Firewater Cinnamon

A while ago, I was scratching around Google keyword search, looking at the search terms associated with whisky. One of the most searched for terms was for Fireball whisky. A cinnamon flavoured whisky from Canada.

Flavoured whiskies are not prominent in SA. You can find honey flavoured whisky but the shelf space for flavoured whiskies is very small. While travelling, I found all kinds of weird and wonderful flavoured whiskies, from apple and vanilla to maple and pumpkin. I also managed to find some Fireball whisky and grabbed a small bottle to try.

But life got in the way, and I got busy with tasting other things. The Fireball whisky got moved to the back of the cupboard, and I forgot about it.

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Then 3 weeks ago, a press release came across my desk, and it immediately made me sit up and frown.  It was for Firewater Cinnamon, and the branding looked somehow familiar. I went to dig up my bottle of Fireball, and it was the same branding. Was this some local knock off? No, it is the same thing.

The only difference between the Firewater Cinnamon sold in South Africa and the Fireball Cinnamon sold in other parts of the globe is the name. Due to trademark issues, the name changed for South Africa exclusively.

But what is Firewater Cinnamon?

Firewater is a mixture of Canadian whisky blended with natural cinnamon flavour and sweeteners. So it is technically not a whisky but probably closer to a whisky-based liquor. It is bottled at 33 % ABV and produced by the Sazerac Company who also makes Buffalo Trace and WL Weller Bourbon.

The slogan for Firewater is ‘Tastes like heaven and burns like hell’, and you drink it as a straight shot but can also be added to a mixed drink.

I set up a side by side taste test to check if the Fireball and the Firewater are the same and I can tell you –  they both taste like Heaven, but burns like Hell. It makes me think of the Fireball cinnamon sweets we got as kids. Great news – down to the syrupy consistency and burn element, it was the same thing.

Firewater is part of the slowly expanding Truman and Orange collection of brands which also include the Don Papa rum and the Malfi and Aviation gin brands.

Despite the ‘burn like hell’ element, Firewater is surprisingly versatile. You can add it to cider, Red Bull, beer or any soft drink. There are a few cocktail suggestions on the Fireball website, but I decided to play around with some coffee, and I made a cinnamon affogato. More of a dessert, this is something you can serve to guests, and they will come back for more.

Cinnamon Affogato

• A scoop of vanilla ice cream
• A shot of espresso
• A shot of Firewater Cinnamon

Just as you would make a standard affogato, pour the espresso over the vanilla ice cream and then top up with the Firewater.  The sweetness of the ice cream tones down the burn from the Firewater and the coffee gives a caffeine hit.  It is delicious.

The Firewater Cinnamon is available at Spar Tops, Loco Liquor, Liquor City as well as some of the smaller liquor shops around the country.

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