Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Grand St. Tropez

I love Grand Marnier. So it's no surprise that Grand Marnier's ads catch my attention. Were I not a a fan of Grand Marnier, the ads still would grab my attention because they appeals to my fantasy alternate life in a parallel illustrated universe (all the best parallel universes are illustrated) wherein I make regular jaunts to my place on the French Riviera. My alternate life also happens to take place in a version of the French Riviera that is eternally a blend of the mid-1950s - early 1970s. So the Shag-esque animation of the ads aptly captures my fantasy alternate life. (I am also thin, chic, eternally ageless, may or may not be involved in international espionage and have an extensive wardrobe of expensive scarves and know how to wear them as well as I know how to wear my air of mystery in my fantasy alternate life.) The ads have captured the imagination of a lot of viewers, perhaps because a lot of people have fantasy alternate lives in parallel universes like mine, or, because it features a cocktail recipe that promises to transport imbibers to a fantasy alternative life like mine. 

The recipe flashes by in the ad rather quickly, but fear not, Mistress Mix is here to help. It's a ridiculously easy cocktail to mix and offers refined, sophisticated refreshment. 

Grand Tropez

1½ oz. Grand Marnier
3½ oz. Club Soda
Juice of 2 Lemon Wedges

Pour over ice into a rocks glass and garnish with a lemon or orange wedge.

Ta-dah! That's it.

Extravagance need not be extravagant.

I also have another Grand Marnier summer cocktail that adds a juicier twist to the usual Grand Marnier cocktails.

Grand Tropical

1½ oz Grand Marnier
1½ oz pineapple juice
1½ oz orange juice
1 dash lemon juice
Ice

Add all ingredients (including ice) in a shaker. Martini shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

However.

It should be noted that their is a drink called a St. Tropez. (Bronzing lotion is not an ingredient.) I was going to save this for a Bastille Day post, but since we're talking about the French Riviera and the Grand Tropez recipe, it requires a mention here.

The St. Tropez drink is a Dubonnet-based drink and, like the Grand Marnier version, it's very quick and easy to make.

St. Tropez
What you'll need:
2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
2 oz. Orange Juice
Crushed Ice
Orange peel twist

How you'll build it:
Pour ingredients, including ice, into shaker. Roll to blend and pour into rocks glass.


Okay, since we're already in the Riviera drinking Grand Marnier and Dubonnet, why not combine everything into one cocktail?! 


Riviera
What you'll need:

1 1/2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1 oz. Fresh Squeezed Blood Orange Juice
Ice
Orange Slice


How you'll build it:
Add all ingredients (including ice) in a shaker. Martini shake. Strain contents into a martini glass. Garnish with orange slice.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Summertime and the Drinking is Easy



It's Memorial Day weekend! Summer is officially on! Break out the calypso records! Make the potato salad! Turn on the sprinkler! Put on the sandals, sundresses, shorts! It's time for weekend barbecues and long evenings sipping cool refreshing cocktails. Ladies and gentlemen, start your blenders!

First, let's give a salute and raise a glass in toast to the armed forces. 

Submariner
What you'll need:
2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. Rum
1 1/2 oz. Spiced Rum
1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
Ice
Cherry for garnish

How you'll build it:
Add all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and martini shake.  Strain into an iced filled glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Navy Grog 
What you'll need:

1/2 oz. Light Rum
1/2 oz. Gold Rum
1/2 oz. Dark Rum
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1 oz. Grapefruit Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
Ice
Collins glass
Orange Wedge and Pineapple for garnish



How you'll build it:

Fill Collins glass with ice. Add all liquors to ice filled glass.  Add juices. Pour contents of glass into a shaker and roll to blend. Return contents including ice to Collins glass. Garnish with a orange wedge and pineapple.

Army Special
What you'll need:

1 oz. Vodka

1 oz. Gin 
1 1/2 oz. Rose's Lime Juice
Ice
Rocks glass

How you'll build it:
Pour vodka, Gin and Rose's lime juice into glass, and top up with crushed ice.



There are loads of summer cocktails. Fruity, fizzy, chilled, sparkling and refreshing are the benchmarks of a summer cocktail. I like the classics: Long Island Iced Tea, Madras, Sea Breeze, Cape Cod, Daiquiri, Whiskey Sour, Tom Collins, Tequila Sunrise, Slo Gin Fizz, Vodka Lemonade, Gin and Tonic. Broader spectrum, anything made with Midori®, Curaçao, sour mix, lime juice, cherry juice, cranberry juice, grenadine or lemonade. Anything that requires ice and a blender.

Orange and pineapple juices are heavier, pulpier juices which, if not chilled to nearly frozen, can get syrupy and not as refreshing as their lighter juice cousins. When mixing with orange and pineapple juice in summer I like to add a carbonated ingredient to dilute the the juice. Chilled carbonation also adds a refreshing aspect to the drink. I tend to avoid them on the super hot, humid summer days. 

Here then, are all the drink ideas you'll need to drink your way from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Any drink that does not contain carbonation can be made Slurpee® style. You'll need a blender. But other than that the recipes are the same. One glass full of ice = enough ice to make a glass full of a frozen beverage. Just add a glass full of ice and the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth but not liquid. Note that typically frozen drinks are not served with a garnish.

Tom Collins
What you'll need:
1 oz. Gin
Sour Mix*
Soda Water
Ice
Cherry and/or orange for garnish
Collins glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add gin. Add equal parts sour mix and soda. Garnish with cherry and/or orange.

*If you can procure pre-made Tom Collins mix, replace Sour Mix with Tom Collins mix.


Whiskey Sour
What you'll need:
1 oz. Whiskey
Sour Mix*
Ice
Cherry for garnish
Rocks glass

How you'll build it:
Fill rocks glass with ice.  Add sour whiskey and sour mix. Pour all contents, including ice, into shaker. Martini shake. Return contents to glass (strain if serving straight up). Garnish with cherry.


Sloe Gin Fizz
What you'll need:
1 oz. Sloe Gin*
Sour Mix
Soda Water
Ice
Cherry and/or orange for garnish
Collins glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add sloe gin. Add equal parts sour mix and soda. Garnish with cherry and/or orange.

*Sloe gin is not a brand of gin, it is a type of gin. Regular gin is made from juniper berries. Sloe gin is made with sloe berries which impart a fruitier flavor than juniper berries. If you make a Sloe Gin Fizz with regular gin, you're making a Tom Collins.

Tequila Sunrise

What you'll need:
1 oz. Tequila
Orange Juice*
1/2 oz. Grenadine
Ice
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add tequila. Fill with orange juice to almost full. Add grenadine float. Garnish with a cherry.

*If made with grapefruit juice it's called a Tequila Sunset.



Long Island Iced Tea
What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Rum
1/2 oz. Tequila
1/2 oz. Sour Mix
Coke
Ice
Lemon for garnish
Collins glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add vodka, gin, rum and tequila. Add equal parts sour mix and Coke. Garnish with lemon wedge.



Madras

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add equal parts orange and cranberry juice. A Madras is not supposed to be garnished. Some bars feel a need to garnish every drink, but, if you're a purist, this is one drink that should be served garnish free. A splash of club soda adds a zesty zip on humid summer days.


Cape Cod

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Lime wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add cranberry juice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Sea Breeze

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Grapefruit Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Lime wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add equal parts grapefruit and cranberry juice. No garnish.

Bay Breeze

What you'll need:
1 oz. Vodka
Pineapple Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Pineapple or lime wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka. Add equal parts pineapple and cranberry juice. Garnish with a lime or pineapple.

Sex on the Beach

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Peach Schnapps
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Ice
Orange wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and peach schnapps. Add cranberry and orange juices. Garnish with an orange wedge.

Sand in Your Shorts

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Chambord
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Peach Schnapps
1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Sour Mix
Ice
Cherry and/or orange wedge for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill Collins glass with ice.  Add liquors to a shaker and gently roll to blend. Pour over ice in glass. Add equal parts orange juice, cranberry juice and sour mix. Garnish with a cherry and/or orange wedge.

Frozen Bikini
What you'll need:
2 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Peach schnapps
2 oz. Orange Juice
3 oz. Peach Nectar
splash of lemon juice
1 oz. Champagne

How you'll build it:
Fill blender with ice and blend and everything except champagne.  Pour into a chilled glass and top with champagne.



This next drink is one of my favorites to drink and make, but I hate ordering it.

Sloe Comfortable Screw

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Sloe Gin
1/2 oz. Southern Comfort
Orange JuiceIce
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add sloe gin and Southern Comfort. Fill remainder of glass with orange juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.

*This is a great example of the juice getting too syrupy. Southern Comfort is a blend and is a bit heavy on its own. Added with orange juice this drink can get real heavy on a hot day. Reducing the amount of orange juice and adding club soda or 7 Up solves the syrupy problem.

Melon Ball

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Midori
Orange Juice Ice
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and Midori®. Fill remainder of glass with orange juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.

Watermelon

What you'll need:
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Midori
Cranberry Juice Ice
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and Midori®. Fill remainder of glass with cranberry juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.


Cherry Lime Flip

What you'll need:
1 1/4 oz. Cherry Vodka
1/4 oz. Lime Juice
3/4 oz. Lime Syrup
1/4 oz. Grenadine
7 oz. Sprite
Cherry for garnish
Highball glass

How you'll build it:
Fill highball glass with ice.  Add vodka and Midori®. Fill remainder of glass with cranberry juice. I like to pour ingredients into a shaker and roll to thoroughly blend. Garnish with cherry.



Thursday, May 24, 2012

Of Blenders and Beer Slurpees®

Two days before the opening weekend of Summer and my blender breaks.

Months of frozen drinks spreading out before us and I was blenderless.

Although. It wasn't a complete surprise. My blender has been showing signs of decline for a while. But it's never been the most graceful machine in the kitchen, so I thought maybe it was just developing some new noises and smells to add to its already vast cacophony cache. Sadly, the smell of burning or melting...something...and the grinding ratchetty noises the motor made were sounding more like sawing piercing noises...and the base was getting a lot more hot than usual...a lot faster than usual. When little wisps of smoke starting swirling up and around the blender container I knew things were not, um, good. But when it started leaking and oozing burned goo out and around the base I knew all the little quirks of my blender were turning into signs warning me of dangerous machinery.

It was time to say good-bye.

But it wasn't easy. I grow attached to my appliances. Blame too many viewings of The Brave Little Toaster. They're part of my team. And while I'm handy with mixology, when it comes to creating other types of food I need all the help and expertise I can plug in.

But my blender, "Blendy McMixter," was the most special appliance I've ever owned.

I inherited it from my parents. It's a Hamilton Beach circa 1972. My parents were "we're firing up the grill, come on over!" kind of people. From Memorial Day to Labor Day our back yard was Backyard Party Central with friends and relations dropping by for a drink, a meal or just to "visit." 

The story goes that on a Friday before Memorial Day, my dad came home from work with the blender, a bag of ice and a bottle of rum. He stopped at the hardware store on the way home from work and a woman was doing a blender demonstration. She must have been some kind of fabulous sales person because my dad rarely fell for in-store demonstrations. He arrived home enthusing about all the glorious uses for the blender, and the woman who did the demo at the store handed out recipes for various daiquiris. My mother thought it just meant more work for her. She was not impressed. She immediately banished the blender to the hard to reach bottom shelf in the back of the pantry. My father just as quickly retrieved it and set it up on the counter to show off all the features of the new blender. His argument for the blender was that the ladies who frequented as guests in the summer weren't Scotch and soda or beer types of gals and that it would be nice to offer beverages other than wine for more feminine palates. You know, foo foo drinks. My mother likes a Grasshopper and the occasional Pink Lady, so his argument was not without merit. My dad also vowed that my mother wouldn't have to do a thing, he would take care of all the blender prep, he would make frozen daiquiris and man the blender all summer long.

And that is how my father became known as Master Grill and Chill. He did commandeer the blender and became adept at mixing pitchers of various frozen drinks. It was his contention that almost any drink that doesn't contain Scotch can be a frozen drink. He tried them all. Frozen whiskey sours. Frozen Madrases. Frozen Long Island Iced Teas. Name a drink (that doesn't contain Scotch) and he tried to make a frozen version. He learned that his theory broke down with any drink that requires a carbonated beverage. Rum and cokes, vodka/gin tonics, 7 & 7s all fell flat, literally, when mixed with ice and whirled in the blender. I concur.  Ditto beer. Yes. My dad tried, more than once, to make what were basically beer Slurpees®. There were a few guests who claimed to like to them, which gave my dad encouragement to continue with the frozen beer drink experimentation. Apart from the few guests who liked them, they were considered abominations and my father eventually discontinued his beer in the blender experiments.

The blender was noisy. I mean really noisy. Which was another reason my mother hated it. She says that even brand new it sounded like it was grinding tin cans. She was certain there was something wrong with it and wanted my dad to return it for a refund or at least exchange it for one that didn't make so much noise. My dad wouldn't budge, he saw the demo and the demo blender made all that racket, too. I think, for my dad, the noise was part of the fun, part of the show, part of the mystique. It sounded like a power tool which made it more manly. But to compromise with my mother, he rigged up a little blender bar outside on the patio. This required him to man a couple of stations because he had a special grill area away from the patio (and the house). He tried a few extension cord set-ups, but with kids running around and adults drinking rum, it soon proved safer to have the blender stationed on the patio, close to an outlet. Around 3:00 on Saturdays and Sundays he lugged the blender, buckets of ice and mixers out to the patio. By 4:00 the sound of the blender could be heard echoing all over the neighborhood. The neighbor's beagles used to howl at the sound of my dad's blender. This embarrassed my mother but she preferred the outdoor bar over the kitchen counter.

Summer is filled with sensory emotional triggers. The feel of sand on bare feet. The smell of peanuts at a baseball game and charcoal ignited in the grill in the backyard. The taste of a fresh tomato. The bluest blue skies. The sound of lawn mowers and kids squealing as they run through sprinklers. For me that ubiquitous list includes the sound of a blender. It's not summer until the sound of the blender's motor grinding ice and beverages into frozen bliss can be heard throughout the neighborhood.

After every Labor Day, my father gave the blender a thorough cleaning and put it away on the hard to reach bottom shelf in the back of the pantry. It there hibernated until a couple days before Memorial Day when my dad took it out, cleaned it (again) and gave it a lube job.

By the time I got my first apartment my parents (meaning my dad) had upgraded to a food processor (better ice shaving and more thorough/faster mixing). I was given the blender. No longer allowed to hibernate, Blendy McMixter rose to the year round challenges I gave it. For several years, other than a microwave it was the only appliance I owned. Drinks. Fruit smoothies. Applesauce. Salsa. Hummus. Blendy McMixter had the prep of the basic food groups covered. Yes, it was still ridiculously noisy, but I think my dad was onto something. That is part of the blender mystique. All that raw power at your fingertips...it's quite a powerful feeling. Like riding a motorcycle. Okay. Like riding a Vespa.

I've used lots of blenders and food processors other than Blendy. They're a party and bar staple. Most bars have at least one and it's usually old, noisy, and the blades are bent, broken or missing. And the mechanism doesn't work exactly the way it should thanks to maintenance neglect. My dad was right, you really do have to thoroughly clean a blender after each use. Sticky, syrupy goo congeals, and other foods corrode.

A lot of bartenders hate blender drinks and pretend the bar doesn't have a blender or that it's broken. Once the blender comes out and whirs into action, a batender will be blending drinks all night. Why? Because people like frozen drinks.

The Magic Bullet is an infomercial mainstay for two reasons: Baby food and daiquiris/margaritas. Okay, technically that's three reasons. The only time I've ever seen anyone use a Magic Bullet when mixing a frozen cocktail or pulverizing fruit and vegetables into mush for toddlers. I've used one and I have to admit, it's a handy tool for a bartender. The smaller size and container capacity is perfect for mixing single drinks. It's fast, it's small and it's easy to clean. I know. I sound like the infomercial. Believe me, I was skeptical, "pffft, a Waring, Oster, Hamilton Beach...why go with a Johnny Come Lately when there are long lasting pros out there?"  But the thing won me over after a couple uses. It will never compete with a professional grade blender, or even a home blender, not fully, but, for bartending, the Magic Bullet is a great option.

I won a Krups "Midnight Cocktail" as a door prize at a pre-Y2K party. I was the envy of a couple other guests. It's battery operated, which is a great idea, especially for a drink mixer. But. The blade, which spells out "2000" is plastic. Plastic = fragile. And let's face it, no matter how many batteries or how big they are, the only thing that's getting pulverized by a battery powered blender is the plastic blade. It's cute and I've hung onto it through a few moves, it's a fine machine for blending liquids, good for mixing drinks without ice - a plus if you have guests or patrons who like their drinks neat. Another plus: It's great for aerating delicate froths or creams. If you're experimenting with flavoring whipped cream, something like the Krups Midnight Cocktail is the perfect solution. I've used it to whip cream on more than a few occasions while Blendy was busy with other huskier projects.

I had flirtations and even a dalliance or two with a Magic Bullet and food processors and even other blenders, but I always went home to Blendy McMixter.

After my dad died I found some sentimental solace in his blender. It was his. He had a lot of fun with it. When I used it I felt like I had a little shared moment with him. At first it made me sad to think of all the summers my dad set up the blender and the grill and became the backyard host, Master Grill and Chill. How was it possible that a blender could outlive my dad? The sadness slowly turned to catharsis and then fond nostalgia. Using the blender my dad used and maintained helped me feel like I still had a tangible part of him.

It has the Insta Blend feature, which was apparently a big selling feature in the demonstration that hooked my dad into buying it. You just press on the Insta Blend button for a few seconds and, well, it instantly blends. Go figure. The other options always, still, make me laugh. Whip, stir, puree, aerate, liquify, chop, pulverize. Pulverize. It has a pulverize button. And you can pulverize on hi or low speed. Someone, somewhere, was paid to come up with every cooking term that could possibly be associated with a whirring blade and associate them to different motor functions. Someone figured out the torque differential between pulverize and liquify. It's all marketing, I'm sure, but pretty nifty concept nonetheless. I've never had a reason to aerate anything, I've never seen a recipe that instructed me to aerate, but, I've slept soundly in the knowledge that if I ever need to aerate something, I can do it.

Lately it's shown signs of wear and age. We've both mixed a lot of drinks. Deep down I've known it was on its last blends, but I didn't want to let go. Letting go means losing a part of my dad. In that respect it's fitting the Blendy quit blending right before Memorial Day. "Sorry kid, I just don't have another summer in me. Wouldn't be right to let you down in the middle of summer. Better to get someone new on the roster before things really heat up outside and you want a frozen drink to cool you down."

So with heavy heart, I got rid of Blendy McMixter. I said a few words, as you do with an old friend. "Farewell, old friend. You served me and my family well. Thanks for all the drinks. No one ever blamed you for the beer Slurpees®. They weren't your fault. *They weren't your fault.*"


There are several Daiquiri mixes on the market and many are very good, easy options for Daiquiri enjoyment. Or, you can make them from scratch.

Easy Frozen Daiquiri
What you'll need:
1 oz. Light Rum (if you can get Cuban rum, that's the best option)
Sour mix
Ice
Cherry or lime for garnish
Rocks or hurricane glass

How you'll blend it:
Fill glass with ice. Empty ice from glass into blender. Add rum. Add sour mix to just below the ice level. Think back to physics and chemistry classes: Displacement. Blend until smooth but not liquid.


Classic Frozen Daiquiri
What you'll need:
1 1/2 oz. Light Rum (if you can get Cuban rum, that's the best option)
3/4 oz. Lime Juice
1/4 oz. Simple Syrup
Ice
Cherry or lime for garnish

Rocks or hurricane glass

How you'll blend it:
Fill glass with ice. Empty ice from glass into blender. Add rum, lime juice and simple syrup. Blend until smooth but not liquid.

Simple syrup is a truly simple bar staple. It's, simply, equal parts water and sugar mixed together in a bottle and vigorously shaken until blended. Some bars add a small amount of vodka (1/4 oz. at most) to extend the longevity of the simple syrup.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Happy Mother's Day

Something's wrong with the Beaver
It's Mother's Day! All hail mothers everywhere! A toast to the ladies who birthed us, changed our diapers, bathed us, clothed us, taught us valuable life skills like the importance of wearing clean underwear and looking both ways before crossing a street. Their font of wisdom is unending. Were it not for mothers who knows how many innovators and their innovations would have been lost to the world because they jumped off a bridge because everyone else was doing it?

I'm sure you're mother is fabulous. But. I have the most perfect mother in the world. Perfect because she's perfect for a kid like me. I'm certain there is not another mother who could have dealt with me with the unwavering patience and support my mother has given me.

Mom always said don't play ball in the house
Some mothers might not approve of imbibing, but, I say there's no one more deserving of a couple rounds of the top shelf goods than mothers. And Mother's Day brunches everywhere will echo that sentiment with Mother's Day/Brunch cocktail staples.

My dad and grandfather taught me about Scotch, and for that I'm grateful. But. My mother taught me most of what I know about Port. And how much to spike the punch when both the in-laws and friends from church are going to be together at the same party.* And champagne. Thanks to my mother I tasted and compared champagne to sparkling wine and learned to discern the difference. She also taught me how to make champagne cocktails, Kir Royales, French 75s...and Mimosas.

Ahhhh, Mimosas. The staple of brunches everywhere. Especially Mother's Day brunches. And for good reason. Champagne is the penultimate celebratory beverage. And mothers deserve nothing but the penultimate. If you're toasting your mother, or any mother, it better be with champagne, or at least a premium sparkling wine.

When making Mimosas it's not imperative that you use champagne. Because orange juice is heavy and syrupy, the delicate flavors of champagne get lost and somewhat wasted in a Mimosa. That's not to say you can skimp with a cheap bottle of sparkling wine when making Mimosas, but, as long as the Mimosa is poured and served shortly after corking, a nicely chilled mid-range sparkling wine is fine when making Mimosas. A strawberry garnish is traditional, but an orange slice is okay, too. If you choose to go traditional with a strawberry, make sure it's a large, fresh, juicy strawberry that you'd want to eat. In a Mimosa, the strawberry garnish isn't just for fancy looks. It imparts a slight hint of berry which tempers the orange juice and perfectly compliments the sparkling wine. So. Choose strawberries wisely and do a taste test before plunking one in the Mimosa.

Mimosa
What you'll need:
Sparkling Wine, chilled
Orange Juice, chilled
Strawberries for garnish
Champagne flute

How you'll build it:
Pour sparkling wine into champagne flute, fill to about half full, or approximately an ounce or ounce and a half. Fill remainder of glass with orange juice. Garnish with a strawberry.
  • A float of triple sec or curacao will add a little extra kick and punch up the orange flavor.
  • A sprig of basil or mint with the garnish adds a nice aromatic lift.  A cute garnish idea: Hollow out the center of strawberry about 1/4 of the way into the berry; tuck a basil sprig or a couple mint leaves into the hole; slice the berry about halfway up from the pointy end and slide onto rim of glass.

Let's talk Bellini.

In America, Bellinis are often made with champagne/sparkling wine and peach schnapps or peach nectar. Which is an acceptable brunch beverage, but it's not a Bellini. Regardless of what you may have enjoyed at an Italian-themed chain restaurant, Bellinis are a traditional Italian cocktail. And like many Italian recipes, they require traditional ingredients; and there is a traditional process.

A traditional Bellini is made with marinated, puréed white peaches and Prosecco. Maybe a swirl of cherry juice depending on the region of Italy. That's it. That's a Bellini.

Just as there's a difference between champagne and sparkling wine, there's a difference between Prosecco and sparkling wine. Prosecco is champagne's Italian country cousin. Whereas champagne can only be called champagne if the grapes hail from the Champagne region of France, Prosecco is a type of grape which makes a unique type of wine, and Prosecco can only be called Prosecco if it's made from Prosecco grapes. (Prosecco and Glera are the same grape, so if you see "Glera" on the label, it's Prosecco.) Yes, it's white, yes, it's sparkling, yes, it's dry. But. It has a distinct flavor that separates it from the crowd of generic "sparkling wines." I've seen bottles of Prosecco from countries other than Italy, but I haven't ventured a taste. Italian Prosecco is affordable and offers a reliable taste and I have not found a reason to venture to another country's Prosecco offering.


Bellini 
What you'll need:
4 - 5 medium White peaches
Prosecco (or Italian sparkling wine)
Champagne flute
Peach slice for garnish

How you'll build it:
Skin and slice peaches. Marinate skinned peaches in Prosecco for 2 - 4 hours. If you can't find Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine will work. Purée marinated peaches in a food processor or blender until smooth and liquid. Pour two ounces of marinated peach purée in a champagne flute. Top with Prosecco (or sparkling wine). Do not stir! Garnish with peach slice. 

Optional:
  • Grenadine float.
  • Cherry juice added after the peach purée, before the Prosecco.
  • Three or four fresh blueberries on top make a nice garnish that nicely compliment the peaches.  

Cheers, bubala.
An old school champagne cocktail I learned from my mother is a French 75. I once read it's called a French 75 because that was the slang term for a gun the French used in WWI. I have no idea if this is true, but it makes sense because the cocktail originated around that time. Until I learn a more definitive origin, I'm sticking with that legend. My mother makes them with gin, so that's how I learned to make them. However, they are also made with cognac in place of the gin. The first time I had a cognac French 75 I wasn't sure what to make of it, but, it grew on me and now I like them both ways. I'm not sure which is definitively correct, but chances are you have easier access to gin than cognac, so it's an easy introduction to this champagne cocktail.

French 75
What you'll need:
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Gin or Cognac
1/2 oz Cointreau
Champagne - yes, champagne.
Ice cubes
Lemon Twist for garnish
Champagne flute
Cocktail shaker

How you'll build it:
Add lemon juice, gin/cognac, Cointreau and ice in cocktail shaker. Martini shake. Strain shaker contents into chilled champagne flute. Slowly add champagne to fill remainder of glass. Garnish with lemon twist. The mixers in this drink are not as heavy or syrupy as in a Mimosa or Bellini. You will taste the champagne, so it's a good idea to use actual champagne. Or at the very least a French sparkling wine. (Unless you're in a mood to offend France, in which case choose a California sparkling wine. You will compromise the flavor integrity of the drink (which sounds like a very French thing to say) but you won't be bowing down to the French wine conventionality.)


Some mothers are known for their pie. Other mothers are known for their cookies. Some mothers capture glory from their potato salad or even meat loaf. My mother does a good job in all of those categories. But what she's really known for is her punch. This is a very versatile concoction that is refreshing on a hot summer day and zesty on a New Year's Eve. It's perfect for brunches, teas, bridal and baby showers, but it can hold its own at a cocktail party, too. My bartending roots can be traced to this punch. When I was about 7 years old I was deemed old enough to take on punch mixing duties. When the first guest arrived I was to begin mixing the punch in the punch bowl. I mixed everything except the booze. Once I had all the ingredients in the bowl, I was to summon one of my parents to "finish the job" by adding the booze. Typically we made two bowls of punch, one spiked, one "child-safe." It's good with or without booze, so, it's a nice option for a baby shower. 

Okay, here we go. This is my mother's punch recipe. Yield: One punch bowl full.
What you'll need:
All ingredients should be chilled before mixing. Punch should be mixed as guests are arriving, no sooner.
Three Cups Grapefruit Juice
1/2 Cup Sugar
32 oz. bottle of Ginger Ale
32 oz. bottle of Club Soda
32 oz. bottle of Collins Mix or, if you can't acquire Collins Mix, Fresca/Sprite/Grapefruit Soda
Champagne/sparkling wine or vodka or gin to taste
Maraschino Cherries + juice
Punch bowl. Yes, you'll need a punch bowl. Or at the very least a couple of containers or pitchers large enough to hold 100 ounces of liquid. 

How you'll build it:
Any excuse to break out the punch bowl!
Mix grapefruit juice and sugar in a pitcher. Pour into punch bowl. Add the bottles of mixers. Add spirit of choice, to taste. If using champagne or sparkling wine, pour in the entire bottle. If using gin or vodka, think of it as pouring a large drink. For punches, you generally want a 1:4 ratio, 1 oz. of liquor to 4 ozs. of punch. But you know your guests and their tastes and tolerances, so add booze accordingly. Add about two dozen Maraschino cherries and a couple tablespoons of the cherry juice. If you're serving the punch to guests, garnish with a cherry. If guests are serving themselves, let them decide if they want to garnish their drink or not.

If you want a very strong punch, add gin, vodka, rum and tequila for a fruity punch version of a Long Island Iced Tea.


*Just enough to put people in a good mood, but will go undetected. For a family or light-drinking crowd, a 1:6 ratio is best - 1 ounce of booze/6 ounces of punch.

Friday, May 4, 2012

The Horses are at the Gate

Derby Day!

Okay, so I'm not much of a horse racing fan. But. I like horses. And Mint Juleps. And Kentucky Bourbon.

Some horses are mudders, "they love the slop," and if you like Mint Juleps, you are a mudder, or at least a muddler, too!

Classic Mint Julep
I highly recommend using Kentucky bourbon*, not just for authenticity, but for distinct Kentucky flavor that blends well with mint. Jim Beam imparts the flavor most often associated with Mint Juleps.

What you'll need:
4 Fresh Mint Sprigs
2 1/2 oz. Kentucky Bourbon
1 tsp. Powdered Sugar
2 tsp. Water 
Ice
Collins glass


How you'll mix it:
Muddle mint leaves, powdered sugar, and water in a Collins glass. Fill the glass with shaved or crushed ice and pour bourbon over ice. Top with more ice and garnish with a mint sprig. Serve with a straw and mint leaf garnish

**You'll need a muddler to muddle! A muddler and rocks glass are like a mortar and pestle. The muddler is a blunt wood or stainless baseball bat shaped bar tool. It's often included in barware sets and people often don't know what they are or why it came with their cocktail shaker. It's most often used to make a mash comprised of sugar or bitters with limes, lemons or mint leaves. Place the ingredients to be muddled in the bottom of a rocks glass. Gently mash the ingredients with the rounded end of the muddler just until combined/mixed. The goal is to release the aroma of the fruit or mint and soften it's bite with sugar. Then pour in the liquid ingredients. Voila! Muddled and sipped! 


Overnight Mint Julep (no muddling required)
What you'll need:
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
8 Fresh Mint Sprigs Finely Chopped  (Use only the leaves, no stems)
1 quart Kentucky Bourbon
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish
Collins glass

How you'll build it:
Combine water, sugar, chopped mint leaves and bourbon in a glass pitcher, stir until sugar dissolves. Cover and let stand 4 -6 hours, or over night.  To serve, strain the bourbon-syrup mixture into a large pitcher, discarding the chopped mint. Fill glasses with cracked ice; add bourbon mixture, and garnish with mint sprigs and a straw.

*Kentucky Bourbon brands:
There are loads of Kentucky Bourbons, some of the small, local distilleries on the Bourbon Trail offer unique flavors that can only originate in Kentucky. Jim Beam is the "easiest" bourbon of choice for Mint Juleps if you live outside the state of Kentucky. It also has the classic flavor most associated with Mint Juleps. 
Jim Beam
Maker's Mark
Four Roses
Wild Turkey
Woodford Reserve




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