Continue reading Don't Judge a Bottle by Its Label - Vintage 17-Year-Old Bourbon

A few years ago - which, if memory serves me, corresponds to "the Paleolithic era" when you're young - jaws dropped all around the oenophilic community when Jay McInerney was named wine columnist for House and Garden magazine.

McInerney has been considered something of a voice of a generation (read: mine), but I always thought he was unfairly freighted with mis-perceptions and even some guttersniping: a talented writer who writes about the social milieu can be misunderstood as having an attitude, and even if they do, it is the writing that should, and ultimately does, speak for itself.

It seems that many among the cigars-and-snifters crowd dismissed McInerney's wine writing as disdainfully as they would a box of Franzia, while many among the hipster-wine-bar set dismissed McInerney's wine writing as cloyingly as they would embrace the "irony" of that selfsame box of wine. But anyone so dismissing often so dismissed for no better reason than the fashion of scorning the 1980s, a critical posture that the decade itself certainly bears some responsibility for. I've actually read one reference to this best-selling - and, to my mind both as reader and writer, very talented - author as a "wine brat."

Continue reading A Hedonist in the Cellar - Book Review

Though I drank a lot of root beer years ago, these days all of my soda needs are taken up by Diet Coke and Pepsi (yes, I have someone learned to love both of them). But icy cold root beer can hit the spot on a warm day. I have to admit I've never had it with alcohol involved.

But AOL Food has the recipe (from DrinksTV) for Hard Root Beer, which is basically 8 ounces of root beer and 2 ounces of spiced rum. Pretty simple and delicious-sounding (unless, of course, you don't like root beer and/or rum, I guess). Some people, however, think the amount of rum should be kicked up a notch. This one calls for some experimentation.

I've never been very good at making cocktails where you have to pour in the ingredients in a certain way to create a layered effect. But the colors on this one, if you can do it right, make the drink seem rather intoxicating (no pun intended).

It's the Traffic Light, a red, yellow, and green concoction that has a few variations. This one comes from In The Spirit and involves a shot glass (the pic above is a slightly different version, from B52s). You need a half shot of of Midori, a half shot of Disaronno Amaretto, and a shot of De Kuyper Cranberry Liqueur. You pour each one (in the order you see) over the back of a spoon, being carefully to layer them in the glass. The site categorizes this drink as "hard."

Needless to say, just because this drink has the name Traffic Light doesn't mean you can drive after drinking it.

I don't know if this recipe refers to the month of June or a woman named June. Perhaps Ward Cleaver created it after his wife got all jealous and suspicious when he worked late at the office so many nights in a row. But it just sounds like a June (the month) the drink, so here we go.

It's from Alex's Cocktails in the UK and includes very summer-sounding ingredients such as Midori, white rum, Cointreau, and pineapple juice.

Continue reading Tuesday Happy Hour: Jealous June

I don't think of bourbon as a summer drink ingredient. Summer drinks to me are ones that are fruity and light and crisp and maybe have an umbrella in them. I mean, they don't have to have an umbrella in them, but fruity and light are what I think of when I think of summer drinks. Bourbon is a harder potion to me, made for fall and winter nights.

But this recipe over at MarthaStewart.com for Eli's Elixir (created by Allen Katz) sounds promising, because it does have that fruit element in it (apple juice, apples) along with 2 oz of bourbon. You also use a Homemade Ginger Cordial in the recipe too.

It goes without saying that you shouldn't drink and drive. And I would add that you certainly shouldn't drink and drive 200 miles per hour.

This Sunday at 1pm marks the start of the Indianapolis 500 race. And to go along with the popular sporting event is a series of cocktails. More precisely, official "Victory Cocktails," including Pit Lane Lemonade and the Winner's Choice Cocktail. After the jump is the recipe for the latter, created by Curtis Parker of the Mudsocks Bar & Grille in Noblesville, IN.

The Winner's Choice Cocktail actually sounds better to me (I like gin, not vodka), but I didn't, um, have a picture of it.

Continue reading Weekend Happy Hour: Drinks for the Indy 500

When I think of the word "Bonecrusher," I don't usually think of a champagne cocktail, but that's what this is.

It's from WineIntro.com (I like how they have a pic of the ingredients you'll be using - more sites should do that), and even though it has champagne, it also includes rum, gin, and vodka, so maybe that's where the crushing of bones begins. This drink is a lot stronger than it looks, even if it does also include grenadine and Sprite.

Continue reading Hump Day Happy Hour: Bonecrusher

For a couple of years in the 1990s, I drank ginger beer all the time. I can't even remember what brands I used to drink, but I was always experimenting with the stuff to see what cocktails I could come up with. I have to admit I never tried mixing it with apple.

This is the Apple Bomb, and besides ginger beer it features applejack, apple juice, and a lot of apple pieces on a skewer.

Continue reading Friday Happy Hour: Apple Bomb

We conclude this particular numbered cocktails theme week with the One-Armed Bandit.

I'm more of a red wine guy than a white wine guy (much more, actually), but this drink has so many other ingredients in it that I love that I'm going to try it tonight. It's white wine with Cointreau, grenadine, oranges, lemon, and lime. Cocktail.com doesn't say who created the drink, but does say that it was "discovered in Vegas." That's good enough for me.

Continue reading Friday Happy Hour: One-Armed Bandit

Continuing with the theme week of numbered cocktails comes the 20th Century, from the book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. Wikipedia says it was created in the late 30s to help promote the introduction of the Hudson Dreyfus Engine, which powered the 20th Century Limited Train.

I like the color.

Continue reading Thursday Happy Hour: 20th Century

Continuing with the "numbered cocktail" theme, I think this is the first drink of the Happy Hour series I've posted that's served in a shot glass.

This is the 747. Not sure why it's named after an airplane, but some cocktails have mysterious origins. This is made with Kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream, and Frangelico. From those ingredients I'm sure you can tell immediately what it might taste like and if you'd like it or not.

Continue reading Hump Day Happy Hour: The 747

I think I inadvertently started a cocktail "theme" week here yesterday: cocktails with numbers. Yesterday I had the Shane 75, and today is the recipe for Esplanade 1925. This one is also from Imbibe.

It's a drink that was inspired by the Regent Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb. Esplanade 1925 also happens to be the named of the lounge/bar there.

Continue reading Tuesday Happy Hour: Esplanade 1925

Saw this recipe in the latest issue of Imbibe. It's named after the son of Highland Kitchen owners Marci Joy and Marc Romano. You have to be a fan of blackberries to enjoy it, since it's not only made with blackberry brandy but also has a fresh blackberry floating in it.

Continue reading Monday Happy Hour: Shane 75

I almost didn't post this, because the sound on the video is so terrible (really, why would anyone film a drink recipe video at a bar that's not only open but one where there's loud music in the background?), but decided to post it anyway since some sharp readers might be able to figure out the ingredients. There's also a Facebook group for the Wet Wednesday, so if you're a member check that out.

Tomorrow is the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner, and Reuters has come up with a bunch of cocktails inspired by some current Presidential candidates and other political people.

The Barack O'Bomber mixes vodka, Jagermeister, Red Bull, and a lime wedge. The Senior Moment (I'll go out on a limb and assume they're referring to McCain here) is a simple scotch on the rocks. And the McGreevey-Tini, which is a dirty martini that, of course, comes in three parts.

After the jump, the recipe for the Love Potion No. 9, inspired by a certain ex-Governor.

Continue reading Friday Happy Hour: Political cocktails

Do you find yourself so busy and stressed that you can't take the 3 minutes it usually takes to mix a cocktail and you want to find a way to knock that time down to one minute? Yeah, me either, but this could still be fun.

It's the One Minute Mojito from FineLiving.com. Seems to me the muddling would push things over that one minute mark, but maybe not. The recipe is after the jump, but you can also watch this video that shows you how to make it.

Continue reading Hump Day Happy Hour: One Minute Mojito

That's right, Monday Happy Hour. Who says that Happy Hours have to be reserved for the end of the work week?

This is another recipe from the great retro cocktail book Atomic Cocktails. Last week I gave you the recipe for Webster's F-Street Layway Plan, and this week it's the Urban Bourbon. Yes, it does indeed include bourbon, and also something called Tuaca, which I must admit I've never had before (that I know of, anyway). The book describes it as an Italian liqueur that "spins the mystery of vanilla, orange, and almond." Sounds good to me.

Continue reading Monday Happy Hour: Urban Bourbon

I have no idea what makes this a "space" cocktail. It has gin, frangelico, and lemon juice, but I don't really see anything space age or astronomical or sky-oriented about it. Maybe it tastes like space? Well, if something tastes like space to you maybe you're taking something a little stronger than frangelico.

The recipe is from 1001 Cocktails, and it's pretty straightforward.

Continue reading Friday Happy Hour: Space Cocktail

One of my favorite drink books is Atomic Cocktails by Karen Brooks, Gideon Brosker, and Reed Darmon. It's a guide to the hip, swingin' cocktails of eras gone by. But it's a combination of retro and modern drinks, beautifully written and illustrated. There are sections on how to stock a bar, how to do basic drink mixes, and even a glossary of bar terms. Recipe chapter titles include "Martini Madness," "I Love Juicy," "Atomic Cocktails," and "Swank, Civil, and Seductive."

After the jump is the recipe for Webster's F-Street Layaway Plan. The name of the drink is just as long as the list of ingredients.

Continue reading Tuesday Happy Hour: Webster's F-Street Layaway Plan