"cocktail recipes" news and stories

Pour yourself a good Bloody this weekend, with a little help from "Top Chef" judge (and KitchenDaily expert) Gail Simmons. Never one to shy away from a little heat, Gail gives her cocktail a healthy dose of horseradish, and adds pickled onions and green beans for an extra shot of tart flavor. It's almost Saturday-brunch time. Get mixing.

Recipe for Gail Simmon's Spicy Bloody Mary with Pickled Vegetables

Have you ever been looking through old recipes and just got dumbfounded with measurement terms such as ponies or jiggers? Or when a recipe calls for a wineglass of a liquor -- what does that mean when you have a cabinet full of various wineglass sizes? Have you ever wondered exactly how much juice is meant when a recipe calls for the juice of one lemon? Never mind the fact that fruit today is often larger than it was a hundred years ago.

Sometimes trying to replicate a dish or drink from a really old book turns problematic when you can't accurately measure ingredients. It can all get even more mind-boggling when you learn that a British fluid ounce contains four-hundredths of an ounce more than the American ounce. What? If a recipe doesn't specify, the term "ounces" is an American measurement. At least we can count on 2 pints in 1 quart no matter whether following British or American measurements. Often the British measurement system is referred to as "imperial." Then the metric system adds even more complication to it all.

Anybody who knows me knows I prefer American whiskey like bourbon and rye to barley whiskeys like Scotch and Irish. I do enjoy a dram of other styles from time to time, particularly from a dear gentleman named John Glaser, the whisky maker behind Compass Box brands.

His rebel whiskeys paired with a rebel rye girl named Abigail Gullo recently turned up another cocktail to defy my "there ain't no such thing as a good Scotch cocktail" banter. As a fellow lady bartender, Ms. Gullo loves her American whiskey cocktails like me, but took on the challenge to make one I can find palatable. She combined the pungency of Scotch with the herbal Chartreuse and floral sweetness of her lavender syrup, bringing it all together with the brightness of lemon.

As a nod to her French-Canadian roots, she named the drink in honor of friends attending law school at McGill University in Montreal.

Check out the recipe for the McGill Law Review Cocktail after the jump.

The Riveter. Photo: LeNell Smothers.

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label called Red Hook Rye and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.

I drink rosé year round. Get over the idea that it's a flimsy soda-pop wine meant for picnics. When in doubt for food pairing, I often go with the pink. Rosé can be so versatile, even as an ingredient in a cocktail.

You can still find Bordeaux bottles every now and then, labeled claret, that are dark, dry, "serious" rosés. For my cocktail feature this week, I strongly suggest picking up a bottle. If not Bordeaux, look for a rosé made with Bordeaux grapes like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc or a malbec that's so dark, it's almost a light red.

Rosé ain't for wimps. Neither is this cocktail named after Rosie, the American icon who represented the many women who went to work in factories to help us make it through World War II. Toast all the beautiful and strong women in your life who make this world a better place!

Get the recipe for Rosé the Riveter after the jump. ...

What's that sound? Corks a-popping from shore to shore? No doubt bubbly was the beverage du jour for many folks, but mixologists both pro and amateur took it upon themselves to create signature beverages for the election and inauguration of our 44th President. When tasked with that for a friend's bash, I put some thought into the national origins of each element, so that they might match those of our new Commander-In-Chief. With a bit of tinkering, a new and semi-perfect union was formed -- The Barry O.

The Barry-O

Equal parts cocoa powder and sugar
1 1/2 oz Amarula
1 oz bourbon
1/4 oz Kona coffee liqueur (I like Trader Vic's)

Dampen the edge of a cocktail glass, and roll in a blend of equal parts sugar and cocoa powder.

Shake Amarula, bourbon and coffee liqueur with ice to blend and strain into the prepared glass.

Note: Amarula is an African cream liqueur made from the fruit of the Marula tree. Bourbon is a distinctively American whiskey, named for, and largely produced in Kentucky's Bourbon County. Coffee designated as Kona can only come from the Kona District of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Africa, America & Hawaii - all with a li'l dash of chocolate.


So - whatcha sip to celebrate (or drown your sorrows) this historic night? Share it in the comments.