With the passing of Aretha Franklin this year,  I was reminded of her amazing performance in the film The Blues Brothers, (you can watch it here).I re-watched the 1980 classic as tribute and was happily reminded of a certain drink mentioned in the film. The Orange Whip.

Following Jake’s release from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit “The Penguin”, the last of the nuns who raised them in a boarding school. They learn the Archdiocese will stop supporting the school and will sell the place to the Education Authority. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The Blues Brothers want to help, and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their “mission from God” they seem to make more enemies along the way. Their adventure takes many unexpected detours and encounters with zany characters, the police, revenge-seeking militant groups, angry country singers and psychotic former girlfriends.

Although I love the scene with Aretha in her only movie role and her amazing performance of “Think” in this film, I also really enjoy the scene that features The Orange Whip, (you can watch that one here). At this point in the film where seemingly everyone is after the brothers and they are performing on stage, the cop who thinks he has them as soon as they come off stage decides to bide his time and he orders a round of orange whips. Unfortunately for the cops, Jake and Elwood receive a huge cash advance from a record label and then have the band distract their pursuers while they slip out the back.

The interesting thing about this scene is that although many believe that the sheriff orders the drink shown and mentioned here, he in fact meant to order the old orange soda type beverage that had the brand name of Orange Whip. It is rumored that the father of a costumer on the film was the vice president of Orange Whip Corporation (the makers of the beverage) and after providing refreshments to the cast and crew, asked the director John Landis if “Orange Whip” could be used in the film. It is also rumored that that entire scene was improvised by John Candy, the actor playing the corrections officer. The soda type beverage is no longer with us but the drink is still paid homage to; replaced by the classic alcoholic version which features rum, vodka, cream and orange juice.

After reading the ingredient list for this I figured it would taste like a creamisicle. I was not disappointed. I searched through several bar and recipe manuals and websites to find what I thought would be a good base recipe for this drink. Although I followed the recipes almost exactly,  I thought my Orang Whip would be better with a bit of triple sec to really improve the the orange taste. The end result was a frothy, creamy and orangy treat. I really did enjoy this drink but could only have one due to the sweetness. I encourage you all to pop in this flick, think about the star that was Aretha Franklin (see what I did there), and enjoy one of these yummy orangy cocktails!

Orange Whip

1 oz rum

1oz vodka

2oz Ceam

4oz orange juice

1 oz triple sec (optional)

1. Combine ingredients in a shaker tin with ice and shake to combine.
2. Pour in a tall glass over ice. Garnish with orange slice or whipped cream as desired.