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Shandy Khan

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Updated 04/10/22
A Collins glass is filled with a golden drink with a deep blue float; the two colors slowly mix together. It’s garnished with a large slice of orange, and a football helmet is behind it.

Restaurant Orsay

When it comes to celebrating your home football team, you can dress up in the requisite uniform, paint your face and yell at your television set all game. Or, you can make up a signature cocktail in honor of the team, like Jacksonville, Florida, bartender Josh Strickland did for the Jaguars. The Shandy Khan is named for Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, and sees blue curaçao carefully layered to give the Shandy-style cocktail the appearance of a Jaguars jersey. “This is perfect for those über-hot Florida tailgates early in the year. It’s bright and refreshing without being so boozy that you’re in trouble before the fourth quarter starts,” says Strickland.

As it’s an homage to the city and its football team, Strickland included a number of local ingredients when he made the Shandy Khan at Restaurant Orsay, which may cause difficulties for those making the drink outside of Jacksonsville. Strickland starts with rum from Marlin & Barrel distillery in nearby Fernandina Beach. This amber rum isn’t all that accessible outside of the area, so feel free to substitute another good-quality amber rum. Similarly, he uses the Jon Boat Coastal Ale from Local Institution Ale Works, a brewery located right next to Everbank Field, the home of the Jags. This English style ale is cool fermented, giving it a lager-like character. If you can’t get your hands on a bottle but still want to make the Shandy Khan in honor of the Jacksonville team, you’ll have to swap the ale out for another light, crisp ale or even a lager.

The other ingredients are easier to come by—lemon juice, honey syrup, orange bitters and a float of blue curaçao, giving it its signature teal and gold coloring. You can use a store-bought blue curaçao well enough, or try your hand at making your own for something more compelling. Strickland advises those looking to catch an in-person game to batch everything but the curaçao ahead of time. “If you are a savvy tailgater, you will cook up a batch beforehand and simply top them off with beer and ‘blue stuff’ as you go,” he says.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces Marlin & Barrel amber rum
  • 1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • 3/4 ounce honey syrup
  • 2 dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters
  • Local Intuition Ale Works Jon Boat ale, chilled, to top
  • 1/2 ounce blue curaçao
  • Garnish: orange half-wheel

Steps

  1. Add the rum, lemon juice, syrup and bitters to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

  2. Strain into a Collins glass over ice.

  3. Top with the beer and stir gently and briefly to combine.

  4. Float a pour of blue curaçao on top.

  5. Garnish with an orange half-wheel.