A unique recipe for a unique drink with a very unique set of fans.
You’ll need
- 1.50oz Buffalo Trace bourbon
- .50oz Angostura Bitters
- .75oz lemon juice
- 1oz blackberry liqueur
- .50oz simple syrup
- Sparkling spring water
Add all ingredients except the spring water to a shaker filled with ice. Shake thoroughly to chill. Strain into a Collins glass. Top with chilled sparkling spring water. Garnish with a lemon wheel. Serve!
You’ve got… Vim!
– Vim slogan
Nuka Cola: the supercorporation that dominated seemingly everything in the Fallout Universe, matched only in its long reach by Vault Tec. But in a distant land, far to the north, there’s a different beverage of choice. Vim, with or without the exclamation mark, became an intrinsic part of the culture of Maine, it’s unique taste that only a few could truly enjoy becoming a point of pride among residents, even in the far-flung post-apocalyptic future.
And now there’s an alcoholic version.
A little too… unique for your tastes? Try the Nuka Cola instead.
My version of Vim was inspired by a mixture of real life inspiration, mixological phenomenons and the in-game recipe. First, we can’t talk about Vim without talking about Moxie; the actual state drink of Maine in the real world. It’s almost painfully obvious that Vim is supposed to be Fallout’s Moxie, sharing it’s geography, singular popularity and even some of its history with standing up to the big soft drink giant of the respective universes: Coca Cola for the real one, Nuka Cola for the fictional one.
Moxie also has a unique flavour, most of which is provided by the addition of gentian root. This is why I used so much Angostura Bitters, which shares gentian as a major ingredient. I really wanted to drive that flavour home, hence the use of a full half oz of something that would usually be measured in dashes.
In order to balance that huge amount of flavour out, I turned to an established recipe called a Trinidad Sour, which features 1.5oz of Ango instead. To keep it under control, that recipe uses an overproof bourbon as a base spirit. I did the same, using Buffalo Trace’s 45% offering as the cornerstone of the cocktail.
Then we come to the game recipe for Vim, which is made up of mutfruit, acid and corn. The mutfruit, as we’ve discussed before in our Fallout drinks, seems to be an ill-defined catch-all term for all manner of fruits ranging from apples to blueberries. I decided to go with blackberry for this one, as I thought the darker berry notes would hold up better against the bitters.
The corn, meanwhile, I interpreted as corn syrup, adding a dash of simple syrup as a result. And the acid? Well, that was my lemon. I’m not drinking battery acid on camera, even if it would get me heaps of views.
Last of all, the spring water. The only hint we get in the game lore about Vim’s ingredients is that it’s made with Maine spring water. Hard to get here in NZ, so I used San Pellegrino sparkling instead. I suggest you do the same!
All up, you get a drink that is full of flavour, most of it being Angostura Bitters with a bourbon base and a blackberry backdrop. Fans of lemon-lime bitters should be a fan of this drink, though expect a little more depth – and potency – in comparison.
I hope you enjoy! Cheers.
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