated Jägerbomb
● 90mL · 3oz No Bull Soda
● 45mL · 1.5oz Jägermeister
● A dollop Red Bull Foam
We’ll add our garnish on top of the clear ice, so heat up a barspoon and press it on the ice to create a dimple, and repeat until you're happy with the result. Then pour off the water and place the ice in a chilled low tumbler glass, so begin by adding the soda, followed by the Jägermeister. I’ll still give everything a gentle stir, then add a small dollop of our Red Bull foam on top - nothing that would cause your heart to race, but enough to give you a nice clue of what you’ll be drinking. Cheers!
This is a surprising and refreshing combination of the rich herbal notes of Jägermeister with a caffeine-free, Red Bull-like soda. The fluffy Red Bull foam adds a sweet and frothy twist to the classic college shot, taking it to a new level of flavor and style, so I’d call this a success. With that, we’ve made it to the Bottom of The Glass, so I have a question for you!
There’s a part of the Cocktail Time studio that has always felt like it was missing a little something to make it pop. We decided we’d love some nice, framed cocktail-related art. But we can’t decide what to put up there. We have a few things in mind, but we’ll ask all of our Patreon supporters to vote on their favorites, and we’ll show you what they decided in a couple of weeks. If you’re a Friend of Cocktails and you’d like to have a say in what our set looks like going forward, become a Patron here! Thank you for your support and I’ll see you next time, cheers!