I do have to admit – I was going to post pictures to help make fun of that state, but alas, I don’t have the rights to ‘em and with under an hour to go in the day, didn’t want to try to find some free ones.

Oklahoma.? What do you think of when you hear that word, assuming you’re not Rick and thinking of the musical?? I think of dusty plains, tumbleweeds, and [1. o]possums.

Needless to say, I was quite taken aback [2. nay, shocked!] when a friend told me that it’s as much raccoons and armadillos!? And he’s from there HE MUST KNOW.

Clearly, if I’m talking about Tales of the Cocktail, cocktails in general, and Oklahoma, I must be talking about your friend [3. not your friend] and mine [4. not mine, either] cocktailnerd aka Gabe. [5. Well, okay, I consider him a friend, but you gotta know him probably to get that joke...]

I really wanted to make a drink with poser fluid [6. nee' vodka] for him but alas, it was a combination of laziness and [7. I shudder to say it] respect that stopped me.? But the idea of making an Oklahoma Squirrel [8. aka the 'possum] rang with me, only getting slightly dented when I realized Gary Regan [9. progenitor of the squirrels in his book The Joy of Mixology it seems and DAMN HIM] already had one with rye and called it something like “Maryland”.[10. There's nothing good about Maryland but crabs and The Wire.]

Talking to an old friend of mine [11. and I'm serious this time, he's a great guy, read his stuff] broke me through to the other side and ta-da, here’s the drink. [12. I know, you're thinking, FINALLY!]

It's pink, an added bonus!

The Oklahoma Squirrel [13. Or the Armadillo, or the Raccoon, or the 'Possum, depending on where you live there]
1 1/2 ounce rye (Rittenhouse 100)
1 ounce Zirbenz stone pine liqueur
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 dash Peychaud’s
Shake over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a whiskey soaked cherry.

And there we go! [14. Awesome, no more footnotes!]? Enjoy, and if you try it, let me know what you think. [15. Okay, one more - ahem - AS USUAL.]

[Twelth in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales.? The first post in the series is here.]