“Oh, this one’s a walk in the park,” thought Ingi Sigurdsson on learning he’d been challenged with sweet potato by Barrelhouse Flat barkeep Mark Brinker. Sigurdsson, now head bartender at the 16th-floor Terrace at Trump, previously worked as a sous chef at the Aviary, which actually had a sweet potato cocktail on the menu at the time.
That and his improvised swizzle stick. The “real” ones, he told us, are made from a plant native to the Caribbean (Quararibea turbinata, aka the “swizzlestick tree,” to be precise). He made do with a bar spoon.
View a slideshow of Ingi Sigurdsson making a sweet potato cocktail.
Step-by-step instructions for making Ingi Sigurdsson’s sweet potato swizzle
The head bartender at Terrace at Trump demonstrates the I Yam What I Yam.
2 oz sweet-potato-infused Flor de Cana 4 Year Extra Dry Rum* 3/4 oz sweet potato syrup** 3/4 oz lemon juice 10-12 fresh mint leaves, lightly spanked Dash Angostura bitters 1/4 oz Ron Zacapa Centanario 23 Year Aged Rum, for topping off
Peel and juice four to five sweet potatoes. Let the juice sit for 20 minutes to allow the starch to settle at the bottom, then decant it. Reduce the decanted juice by half and combine with white granulated sugar at a ratio of 1:1.
