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Drink of the Week: Eastern Sour

Randy — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:16:57 +0000

This Drink of the Week week is actually three drinks in one. The Eastern Sour is the first of a small family of sour cocktails invented by none other than Trader Vic, one of the founding fathers of the mid-century Tiki movement. Although it isn’t as complex or as difficult as many Tiki drinks, for some people that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The more ingredients—or often, the more obscure the ingredients—the less likely most folks will be able to execute the recipe. At least that was my theory as I looked for a tropical style drink to post this week. I thought we needed a change from all of the Manhattan variations I have been posting.

My source of reference is a groovy little iPhone/iPad app called Beachbum Berry’s Tiki+. This app was developed with the full endorsement of Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and it’s filled with recipes that

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Drink of the Week: Sangria

Randy — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:22:32 +0000

Some of you may know that I have a sister who lives in Spain. Over the years, she has shared some wonderful stories about life in Europe, but when it comes to cocktails, she usually talks about Sangria. Essentially a wine-based punch, Sangria is a great party beverage. It’s normally made in batches and tastes better if the ingredients are allowed “get to know each other” while chilling in the refrigerator. That means you can and should make it ahead of time. With the Fourth of July holiday just around the corner, it seemed like the perfect time to mix up some of this delicious potion. I also thought it might be interesting to see how my own basic Sangria recipe stacks up against my sister’s experiences in Barcelona and to share some of her insights about what works and what doesn’t. In the end, this highly customizable drink

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Drink of the Week: Sleepy Head

Randy — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:24:01 +0000

Here’s another fantastic ginger cocktail, but not a new one. It’s the Sleepy Head, and it dates back at least as far as 1930 when it appears in Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book. If you are a fan of the Moscow Mule, or if you tried the Mamie Taylor, I think this cocktail has them both beat. However, the early version is a bit simpler than what we have here. The adjustments are subtle, but I think the cocktail is better for it

The first change results in a stronger boost of orange flavor. The basis for this updated comes from Jeff Hollinger of the Absinthe Brasserie in San Francisco. While Craddock’s book calls for just an orange peel, Hollinger keeps the garnish but takes the flavor a step further by adding muddled orange slices. I am a big fan of that idea because you also get more of

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Cruise Ship Cocktails

Randy — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:06:29 +0000

Real Classic Cocktails in the Lobby Bar

It’s a tricky thing, choosing cocktails on a cruise ship. Do you go with the signature Drink of the Day or pick one from the menu—a list that is bloated with overly-sweet tropical smoothies and misguided classics. It would be easy for a cocktail enthusiast to get discouraged, but it’s a mistake to abandon all hope. After all, I spotted a bottle of Angostura Bitters on the back bar and even some Campari sitting neatly down below. Surely, a little patience, flexibility and some extra gratuity could rescue the situation.

Ingredients and Staff Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the mixologist at sea is the lack of fresh citrus juices. I found this ironic given the Caribbean climate, but for reasons unknown, Rose’s Lime Cordial reigns supreme, as does a variety of mixes and mystery milk. On the other hand, most of

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Drink of the Week: Vieux Carré

Randy — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:00:35 +0000

The Vieux Carré was first created in 1938 by Walter Bergeron, head bartender at the Hotel Monteleone which, in addition to housing the unusual rotating Carousel Bar, is considered the gateway to the French Quarter for which the drink is named. The Vieux Carré (French for “old square”) is as much a fixture of the New Orleans cocktail scene as the Sazerac, and it’s another reminder of the golden age of mixology.

If you are a fan of spirit-forward drinks, this is another one for your house menu. Upon making it, you might recognize that this is just a Saratoga sweetened with Benedictine. Ok, there’s Peychaud’s bitters too, and by this logic, any cocktail is just another version of something else. You could say it’s like a Monte Carlo, or a variation of the La Louisianne, but these are all just riffs on the Manhattan. If you have done

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Drink Of The Week: Twelve Mile Limit

Randy — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:00:45 +0000

This weekend is Repeal Day, the anniversary of the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution which ended Prohibition. Since the day is not quite upon us, I thought I would feature a cocktail that became prominent during Prohibition, or you might say because of prohibition. The name refers to the limit of a country’s sovereignty along its sea borders. In other words, in order to escape US jurisdiction (and Prohibition), would-be drinkers had to travel twelve nautical miles away from the coastline in order to enjoy their favorite cocktail.

Like the Scofflaw, this Drink of the Week pokes fun at our “Noble Experiment”, but in this case, it’s more than just words. At the time, since it was not illegal to drink alcohol, only to manufacture, sell and transport it, anyone with a boat could head a mere three miles out, buy whatever they wanted and drink it on

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Drink Of The Week: Fog Cutter

Randy — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:00:53 +0000

Last weekend we got hit with our first snow in the Twin Cities, and although I previously mentioned how the colder, darker months inspire spiritous cocktails, this time the shoveling and the cold had me longing for the tropics. I’m no Tiki expert, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve settled on an alluring Polynesian classic to brighten my spirits. More than just a fruity rum drink, it may surprise you that this cocktail contains three different base spirits and multiple citrus flavors. It’s complex, balanced and delicious, with a history firmly planted in the Tiki movement. Moreover, it contains orgeat, the darling of homemade simple syrups.

The Fog Cutter has had its share of variations too, as one might expect with so many ingredients. Some bar recipes have even blindly suggested pouring everything from the speed rail into the mixing glass. That would never do, and although

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Drink Of The Week: Saratoga

Randy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:30:18 +0000

It’s getting cooler now with October behind us, and once we set our clocks back, darkness will descend before the cocktail hour. For many, that’s a sign that winter is coming, and with the inevitable onset of cold weather and blanketing snowfall, nothing warms the heart more than snuggling up to a blazing fireplace sipping rich, dark spirits. Well, at least for me, enjoying the flavors of rye whiskey, brandy and sweet vermouth seems to be an experience that fits better with the colder, darker months of the year.

For our Drink Of The Week, we set our sights on the classics again, turning our clocks all the way back to the 1880s. Imagine yourself in the days of Jerry Thomas, Saratoga Springs, New York, enjoying the spas—or more likely—the horses, the gambling, the cocktails. By then, the cocktail had established a firm grasp on social culture and the Saratoga

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Drink Of The Week: Japanese

Randy — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:00:36 +0000

I am hoping that some of you decided to make orgeat syrup a while back when I showed you the recipe and featured the Mai Tai as the Drink of the Week. If you skipped it, I suppose you can always buy some orgeat, but you really should try the Mai Tai made properly (using orgeat, no grenadine, no orange or pineapple juice). You can fuss over the rum if you like, but don’t let it stop you from making the Mai Tai altogether. So, enough about the Mai Tai. . .

For those of you that have the orgeat syrup (or can spend some time to make some) here’s another classic recipe that makes great use of it. It’s called the Japanese Cocktail, and it’s very tasty. This one is easy and uses brandy as the base spirit. Now, some folks are confused about brandy, Cognac and Armagnac.

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Drink of the Week: Singapore Sling

Randy — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:56:46 +0000

Supposedly, July 27th was National Scotch Day. I know it’s not the most popular holiday, but the timing was pretty good (it was a coincidence, really) for describing the Scotch tasting event last week and for featuring the Blood and Sand cocktail the week before. I thought about selecting another Scotch drink this week but I decided it was time to move on. That’s when a friend of mine finally tracked down some Cherry Heering and made the Blood and Sand. I wondered if perhaps there were other readers looking for additional ways to use cherry brandy, so I thought I would feature the Singapore Sling.

It can be a delicious cocktail, depending on the recipe you use. That said, it’s just as easy to make one taste awful. Part of the problem is that like a lot of cocktails, the original recipe was lost and this has caused

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Cocktail Cherries

Randy — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:22:32 +0000

Click here for a newer post with a fantastic homemade cocktail cherries recipe!

If you have visited your grocery store recently you may have noticed that fresh cherries are in season again. Seeing those dark, ripe cherries ready to burst inside the little plastic bins always makes me think about the same thing: homemade cocktail cherries. You may wonder, what’s the point? Can’t you just buy a jar of bright red maraschino (mar-a-SHEEN-oh) cherries that last forever? Sure you can, but allow me to explain what you are really getting inside that jar and you might reconsider that purchase. Besides, it’s not hard to make your own maraschino (mar-a-SKEEN-oh) cherries for special cocktails. As you noticed, there’s a pronunciation difference here, but that’s just the beginning.

Understanding the point of making your own cocktail cherries requires a brief walk through the history of this garnish. Originally, cocktails were decorated

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Drink of the Week: Sidecar

Randy — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 05:45:26 +0000

I had originally wanted to feature the Brandy Crusta for the Drink of the Week, but the key to that cocktail is getting a full peel of a lemon to sit just right—like a skirt—around the inside of a wine glass. Actually, my best wine glass was too tall for this, and a cocktail coupe was too wide at the rim for the full peel to sit properly, and other glasses looked strange and. . . well, you get the idea. I just didn’t feel like I had the right glass for the Crusta, and believe me when I tell you that I have a lot of cocktail glassware! In the end, I decided that if I was having trouble showcasing the right glass, I could hardly expect my readers to have an easier time. Besides, I couldn’t figure out how one would drink the Brandy Crusta with this

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