- Dustin Park
- Nandini Khaund’s Reign in Blood
It’s been more than six months since Nandini Khaund, one of the founders of the app Craft Cocktail and blog craftcocktailrules.com, made a cocktail with pig’s blood for the Reader‘s Cocktail Challenge. After the Huffington Post picked up the story, it went viral—and now pig’s blood has showed up in a cocktail at a London bar, as the tabloid the London Evening Standard reports. In fact, Khaund’s entire cocktail seems to have showed up at the bar, though she hasn’t been given credit for it. The Reign in Blood, Khaund’s creation, features blood orange juice, cherry liqueur, creme de cacao, Averna amaro, coffee, scotch, and a pig’s blood rinse for the glass. The Slaughter, available for £16 (about $25) at No. 9 Park Walk, has the exact same ingredients, right down to the pig’s blood rinse. Even the glass it’s served in is almost identical.
Coincidentally, the Kinmont is now serving a drink with pig’s blood called Werewolves of London, though it’s not similar to Khaund’s cocktail: it includes gin, Pimm’s, and coconut syrup served over crushed ice. It’s also (as far as I know) the only place in Chicago you can try a pig’s blood cocktail right now. Back in May, Khaund served the Reign in Blood for one night only at the Charleston, and said then that she’d never make it again. Though if you’re really motivated to taste it, you could always go to London.
