The initial customer was satisfied and I continued to make his 2nd and 3rd. I spent most of Friday evening introducing the new concoction. The feedback was unanimously positive, although many were caught off guard with the kick and few said they could probably only handle one or two per evening. One brought up the fact that many beer drinkers do not like real citrus in their bottle or glass as the pH balance of the Citric Acid has been known to weaken the froth and manipulate the taste.

It needed a name and I am the type of bartender that usually names before introducing the product to those willing to sample. Ofcourse I immediately referred to The Velvet Hammer, the Guinness creation which is flavored by a shot of vanilla flavored vodka. The hammer part of the name refers to the sickle & hammer known to be as recognizable in Russian culture as vodka itself. Velvet is used to describe the black velvet aesthetic of the Guinness. So, whatever the name is, it had to be a "Hammer",(even though we initially experimented with a Swedish vodka). I went from "Blue Hammer" to "Orange Hammer" to "Bronco Hammer", the latter referring to the fact that both blue and orange are the Denver Bronco colors and that Blue Moon is brewed by Coors in Colorado. However, the amount of NFL fans in representation at a Friday night rock show was weak. The name "Blue Hammer" seemed to stick. 

So who created the Blue Hammer? I am not sure as I only came up with the name and conducted the first focus group among patrons at Hollywood Alley. So I can't take full credit, yet I do want to proclaim that, like The Orange Sunshine shot before it, it all started at Hollywood Alley in Mesa, AZ.