Natashia Reese enjoys the art of the cocktail, from the fusion of flavors to the creativity of developing a recipe.

She frequents Continental Drift, Eric Bennett and John Easterling’s world travel-inspired cocktail bar on Birmingham’s Southside. So when she was planning activities for the weekend of Magic City Classic, the Alabama A&M graduate knew she wanted to gather with her fellow alumni for a toast to their celebrated institution at one of her favorite bars in the city. And she wanted to do it with a signature drink.

Easterling and Bennett have celebrated careers behind the sticks. They’ve both developed beverage menus for some of the best known bars in the city. In 2020, Bennett appeared on the “quarantine” edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live to show the audience how to mix their own version of the Pickle Me Up— a gin cocktail crafted with pickles, hot sauce, maple syrup and pickle brine.

Reese comes from a legacy Alabama A&M family— a number of relatives on her father’s side of the family attended the university. She deviated from the tradition for undergrad and attended the University of Alabama in Huntsville. But she circled back to the storied HBCU for the second part of her academic career and graduated from Alabama A&M University in 2010 with a master’s degree in microbiology.

“I snuck back in for grad school,” she said, laughing “They had an amazing program which was part of UAH, so it was perfect.”

To get the ball rolling on a signature cocktail for Classic Weekend, she sat down with Bennett and urbanist Carmen Mays– a fellow UAH graduate and frequent patron of Continental Drift. Mays and Bennett are longtime friends, and Mays hosted this year’s 205 Day celebration at the cocktail bar.

First, the trio came up with words to describe the spirit of Alabama A&M. For Reese, the task wasn’t easy, even though she’s well-steeped in the university’s history.

“It’s a feeling and its so hard to describe,” said Reese. ”I think most HBCUs, we really tout our rich history. Our university was founded in 1875 by William Hooper Councill, who was a slave. And he was sold on that land and enslaved on that land. And he was able to come and purchase that land and provide an institution for education that we now know today.”

When chatting with Bennett, she initially found herself quoting statistics about the university instead of describing emotions.

“Like, at a college fair!” said Reese, who also does outreach to prospective students through Alabama A&M’s alumni association in Atlanta. ” We have one of the best social work programs. We produce the most Black engineers.”

Another influence for Reese was Alabama A&M’s motto, “Service Is Sovereignty.”

She wanted the cocktail to embody three concepts: pride, a storied history, and a competitive spirit–all illustrated by the Bulldog, the mascot of Alabama A&M.

“The bulldog that bites!” Reese said proudly.

The result: a cocktail called the “Bulldog Bite,” crafted with bourbon, grapefruit, blackberries, red pepper syrup, coconut cream, and garnished with rosemary.

Bennett chose bourbon to be the cocktail’s base liquor because of its origin story. Legally, bourbon must be distilled in the United States. Bennett’s inspiration: use a treasured spirit to pay homage to a treasured institution.

“Something distinctly American. Something homegrown. Something really great,” said Bennett.

He also wanted to use ingredients that nodded to Alabama A&M’s academic foundation.

“Again, as an agricultural university, we’re going to use a little bit of vegetable something in there, because that makes sense,” said Bennett. “And obviously, the state fruit- which is a blackberry. So you get a combination of things there.”

He combined bourbon with blackberries and red pepper syrup to give the cocktail a color close to Alabama A&M maroon, then added a touch of coconut cream to soften the edge.

“We obviously wanted something sort of maroon, outside of a red wine,” said Reese. “I think it turned out really well.”

The “Bulldog Bite” will be available at Continental Drift while supplies last.

Details: Continental Drift | 2201 7th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35233| instagram.com/driftbham