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Since today's Halloween, I thought I'd give you some suggestions for drinks you might want to serve at your costume party tonight. They aren't very difficult to make and the ingredients are readily available.
The first drink up on our menu is the Fallen Angel Martini. Fill a mixing glass with ice, and pour in equal parts vanilla vodka, Irish cream, hazelnut liqueur and chocolate liqueur and a dash of cream (half&half or milk works). Shake it and strain it into a chilled glass. To go top shelf on this drink, my suggestions would be to get Stoli Vanilla, Frangelico (hazelnut) and Godiva (chocolate) and I'd always use Bailey's, but that's me. St. Brendan's, Carolan's and even McCormick's will work.
Next up on the menu is the Banshee (aka White Monkey). Pour 1/2 oz. each of white creme de cacao and banana liqueur into your mixing glass full of ice and add 2 oz. of milk or cream. Shake it and strain it into a rocks glass half full of ice.
Number three on the list is the Bermuda Triangle (spooky place, right?). Fill a tall (pint) glass with ice and pour in 1 oz. of spiced rum (Captain Morgan's as an example), 1 oz. of peach schnapps and fill the rest of the glass with orange juice. Shake it and serve it.
I've saved my personal favorite (for looks and taste) for last. It's called the Bloody Brain, and if you do it right, it'll taste good, but it'll look disgusting. I've made those for people and when they say that it looks disgusting, I say, "Thank you," because I know I did it right. This is one of those drinks where you probably want a pour spout on your bottles and why will become apparent in a minute. This glass also works best in either a pony glass or Dutch cordial glass for the looks. Fill the glass 3/4 full of strawberry schnapps. Next, you want to fill the rest with Irish cream, but a little bit at a time. Hold your finger over the big hole on the pour spout and pour it out of the air hole. To get it to pour this way, you may have to rock the bottle back and forth. What you want is to get a lava lamp effect going with the Irish cream. Stop there and you have a Brain. To make it bloody, you start pouring in grenadine, drop by drop. Pour it the same way you did the Irish cream. When there's enough grenadine in it, it will drop to the bottom of the glass, producing the "Ugh!" factor you're looking for. It may look bad, but it tastes like strawberries & cream with a touch of cherry.
Have a happy Halloween and remember, please drink responsibly.
Sours don't get much easier. 1 oz. of the alcohol, 2 oz. of the sour mix, shake and strain. A trained monkey could do it. Most of the time, instead of just saying they want a whiskey sour, they'll say the name of the brand of whiskey they want, like a "Knob Creek whiskey sour on the rocks". Instead of an amaretto sour, they'll ask for a "Disaronno sour". One variation on the sour is the Stone Sour. It's still 1 oz. of the alcohol, but you pour in 1 oz. each of orange juice and sour mix. I'm not sure how good it would be, but you could also try pineapple juice, as most bars have that.
If you're reading this blog, you've probably heard of the Tequila Sunrise. You fill a highball glass with ice, pour in 1 oz. of tequila, 2 oz. of orange juice and top it with a 1/2 oz. of grenadine. When you're adding the grenadine, pour it around the outside of the glass. As it settles, that's where the sunrise part of the name comes from.
Now, if you like the Tequila Sunrise, but you're looking for something a little different, try a Kentucky Sunrise with bourbon, a Russian Sunrise with vodka (basically a screwdriver with grenadine), a London Sunrise with gin, a Swiss Sunrise with white creme de cacao (since the Swiss do chocolate), or a German Sunrise with Rumple Minze (that'll have a kick to it). Those last three came off the top of my head, so if you order one, tell the bartender where you got the idea. :D
That's it for now. As always, please drink responsibly.
One of the best things about a DVR is being able to set it to record a whole series of shows without having to set it over and over. The show that I've been DVRing lately is a show on the Fine Living Network (FLN) called Great Cocktails. Today's drinks are two of the recipes I saw on the two episodes they showed Friday morning (3 and 3:30am CDT).
Woodland Punch is named for the Woodland Plantation in West Pointe a la Hache, LA, about 40 minutes south of New Orleans. You may be thinking, "What's so special about the Woodland Plantation?" That's the name of the home on the label of a bottle of Southern Comfort, and it is now a bed and breakfast.
Anyway, to make this punch with a nice kick to it, get out a large punch bowl. The first ingredient is, as you can imagine, 1 entire bottle of Southern Comfort (which is peach and whiskey-flavored). Next, pour in two liters of pineapple juice. Follow that with 4 oz. each of maraschino cherry juice and club soda. If you'd like it a little sweeter, you can add more of the cherry juice. Finally, squeeze in the juice of a whole lime. Stir the mixture and it should be a pinkish color. When you serve it, garnish each glass with a lime wedge and a cherry.
Now, what to do if you don't like pineapple juice (there's something wrong with you, but there's something wrong with all of us)? Try other citrus juices, like orange or grapefruit (ruby red grapefruit for something not so tart).
The Whiskey Tea Mash was presented on the show as a lighter alternative to some other cocktails (like the pina colada which weighs in at over 600 calories in one drink). The tool you'll need that I haven't mentioned before is a muddler (also known as a pestle, like pharmacists use to make powders from some of the pills they dispense.
To start, you want to drop a lemon wedge and a peeled slice of a peach in the bottom of a mixing glass with 1-1/2 oz. of simple syrup (a syrup made from equal parts sugar and water). Take the muddler and put the end that looks a bit like the knob on a baseball bat in the bottom of the glass and start to muddle or crush the lemon and peach. Do this until you've gotten all the juice out of both pieces of fruit. Add ice to the glass and then pour in 1-1/2 oz. of bourbon (a kind of whiskey) and 3 oz. of cold-brewed unsweetened tea. Shake it well and strain it over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with another slice of peach and a lemon wedge. Yum.
That's it for now, and as always, please drink responsibly.
Today, I thought I'd give you a few drinks that putting a different garnish on it changes the name of the drink. You might be able to trip up your bartender by ordering one.
First up is the Rum Sour. In a mixing glass 2/3 full of ice, pour in 1 oz. of light rum (I prefer Castillo's... it's inexpensive, but it tastes like it's not) and 2 oz. of sour mix. Shake it and strain it into a chilled glass and garnish it with an orange and cherry. Now, make that same drink, but leave off the garnish and you've got the original recipe for the Daiquiri. Don't confuse it with the frozen Strawberry Daiquiri.
Next on today's menu is the classic Margarita. First, take a lime wedge and wet the outside of the rim of a margarita glass. Then roll the outside rim of that glass through some salt. The reason you don't really want to simply set the rim in the salt is you don't want the salt getting on the inside of the rim and then falling down into the drink. Hold the glass over the salt and gently tap it to knock off the excess. Next, in your mixing glass with ice, pour in 1 oz. of tequila, 1/2 oz. of triple sec, 1/2 oz. of lime juice (about 1/2 of a lime) and 1 oz. of sour mix. Shake it and strain it into the margarita glass. Do all of that, but don't salt the rim and you've got a drink called the Naked Lady. Now, there are other recipes for drinks called the Naked Lady, but this is just another one of them. Most people in the Midwest don't ask for their margarita this way simply because most bartenders will ask if the customer wants salt or not.
And finally, another classic, the Rum & Coke. In a highball glass with ice in it, pour in 1 oz. of rum, 2 oz. of Coke (Pepsi will work too, if that's what you have). Gotta love the simple ones, right? Garnish that drink with a lime wedge and it becomes a Cuba Libre. If you've seen the movie Cocktail, you may remember the scene where Tom Cruise is going nuts trying to figure out what a Cuba Libre is and finally asks the server, "Why didn't you tell me that it's a Rum & Coke with a lime?" The server shrugs and walks away.
That's all for today, folks. Remember, please drink responsibly.
Today, I'm going to give you some more taste-alikes and one "look-alike" (you'll get the idea). You'll see a couple of different candies and another dessert. It's nice to get the taste without all that pesky chewing.
First up is the Tootsie Roll. Get out the mixing glass and fill it with ice. Pour in 1 oz. of brown creme de cacao (chocolate, also comes in white), 1/2 oz. of vodka, 1/2 oz. of triple sec and a splash of orange juice (a splash is an inexact measurement up to 1/2 oz.). Stir/swirl and strain into a shot glass.
Next is the Cherry Lifesaver. Pour 1-1/2 oz. of amaretto, 1/2 oz. of Southern Comfort (peach and whiskey flavor) and a splash of cranberry juice into your mixing glass full of ice. Stir/swirl and strain into a shot glass.
And for dessert is the Carrot Cake. Fill your mixing glass up with ice and pour in 1 oz. each of Irish cream, coffee liqueur (Tia Maria for top shelf) and butterscotch schnapps with 1/2 oz. of cinnamon schnapps. This time, you'll shake it and strain it into a chilled glass.
And for the "look-alike," we have the Baby Guinness. This is one you might have to ask a bartender for (I don't want to give away ALL of the secrets). In a shot glass, pour in 1-3/4 oz. of coffee liqueur (Kahlua works great for this) and on top of that layer 1/4 oz. of Irish cream. Take one look at it and you'll see that it looks like a baby pint of Guinness.
That's it for now... remember to please enjoy this stuff responsibly.
Today, I thought I'd go through a few "taste-alike" recipes. What I mean by "taste-alike" is that they taste like the thing they're named after. In some cases, you wouldn't think that combination of ingredients would taste the way it does, but it works. And below, there will be places where I'm referring to a mixing glass... If you've got a shaker tin and want to use that, feel free.
The first drink on today's menu is the Oatmeal Cookie. There are a couple of different recipes, but here's the one I like. Fill a mixing (pint) glass with ice. Pour in 1/2 oz. of the following: Jagermeister, Cinnamon Schnapps, Irish Cream (I prefer Bailey's), and Butterscotch Schnapps. Shake it and then strain it into a chilled glass. Yum.
Next up is the Apple Jolly Rancher. Get some ice in the mixing glass and then pour in 1 oz. of Apple Schnapps (not Apple Pucker), 1/2 oz. of Citrus Vodka (like Absolut Citron), 1/2 oz. of Triple Sec (Cointreau, if you want to go top shelf), and a splash each of Sweet & Sour Mix and Sprite. Stir it and strain it into a chilled glass. If you'd like, and don't want to get a bar spoon dirty, swirling the glass will work too.
The last one for today is the Chocolate Cake. This is one of those that you wouldn't think would work, but does. Pop some ice into the mixing glass and pour in 3/4 oz. each of Citrus Vodka and Hazelnut Liqueur (like Frangelico). Stir or swirl and strain into a shot glass. You'd garnish that with a sugar-coated lemon. You take the shot and then bite into the sugar-coated lemon. Tastes just like chocolate cake.
That's it for now... remember, please enjoy this stuff responsibly.
If you've stumbled across this blog by accident, you may be wondering what it's all about. Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you. I'm trained as a bartender and I like talking about some of the drinks I've made for people and how you can change them a little to either give it a new look or change the taste a bit. New posts may come as often as daily or possibly weekly.
In each post, I will lay out the recipe for a popular drink (sometimes it may just be one that I like). I'll give you the ingredients, what kind of glass to use and how to go about mixing it together. Today, I thought I'd start with one of the most popular drinks, the Long Island Iced Tea.
To start, get a pint glass and fill it with ice. Once you've done that, pour in 1/2 ounce of each of the following: vodka, gin, light rum, tequila and triple sec. Some bars will leave out the tequila, calling it a Texas Tea if the put it in. Next, you pour in 1 ounce of Sour Mix. Sour mix is available at a good liquor store, but sometimes it's better if you make your own. At the end, I'll give you a good recipe for making it yourself. Anyway, after you pour in the sour mix, cap the glass with a metal mixing tin (making sure it's sealed), turn it over and shake it 8-10 times. Take the mixing tin off the glass (sometimes you may need to gently hit it with the heel of your palm) and pour the contents back into the glass. Top the drink with a little Coke (or Pepsi if you prefer) and stir it with a straw. Garnish it with a lime wedge (over the edge of the glass) and you're done.
Now, you might be wondering why you'd put the cola on top after you shake it. The only reason you'd do that is to keep from flattening the cola. It's not a big thing, but if the person you're making it for drinks them a lot, they'll notice.
Okay, that's the recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea. One variation is called a Miami Ice (in some places). It's a blue version of the Long Island. How do you turn it blue? Substitute blue curacao (pronounced cure-a-sow) for the triple sec. They taste exactly the same. The only difference is the color. If you want to see how good your bartender is, ask them if they know where blue curacao comes from (from the curacao oranges that come from the Curacao Islands off the coast of Venezuela). Now, to keep it blue, you can't use a regular cola. Instead, use 7-Up or Sprite. It will taste a little different, but it will still be blue.
Personally, with the sour mix, the drink is a little too tart for my taste. So I will substitute lemonade for the sour mix. You still get the citrus taste, but it will be a little sweeter.
Now, for the recipe for the sour mix if you'd like to make it at home. A lot of times, the fresher the ingredients, the better the drink will taste. A word of caution: If you have vegan friends you'll be making this drink for, you may want to tell them the sour mix has an egg white in it. Or you may not. It's up to you.
In a blender, combine 1 egg white, 1 cup of water, one cup of fresh lemon juice, 4 heaping tbsp of sugar (or 1/4 cup). Blend until the sugar is dissolved. Store it cold in a sealed container and you'll need to throw out what you don't use after 8 hours.
