On set with Sam and his signature cocktail on his last AMHQ show.
I’ve been coming on as a guest on Sam Champion’s AMHQ show on The Weather Channel for over a year. If you know me, you know that one of my greatest pleasures is feeding people, especially people who give me a lot of verbal affirmation that they love what I’ve prepared. Verbal affirmation as in, “OHMYGODPARKERTHISISSOAMAZINGOHMYGODPARKER!!!” Sam Champion has been, well, a CHAMPION for me and for my cooking. He has done so much for my on-camera culinary career by his support, his encouragement, his positive energy and his repeated invitations to come back on his show. To say it’s bittersweet that Sam is moving on from the AMHQ morning show he launched a year and a half ago, is an understatement.
A look back at my segments with Sam and the AMHQ crew!
As a thank you and as a tribute to Sam, I teamed up with my friends from Bulleit Bourbon to create a signature cocktail for his last show. I appropriately named it, “The Champion.” Sam is a Kentucky boy and this Kentucky Straight Bourbon is as good as it gets! What sets Bulleit apart is its high rye content (approximately 2/3 corn, 1/3 rye) – making for a spicy bourbon perfect for cocktails. Combining the flavors of orange and lemon with ginger takes this cocktail to a whole different level of delish! What I love about this drink is that it goes well with savory dishes and sweet ones. I served it with butternut squash pie that tastes just like pumpkin pie– OMG yum. Recipe coming later this week for the pie!
“The Champion” with Bulleit Bourbon.
“The Champion” is the perfect fall cocktail.
Bulleit founder, Tom Bulleit, had a special bottle engraved for Sam!
A gift to Sam from Bulleit founder, Tom Bulleit.
I had the honor of presenting the bottle (and the cocktail) to him on live TV!
Presenting Sam with his engraved bottle alongside Anaridis Rodriguez and Jennifer Delgado.
Bulleit is smooth enough to drink neat or on the rocks (my preference!) but the addition of the honey and ginger with the fresh citrus is just sublime. It’s my new favorite fall drink for my all-time favorite meteorologist. Cheers!
*This is a sponsored post but all opinions and recipes are my own.
- 1 slice of orange
- 2 slices of lemon
- 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 Tb honey
- 2 parts Bulleit
- 1 part sweet vermouth
- 1 part dry vermouth
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- candied ginger for garnish
- Muddle one orange slice with 2 lemon slices, freshly grated ginger and 1 Tb of honey.
- Add Bulleit, sweet and dry vermouth.
- Shake over ice and strain.
- Garnish with candied ginger.