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This installment of the Drink of the Week is actually the last drink of 2010. If you have been following along, that makes 52 cocktail recipes posted over the past year, not including homemade ingredients and numerous other posts in-between. It has been fun to keep the momentum going with weekly features. I want to say thanks to everyone who reads and subscribes to Summit Sips and to those who are friends on Facebook or who follow via Twitter. I especially appreciate those of you who see fit to comment on the posts. Part of the fun that comes with these recipes is hearing what others are trying and discussing the results. To see all of the 2010 Drinks of the Week on one page, I created a special 2010 DOTW Archive that you can also access from the Archives page in the menu above.
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I wanted to write a few words about my experiments with Punch. As the tagline suggests, Summit Sips is about exploring the mysteries of mixology. Whether or not you like the word “mixology”, I don’t advocate consumption of alcoholic beverages to get “drunk”. I see it more as a culinary pursuit to find a balance of flavors and to pair ingredients in unique (or sometimes classic) ways. Semantics aside, there’s always the benefit of five o’clock refreshment, and sometimes the goal is to lubricate the social gears of a party to stimulate mingling and conversation. In any case, Punch is a great way to explore exotic flavor combinations.
Punch is a borrowed word from the Hindi panch which itself came from the Persian word paantch meaning five, to represent the five typical ingredients in this early beverage: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water and tea or spices. It was brought back to
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I have been waiting all year to post this cocktail because I wanted to do so at an appropriate time. I was going to wait until the Wright brothers’ anniversary of flight at Kitty Hawk, NC but that won’t be until December. Thankfully, in 1939, Franklin Delano Roosevelt established August 19th (Orville Wright’s birthday) as National Aviation Day. You are all encouraged to observe the day with activities related to aviation, or in this case, the Aviation.
I doubt FDR’s intent was to promote an interest in cocktails, but it’s a very good excuse to post the Aviation as the Drink of the Week. To a cocktail enthusiast, every classic is important because of what it represents in the world of mixology. Whether it’s a brilliant use of spirits or a unique and successful pairing of ingredients; classics are often foundational. Recipes evolve, but many of them stand the
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You may be wondering, Martinez? Don’t you mean Martini? Well, I suppose I mean both. You see, the origin of the Martini is somewhat fuzzy, but almost everyone agrees that the Martini started life as the Martinez, and when you consider the ingredients and how cocktails evolve, it’s easy to believe.
As important and recognizable as the Martini is in the pantheon of cocktails, few people have ever heard of the Martinez. Instead, we recognize the V-shaped glass dripping with sweat, the ice cold gin and vermouth glistening like a clear, perfect gem, the olive or lemon twist garnish—the Martini is iconic. And yet, we are really talking about the Dry Martini, a more accurate name because of the fact that it is made with dry, French vermouth. Of course, that would imply there was a sweet version, right?
It’s true. The first Martini was concocted of gin and sweet,
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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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Those of you who live in the Twin Cities might already know that this Sunday is Grand Old Day, the largest one-day festival in the midwest that takes place every June along St. Paul’s Grand Avenue. It’s a fun time with a parade, lots of food, music, art, sporting events and so on. They even created their own iPhone app for the event. What does all that have to do with the Drink Of The Week? Well, as a St. Paul resident, I like to host a backyard barbecue every year to coincide with the huge festival, and for several years running I have served a rum punch—in fish bowls, no less! This year is no exception, but instead of my regular basic fruit juice medley, I decided to make an honest-to-history punch that would make Jerry Thomas proud.
So, who’s Jerry Thomas, you might ask? Only the
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Last year I infused some vodka with rhubarb and it turned out so good that it was gone too quickly. In fact, I believe this was the fastest we went through an infusion ever. I’ve done everything from chili peppers and pineapple to coffee and vanilla, but the rhubarb is my favorite. This year, I decided to try it again and I let it go a little longer to see how the flavor intensified. It turns out that the flavor of rhubarb develops very quickly and after only one day you can see a its gorgeous pink tint and smell the effects. This time I let it sit over the long holiday weekend, and I think I have another winner!
Infusing vodka is about the easiest mixology adventure you can take, and a great way to get started thinking about the flavors you can achieve in a cocktail. To do
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Yesterday, I attended the “Mixology 3: Make Your Own Bitters” event organized by Studio Bricolage and hosted by the Bradstreet Crafthouse at the Graves 601 Hotel. I was one of about 40 individuals in attendance at what was the third event in a mixology educational series. Although I missed the first two installments, I was happy to finally attend. I found this event to be hands-on and informative and I thought I would post a quick review.
Everyone was pre-registered, so we were greeted at the entrance with printed name tags and a chilled cocktail—a fantastic way to start. Rocky Mountain Punch which is a heavenly mixture of rum, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, champagne or pineapple juice with Angostura bitters made a pleasant and refreshing introduction to the topic of the afternoon: Bitters.
The group was divided into two sections. Some were led into the back
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Normally, it might not make sense to review a bar so far out of the Twin Cities jurisdiction, but I decided to make an exception for The Violet Hour. This place is so unique it’s worth describing, especially since it’s not completely unrealistic to consider Chicago a good weekend getaway with the possibility that someone reading this might add it to their itinerary.
Probably the first thing you notice about The Violet Hour is the fact that its hard to notice—the first floor of this building is decorated in tasteful graffiti that looks more like an unfinished construction site than an exclusive den of mixology. The only indication that you have the right location is the address numbers on the side. Without that, you might actually miss the door which is camouflaged against the painted wall. This “hidden” effect is an homage to the speakeasies of the Prohibition
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Antique/Vintage Store Spotlight:
 Short Cordial, Crystal stem |
 Coupe, Teardrop Stem |
 Coupe, Tall, Angled rim, 8 oz |
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