Russia's Strongest (and Weirdest) Cocktail - The Nikolaschka

Down the hatch. Oh my God, that was weird. Today, I'm going to try a really weird cocktail, actually. Well, it's more of a shot than a cocktail, but it's the most complicated to take shot that you've ever seen. This cocktail is called the Nikolashka, and it is just one in a whole series of weird cocktails that I've been working my way through that found me by way of mid 2000s anime, Bartender. That follows Ryu Sasakura as he tries to help his customers solve their problems one drink at a time, but in a wholesome way, not like alcoholism. So let's jump right into it. And if you enjoy the video, consider giving it a like and subscribing for future videos. Cause it really helps me out now onto the history. This is absolutely the most obscure cocktail that I have ever researched. There is barely any information about this cocktail at all, but the recipe itself is actually quite simple being comprised of just a shot of brandy served with a lemon covered in sugar, all stacked up Jenga style. This concoction is thought to have been created by 19th century Russian emperor Nicholas the first. Now, you know that you are on a whole other level of importance when you get to call yourself the first. So the tale goes that he was tasting French cognac for the first time, and it was too strong for his weak little lips. I have zero reason to be throwing shade at 19th century Russian emperor Nicholas the first, but here we are. So he turned to the only thing that he had around at the time. Lemons and thus the Nikolashka was born. Now this definitely struck me as more folk tale than fact, but like I said, there is barely any information on this. So if this drink is maybe more common where you live, let me know what you know down in the comments. Now you can build this in any old shot glass, but I actually have this tiny little cordial glass, like a little baby goblet. So we'll go ahead and start with our shot of cognac. Now we'll put that to the side and prepare our lemon slice. So you just want to cut yourself a nice thin slice of lemon because spoilers, you will be eating the peel. And now with our slice of lemon here, we're going to top it up with one to two teaspoons of sugar. And we're going to try to compact the sugar in the jigger to make a hard cone shape. Worth noting, sometimes in addition to the sugar, they'll add powdered coffee, but in bartender, they just do the sugar and this seems to be the more common way to do it in general. All right, moment of truth. Let's flip this onto the lemon slice and see if it at all keeps its shape for good measure. So it didn't keep its shape in any way. Oh, well now we'll bring back our shot of brandy and top it with the lemon and sugar. And there you have it, a Nikolashka. Now, one of the reasons that I wanted to make this is because when I first saw this, I was so confused. How are you supposed to drink this thing? Well, there's two methods. First, you can either drink the brandy, hold it in your mouth, and then put the lemon slice and sugar in and chew it all up together. Or you can chew up the lemon slice and sugar first and then pour the brandy in your mouth and become the human mixing glass. Got to gather myself after that one. I feel like if I try to eat the lemon slice with a mouthful of brandy, I will just drool it everywhere. So I am going to eat the lemon slice first and then pour in the brandy. All right, down the hatch. That's pretty good. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to chew the brandy too. That is a lot. Oh my God. Oh man, that was weird. Chewing on the lemon and sugar was a pretty pleasant experience. It was sour at first, but then the sugar comes in and it gets sweet. But then you get a mouthful of brandy and your mouth is just so full. And you're trying to kind of mix it all together and it's burning and it's sour and you're choking a little bit. The execution on this, not great. The taste wasn't bad, but you only get it as like a cohesive taste for like a second before you swallow it, unless you want to just sit there like. So yeah, it tastes good, feels bad. One last thing in researching this, I found a similar cocktail called the, and I'm probably butchering this, Nikolashka Pilkalin. It's the same format, but you replace the lemon and the sugar with salami and mustard. So if you're interested in seeing me try this, let me know down in the comments and I'll see if I can find the brandy replacement, a German spirit called Kirschwasser. Now that I've shot my shot, that was terrible. I'm sorry. I want to know if you tried this and if you're the madman out there who actually likes this, but with that, I will let you go and I will see you next time. Bye-bye. Chewing on the lemon and the sugar, my eyes are watering.