My fashion-forward roommate reads Nylon Magazine, and I was flipping through it the other day when I came across the drink of the month: the Grapes of Wrath martini. The Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorite novels, but to see it as a martini? I'm not so sure how I feel.
It would be one thing if the magazine had designed a martini around a book like The Great Gatsby (I'd actually bet there are many), but The Grapes of Wrath? I mean, it takes place during the Great Depression -- none of the characters go near anything like a martini, especially not one featuring Belvedere Vokda, grapes, apple juice, elderflower cordial, and a dashes of lemon juice and sauvignon blanc. Is it blasphemous, or am I reading too far into a name?
But the whole thing got me wondering about other novels, and whether they have drinks named after them. I found a Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind (another personal favorite), which consists of peach liqueur, cranberry juice and a lime wedge. That's appropriate enough -- though I'd have loved to see something perhaps with a touch of sour mix! I found a Monte Cristo with coffee and orange liqueurs, hot coffee and whipped cream, though the drink could be named after one of the various cities by that name and not the book The Count of Monte Cristo. Anyone know of any others? Extra points for books you read in high school English and for drinks that are wildly inappropriate for their respective novels.
So, I've gotta hand it to Starbucks. Its new site, My Starbucks Idea, is actually...well, a good idea. You sign up and simply type in a suggestion that you think the coffee chain should adopt, and post it to the site. You can also view others' advice, and vote on ones you think are worthwhile.
Then - and this is the kicker - someone from the corporation actually reads the ideas and even puts some of them into practice. Several of the ideas on the site are currently "under review," like the suggestions for implementing frequent buyer punch cards, or for implementing free Wifi access in every store (obviously, many city locations already have WiFi service).
I'm also surprised at the quality of the suggestions. Though I'd imagine that the site is highly monitored to eliminate the crazies (or, for that matter, Starbucks haters), many of the responses are actually decent and well thought-out. And some, on the other hand, are flat-out hilarious: one poster calls Starbucks' music "pseudo-intellectual," "over-produced" and "noisy garbage," while another requests that the music in his local store be turned down, so that when he's "making a business call, it doesn't sound like I'm calling from a public place." Um...isn't that what your home and office are for?
Hmm...so I guess suggesting "STOP EXPANDING YOUR CHAIN!" would probably get flagged, huh? Just a thought.
When you go to a restaurant and get a drink - whether it's a cocktail or iced tea or just water - do you usually get a slice of lemon with it? Well, after watching this news report from HealthInspections.com...ahem
There's been a longstanding assumption that journalists and drinking have always gone hand in hand. I'm not sure how rumors like this get started. I'm here to tell you that journalists only drink when they absolutely have to, on days of the week that end in a "y." No more than that.*
This drink is The Journalist, and it's made with gin, two kinds of Vermouth, Triple Sec, lime juice, and bitters. To all the writers out there, make one for yourself tonight and type away!
Is that a cucumber in your market totebag or are you just happy to see me?
I would say that more so than any of the other phallic foods, the straighter, thicker cucumber is probably the most, in my humble opinion of course, accurate. However, shape and size aren't the only things that matter when it comes to turning on a woman with a cucumber. Aside from its phallic shape, the scent of cucumbers is believed to stimulate women by increasing blood flow to the vagina.
That must be why so many of us love those cucumber melon scented bath products!
There are a gazillion martini recipes out there, and sometimes it's hard to pick one we either want to drink regularly or experiment with (I like mine with gin, thank you very much).
Here's one from the terrific book The Craft of the Cocktail, by legendary mixologist Dale DeGroff. It's for the Smoky Martini, and it's not only a very simple concoction it also has a very cool, mysterious name. Full recipe (along with variation) after the jump (the pic is from another site, not sure if it's the same as this recipe).
It's just a matter of time before MyCuppaTea takes its rightful place on my kitchen counter. Finally, a coffee cup that understands that no one in his or her under-caffeinated mind thinks of adding one or two exacting teaspoons of milk to one's coffee. In my pre-java, pre-verbal state, all I do is pour enough milk to create a cozy, very con leche brew. It's all blind pourpourpour -- stir, then slowly sip to wakefulness. Gizmodo found this mug from that subscribes to the PANTONE school of coffee coloration. Now you can gauge your coffee-milk ratio by a burnt sienna for Just Tea to a bisque for Milky. While taking my coffee black would probably add a certain edgy elegance, I land somewhere just this side of Classic British. Just enough milk to blanket a bold French Roast without taming it.
I'd love to see the PANTONE principle adopted in other culinary realms from meat -- "I'd like my steak done Flamingo" -- to baked goods -- "Those cookies should be Mojave Sand not Colorado Timber!" -- to vegetables -- "Shouldn't broccoli florets come out a little more Lily Pad and a lot less Algae?".
By now, you all know I have an odd fascination with energy drinks. Part of the reason is that my over-stressed, overworked and underslept body body need them -- I think I've had so much coffee in my life already that I've developed a tolerance to the effects of the caffeine in it. Part of the reason is that...nothing. I don't know why else I would want to drink a beverage that almost always tastes like over-sweetened Capri Sun with the bitter chemical aftertaste of say, nail polish remover.
Okay, so that's a little harsh.
It doesn't really taste like Capri Sun.
Now there is a new class of drinks that takes energy to the next level. These drinks claim not to be zero calories, but negative calories, because the chemical formulation actually causes you to, well, burn calories. Granted, energy drinks do the same, since technically, with all that increased "energy," you will run around like a chicken with her head cut off. If you recall, we posted about Enviga last year, which has the same marketing spiel - drink a can of Enviga, you potato del couch, and you will lose weight just sitting there eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos dipped in Blue Cheese Dressing! (I did not try this, but don't think I wouldn't). I tried Enviga. I didn't lose weight.
Celsius is a new energy drink in this category. I tried it. It was...interesting.
A friend of mine brought over a bottle of the most obscenely pink drink to my house the other day, Nuvo, and asked me to try it because the bottle very clearly says "For Her" (my friend is a "he"). I was very very very (very!) skeptical because though I have this problem with squealing like a teeny little Hello Kitty of a girl when I see anything pink, I am wary of cocktails that are pre-mixed and bottled. They almost always taste like...cocktails that are pre-mixed and bottled. In other words, I'd rather drink Alka-seltzer on the rocks.
The drink is called Nuvo, is from France, and is supposed to be a sparkling vodka. The cocktail is a blend of vodka and Champagne, which is what gives Nuvo it's "sparkle." If the pink doesn't tip you off to the fact that the drink is "fem," then the shape of the bottle will. You can't tell from the photo I took, but when I first saw the bottle, I thought it was something a little more naughty than what I eventually realized it was. It's shaped like a giant tube of lipstick.
Since I just reviewed the Imperial Exclusive Vodka earlier today I thought I would share a recipe from their website using the Imperial Exclusive Vodka for your Happy Hour. À votre santé! (To your health!)
Grand Imperial Cosmo 6 parts Imperial vodka Splash of top shelf orange liqueur 1 part cranberry Splash lime juice Shake with ice and serve into chilled glass garnish with lime spiral
As much of a cursing, swearing, tomboy of a girl that I am, I will admit that I have some pretty deep gender-biases when it comes to drinks, and it doesn't even go both ways. See, I think it's okay for a lady to drink a gentleman's gin and tonic, but I cannot stand seeing a guy drinking a Cosmopolitan.
I already feel this way, but if yo're wondering how to mix a drink for a guy, LadyThrills has a few tips, as well as recipes for cocktails that are a little more fun than a boring old Scotch on the rocks. Thing to keep in mind are color (obviously, no pink), texture (not too sticky or syrupy), mixture (not sweet), and garnishes (think about it this way - most guys don't accessorize much). My favorite drink on the list is the dry martini. That's just unisex.
On the weekends at the beach, you're wasting away in Margaritaville. During the week, you're a swanky Rat Packer at the uptown lounge. Honey, it sounds like you're going through a little identity crisis.
Alyson's Margaritatini is just the thing for the swanky, sophisticated beach bums. It's a combination of margarita ingredients, shaken and served (halfway) "up" in stemless glasses like a martini. It's got "none of the melt, all the ole!" Sound good? Not even close. The kicker is a little secret ingredient that you can find out only by clicking through to get the recipe.
It isn't really fair to call this review a "taste test," because I have basically resigned to the fact that any energy drink, no matter who makes it, tastes horrible. Even Diet Coke, which could be considered an energy drink if you take into account the caffeine, is an energy drink, and the taste is starting to wear on me. A lot. That's what two to three cans of soda a day will do to you. It wears you down.
G Pure Energy comes from Norwegian Ole Sandberg, the maker of high end water, Voss. If you didnt' know that intellectually, you'd certainly be able to sense it from the bottle's design. The bottle, like Voss' bottle, is made of glass, and is topped with the signature large silver screw-on top. This bottle, however, has a curve, which could be interepreted and sexy and gorgeous, or maybe a little scary -- you know, like someone drank a little too much G Pure Energy and gripped the bottle too hard. (And that with the bottle's even being glass!)
Yesterday we started Boston Bartender Week here at Slashfood, highlighting several bartenders and their signature drinks from The Improper Bostonian's annual "Boston's Beloved Bartender" issue. Today we have a drink called The Geisha Girl, suggested by Jillian Zona, who is a bartender at Excelsior in Boston.
In the past, we've posted about several social bookmarking and networking sites that focus on food, such as FoodCandy and Cork'd. Today Slashfood received a heads up about thisjustbrewed.com, a Digg-like site that describes itself as "social news for social beverages." True to its description, thisjustbrewed is a place where users can submit and vote for various news stories or sites that pertain to social beverages like coffee, tea, wine or beer. Scanning the site this evening, recent posts included a story about a type of bio-diesel fuel derived from beer by-products, news of $11,000 coffee machines, and a link to Bottletalk, another site where users can trade their own wine reviews. Most of the posts on thisjustbrewed are only getting a few votes each and none look to be more than a month old, so perhaps the site is still a bit new. With any luck, it will take on more users (I just joined), and become another good source for beverage-related news on the web.
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
My fashion-forward roommate reads Nylon Magazine, and I was flipping through it the other day when I came across the drink of the month: the Grapes of Wrath martini. The Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorite novels, but to see it as a martini? I'm not so sure how I feel. 
There's been a longstanding assumption that journalists and drinking have always gone hand in hand. I'm not sure how rumors like this get started. I'm here to tell you that journalists only drink when they absolutely have to, on days of the week that end in a "y." No more than that.*
There are a gazillion martini recipes out there, and sometimes it's hard to pick one we either want to drink regularly or experiment with (I like mine with gin, thank you very much). 
It's just a matter of time before MyCuppaTea takes its rightful place on my kitchen counter. Finally, a coffee cup that understands that no one in his or her under-caffeinated mind thinks of adding one or two exacting teaspoons of milk to one's coffee. In my pre-java, pre-verbal state, all I do is pour enough milk to create a cozy, very con leche brew. It's all blind pourpourpour -- stir, then slowly sip to wakefulness. Gizmodo found this mug from that subscribes to the 
Since I just reviewed the 
Yesterday we started 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
