

“Imagination! Imagination! A dream, Can be, A dream come true. With just one spark in me and you” - One Little Spark by the Sherman Brothers
Inspiration
A character from the original Journey into Imagination (1993-1998) at EPCOT. The Dreamfinder is best known for his dragon companion, Figment, who teaches about the wonders of imagination. He has had many cameo references such as in the Skipper Canteen and in Phantom Manor but has not returned since the original version of Journey Into Imagination left EPCOT. The drink that embodies the gentleman who invented the manifestation of imagination is an unusually smoked Manhattan riff with nutty and absinthial modifications.
Workshopping
Sometimes we turn to wordplay when we develop certain drink recipes. The Dreamfinder is a riff on the Manhattan because he is a man in a hat (get it? Man-hatt-an, Man-in-hat? - here’s a picture as proof that he wears a hat). We essentially made a couple of substitutions to Dreamfinder-ize the Manhattan. Sweet vermouth was swapped out with an Amontillado sherry because the Dreamfinder is a bit bouncy and nutty. We added a bit of amaretto to push those nutty notes further. Typical aromatic bitters were swapped out with a bar spoon of absinthe. The absinthe is bitter enough to make up for the bitters and the associations of absinthe with hallucinations felt appropriate for one who manifested imagination itself.
Another aspect of the Dreamfinder that we love is his steampunk aesthetic. The hat with the goggles and his bare-metal contraptions make him feel like he’s a bit otherworldly. I’m not one to garnish a drink with steam (too hot) but smoking a cocktail isn’t totally unusual. Allegedly, the Dreamfinder’s “flying machine” collected the sparks of imagination from his travels and out popped a Figment. If his steampunky machine produced a sort of exhaust, I imagine it’d have bits of imagination (or some alleged hallucinogen). To closely simulate this, we smoked some wormwood and applied it to the top of the drink. It’s a bit like imagination in solid form.
After creating our Dreamfinder cocktail, we opted to make our own Figment mocktail! We used our imagination to draw parallels between this drink and its mocktail equivalent. Figment is naturally sweeter and more playful compared to the stiffer Dreamfinder.
Flavor Analysis
Herbaceous and woody in flavor, this drink has an interesting combination of over-ripe berries and roasted nut flavors. A very forestry drink experience that ends with a smoky pleasantness.
Dreamfinder
Dreamfinder
- 1.5 oz (22 ml) Rye Whisky (Rittenhouse BiB)
- 0.5 oz (15 ml) Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
- 0.5 oz (15 ml) Amaretto (di Amore)
- 1 barspoon (5 ml) Absinthe (Vieux Carré)
Method: Stir & Strain over Big Ice
Garnish: Wormwood Smoke
More drinks inspired by: Disney
Guided Recipe in 60 Seconds: YouTube
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