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You are here: Home / Senior Women Travel / US Travel / Alabama / A Bushwacker Cocktail: And Flinging Fish in Alabama
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A Bushwacker Cocktail: And Flinging Fish in Alabama

by Theresa St. John 2 Comments

The recipe from the famous Florabama bar in Alabama is top-secret but this one is pretty close. Enjoy! Make sure to read more about the bar and its fish-flinging contest underneath.

Enjoy this recipe!

Alabama Bushwacker cocktail is a rum drink served at the Flora Bama's annual mullet toss #Alabama #fishtoss #cocktail #blendeddrink #rum #rumdrink

Bushwacker Cocktail

anonymous
Enjoy this Bushwacker on a hot day.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 5 minutes mins
Course drink
Servings 1 serving

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup ice
  • 1 ounce dark rum
  • 1 ounce coffee liqueur
  • 1 ounce dark crème de cacao liqueur
  • 2 ounces cream of coconut
  • 2 ounces milk

Instructions
 

  • Add ice in a blender and blend until smooth and frothy.
  • Pour it into a hurricane or tall glass.

Make your Bushwacker cocktail look extra special in a Hurricane Glass by clicking here

The Flora Bama Mullet Toss

I had no idea what to expect when I accepted an invitation to Flora-Bama’s annual Mullet Toss.

“Do you want to throw one?” my host, Mary, asks as she drives towards the beach on a gorgeous Sunday.

“Uh, first you need to tell me what it is,” I reply.

“It’s a dead fish. People throw them across the Florida state line during the competition. They need to land in Florida. Whoever throws theirs the farthest, wins a prize.”

And, okay, although I’ve never heard of the legendary Flora-Bama Lounge’s highly anticipated mullet toss before that moment, it seems like everyone we run into that afternoon is enjoying their second, third, or fourth visit to the event.

In 1962 the State of Florida gave the State of Alabama two miles of white sandy beachfront property in return for the construction of the Perdido Pass Bridge. The Tampary family (a father and two sons) built a small package store on the new state line. The road was completed two years later, as was the Flora-Bama.

The beach at the border of Alabama and Florida - home of the Flora Bama mullet toss #Florida #Alabama #FloriBama #fishtoss
The beach on the border of Florida and Alabama

At the time, the little bar was pretty much the only thing in the area. Like everything else that happens with progress though, as traffic increased the business grew, and new buildings were added one by one to accommodate Flora-Bama’s success.

The Flora-Bama bar, home of the Bushwacker cocktail and the Flora-Bama annual mullet toss #Flora-Bama #bar #Alabama #fishtoss #Bushwacker
Flora-Bama Bar

When Joseph Gilchrist purchased the place in 1978, he added live music – 365 days a year. In 1968 he became partners with Pat McClellan. Together the pair created numerous events – the mullet toss being just one of them.

In 2009, John McInnis and Cameron Price became co-owners of Flora-Bama, alongside Joe and Pat. The foursome works hard to make it a place where everyone feels at home during their visit. People come from all over the world to visit.

As far as the mullet fish goes, it’s one of the more plentiful fish in the area. It’s the only fish with a gizzard. Some folks claim it possesses mystical properties. I’m not sure about any of that, but I do learn that a portion of the $15.00 charge for each fish flung across the state line goes to the surrounding Local Youth Charities.

The annual toss is the first thing we do after parking the car. A boy about four or five years old is ahead of me. He chooses his fish from a cooler, lifts it to his face, and suddenly kisses it! Right on the mouth! The scene’s hilarious. The crowd cheers as he tosses the fish a few inches and runs toward his mom giggling.

An Alabama boy picks out his fish for the Flora Bama's annual mullet toss #Alabama #Florida #Bushwackers #FloraBama #fishtoss
Alabama boy picks out his fish to toss

I toss my mullet fish, after informing everyone that there’s no forth-coming kiss. It lands seventeen feet away. I’m pretty excited. The next reveler sprints up, grabs a fish, and throws it 36 feet across the state line. Yikes.

Chucking a mullet fish from Alabama to Florida in the Flora Bama annual mullet toss #Alabama #Florabama #fishtoss
Chucking a mullet

“Let’s go try a Bushwacker,” Mary says. I’m ready.

Flora-Bama may be the most famous bar along the Alabama coast but the Bushwacker, its signature drink, is a close second. The milk-based concoction boasts five types of liquor blended into the frozen drink, lending it quite a punch.

Alabama Bushwacker cocktail is a rum drink served at the Flora Bama's annual mullet toss #Alabama #fishtoss #cocktail #blendeddrink #rum #rumdrink
Alabama Bushwacker cocktail

We wander through one bar after another, treated to the sounds of country, rock, dance and beach music. License plates from every state in the country have been here. Pieces of them hang on a wall, spelling out the words of a popular Kenny Chesney song.

One room even has a clothesline overhead, covered in colorful bras left behind by revelers. From the top floor, patrons place their tips inside an old tin can. A pulley system brings it down to the band playing on stage.

In Maine, they’d call this place red-neck. In Massachusetts, they’d yell ‘Wicked cool!’ And it sure is.

Outside, the skies are a powder-puff blue, perfect weather for the 30,000 people attending events over the weekend. We hear laughter all around us and see smiling faces wherever we look. Everyday people, from all walks of life, enjoy every minute of this celebration. I’m thrilled to be part of it.

Visit the bar’s website here.

Check out the best Alabama beaches here.

Have you tossed any fish lately? Please leave a comment.

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Filed Under: Alabama, Drink Tagged With: beach, cocktail, recipe

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About Theresa St. John

Theresa St. John is a freelance photographer and travel writer based in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her work has been published in many on-line and print magazines. She has written for Discover Saratoga, Vacation Rental Travels Magazine, International Living, Saratoga Mama Magazine, Great Escape Publishing, Saratoga Springs Life Magazine and The Observation Post Newspaper, to name a few.

Comments

  1. Sherri Weaver says

    April 21, 2021 at 9:08 pm

    I don’t know who gave you that recipe but it is WRONG! WAY WRONG! You can’t make a florabama bushwacker with out the machine. There is no ice cream or cream of coconut.

    Reply
    • Theresa St. John says

      April 22, 2021 at 2:04 am

      I found the recipe on the internet (which I stated in article)
      The bar’s recipe has five liquors and is top secret.
      They sure were delicious!
      I’d love to have another, lol.

      Reply

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