"DrinkRecipes" news and stories

Several years ago I was asked to add some fun drinks to a girl's slumber party -- the parents weren't quite sure whether cocktail shakers and muddlers were appropriate for a party for minors. Loaded with everything from kiwis to kumquats, I proved that kids can create some pretty tasty libations with no alcohol involved.

The Shirley Temple is still a favorite. The original recipe of two parts ginger ale, one part orange juice and a teaspoon of grenadine has been simplified to just dashing some grenadine into ginger ale or lemon-lime soda. Any bartender working in an establishment that allows families inevitably gets asked to make a drink for a youngster. If not a Shirley Temple, the other culprits are virgin frozen daiquiris or piña coladas. However, serving alcohol free drinks can involve more thought than simply leaving out the alcohol from your frozen daiquiri mix. Once the booze component is gone, often what's left behind is out of balance and overly sweet. It takes a bit more thought to balance out flavors.

I had the pleasure of working with Dutch bartender Timo Janse in Amsterdam last year when I discovered he had written a cocktail book for kids called "Shake It!" (You won't find it in English, but if you read Dutch it's a must have.) Timo prefers his Dark Invader saying the blackberries remind him of happy treats his mom made from their garden when he was a child.

Recipes after the jump...

With recipes on the ipod, is it any surprise that now there’s the iPod bartender? Created through podSites, the iPod bartender lets you decide what kind of drinks you want by choosing from things like daiquiris and layered cocktails, or simply picking the type of alcohol such as gin or rum. All together, there are 230 drinks that can be stored on your iPod in a notes format.

There’s also a shuffle feature where you can create your very own “BoozeMix.”

Similarly, Apple's download site features the Podtender, pictured here, which features roughly 900 drink recipes.

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