This is an original drink inspired by Black Panther and named after their catchphrase, Wakanda Forever. It’s made with Mezcal, Coffee Liqueur and Fernet. It’s kind of like a Negroni, only a lot more assertive.
Like a couple of my other creations, such as Redrum and the Red Priestess, the drink’s name was guided by its incredible color. In this case, I was trying to find a good Black Panther pun. I was thinking about trying to make a portmanteau of “Oaxaca” and “Wakanda”, but they were too similar to work. I eventually settled on Oaxaca Forever, combining the base spirit and the Black Panther catchphrase, however, before I did, I got sucked down a rabbit hole.
As I was reading about the world of Black Panther and trying to come up with puns, I came across an article by Peter Manseau, in which he traces the name Wakanda back to its source and as it turns out, the name isn’t African, it’s American…Native American.
In several Native American languages, “Wakanda,” is the word for the supreme being or the “Great Spirit,” which is better translated as the “Great Mystery.” The meaning (as best 19th century scholars could understand) is fairly well documented by several sources in the late 1800’s. One of those reports came from the Bureau of Ethnology, which was cited as a source of research by Edgar Rice Burroughs when he was writing his novels in his Apache Series, The War Chief and Apache Devil.
Burroughs is best known for creating Tarzan, but he wrote quite a few other scifi/fantasy books as well. One of which, was a 1915 story called, The Man-Eater, which takes place in Africa and there is a tribe of people called Wakandas. The first publication was not widely circulated, but in the late 1950’s, the story was repackaged as a book, where it found a bigger audience.
During that time, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, were hoovering up all of the pulp novels they could get their hands on. It appears that they read this one, had that word in the back of their minds somewhere and it was recalled when they came up with the story of Black Panther.
Over 50 years later, the movie went on to be a huge success and the word, “Wakanda,” became a pop culture icon and a household name. But the word’s journey from Native Americans, to the Bureau of Ethnology, to Edgar Rice Burroughs, to Marvel took a lot longer than that.
The other half of the name, comes form a different pre-Columbian people, the Aztecs. “Oaxaca” is the way the Spanish transformed the Azteca’s Nawatl word, “Huāxyacac,” so that it can be said in Spanish a little easier. “Huāxyacac,” is an Aztec portmanteau that doesn’t translate well into Spanish, it’s a combination of guage (a type of tree) and nose, which is taken to refer to a clearing of trees at the top of the hill, currently called, Cerro del Fortín. It was what the Aztecs called the outpost they established when they conquered the region in the 1400’s. And most importantly to this drink, Oaxaca is the region known for mezcal and Oaxaca (pronounced “wah-ha-kuh”), almost rhymes with “Wakanda.”
For the mezcal in this drink, you definitely want something smoky, so that it can stand up against the powerful flavors of the Coffee Liqueur and, in particular, the Fernet.
The Fernet in this drink, Fernet-Vallet, is from Mexico and it’s not always the easiest to find. It’s darker and more cardamom and clove forward than Fernet Branca. It’s certainly not as minty as Branca. So, flavor-wise, you really want to use something that is earthy, woodsy and, of course, bitter. If you can’t find Fernet-Vallet, try subbing in Averna, Cynar (70-proof) or Letherbee Fernet. The Averna is still not quite the same thing, but at least it will get you in the ballpark. Enjoy!
Recipe:
1.5 oz (45 ml) Mezcal (smoky)
0.75 oz (22 ml) Coffee Liqueur
0.5 oz (15 ml) Fernet
Add ingredients to an Old-Fashioned glass. Add ice, stir. Top off with more ice.
Music:
Somewhere Somehow by Damma Beatz
Breaker of Chains by Jon Björk
Undaunted Warrior Pt. 1 by Johannes Bornlöf
Melatonin by Dylan Sitts
via Epidemic Sound
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Featured in this Episode:
Legendario Domingo Mezcal
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Mezcal El Silencio (@mezcalelsilencio)
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St. George NOLA Coffee Liqueur
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Fernet-Vallet
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The surprising religious backstory of ‘Black Panther’s’ Wakanda by Peter Manseau
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Bar Tools:
CB2 Suave Double Old Fashioned Glass
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Japanese Style Jigger (Gunmetal Black)
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Beachbum Berry Skull Barspoon (Gunmetal Black)
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