SATC Week: Flirty & Fabulous

No SATC week would be complete without my favorite SATC cocktail of them all. There are many versions of the Flirtini, but this one is my favorite. The Flirtini is cocktail that the four soulmates were sippin' on Samantha's rooftop in the season three finale - my favorite season of all. Enjoy!

The Flirtini
1 oz. Stoli Strasberi vodka
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. pineapple juice
Splash of lime juice
Champagne
4 raspberries

Combine vodka, triple sec, and juices together in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Float with champagne. Garnish with raspberries.

SATC Week: An oldie, but goodie

The Cosmopolitan
1½ oz Absolut Citron
½ oz Cointreau
½ oz cranberry juice
¼ oz lime juice

Shake all ingredients well with ice and fine strain in to a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Or, try this version from the ladies over at Yay! DIY.

SATC Week: More Sex = More Moet

The amount of product placement and random brands that are hopping onto the SATC bandwagon is enough to make your head spin. Personally, I don't think many of them make a lot of sense from a marketing standpoint, but here is one that I can get behind. It's not hard to imagine the four Manolo-clad ladies sipping any one these bubbly concoctions, courtesy of Moet & Chandon Imperial.

The Fashionista
¾ ounce of pomegranate juice
3 ounces of Moët Impérial
A pink rose petal for garnish

Pour the pomegranate juice into a glass. Fill with Moët Impérial. Stir gently with a long spoon. Place a pink rose petal over the drink.

The Player [Question: Is Miranda supposed to be "The Player"? Discuss...]
¼ ounce fresh lime juice
¼ ounce ginger liqueur
3 ounces Moët Impérial
Lime peel slice for garnish

Pour the fresh lime juice and ginger liqueur into a champagne flute. Fill with Moët Impérial. Stir gently with a long spoon. Add lime peel garnish.

The Socialite
½ ounce elderflower liqueur
3 ounces Moët Impérial
Sugar cube

Place the sugar cube into a champagne flute. Pour in the elderflower liqueur and fill with Moët Impérial. Stir gently with long spoon.

The Bombshell
½ ounce tangerine juice
¼ ounce maraschino liqueur
3 ounces Moët Impérial
Maraschino cherry for garnish

Place the maraschino cherry into a champagne flute. Pour in the tangerine juice and then the maraschino liqueur. Fill with Moët Impérial. Stir gently with a long spoon.

Of all the gin joints...

...in all of New York, I walked in to The Back Room on the Lower East Side earlier tonight. The reason? To take part in the first official Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge, hosted by New Amsterdam Gin.

For those of you who haven't heard about New Amsterdam, it's an American-made gin named after old-school New York and packaged up in a sleek glass bottle inspired by the Empire State Building -- nice, right?

The challenge was to create a cocktail inspired by Manhattan in just 10 minutes using ... New Amsterdam Gin, of course. Inspired by my frequent travels through the three notoriously late airports of New York, my drink was aptly names The Flight Delay. I tried to do a twist on the classic Aviation Cocktail, which I doctored a bit by adding orange juice to the mix, since I always drink OJ on the plane to keep me from getting sick.

How did it turn out? Let's just say I'll leave the mixology to the experts -- experts like Alex Ott, who was our host of the evening and who also created these Manhattan-inspired libations:

Five Points
1 1/2 oz. New Amsterdam Gin
2 1/2 oz. orange juice
2 1/2 oz. cola
1/4 oz. fresh lemon juice

Fill a pilsner or highball glass with ice. Pour in the gin, orange juice and lemon juice then float with coal. Garnish with a thick orange wheel.

Little Italy
2 oz. New Amsterdam Gin
1 1/2 oz. limoncello
1/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 oz. soda

Combine all ingredients except the soda in a shaker filled with ice, shake vigorously and strain over an ice-filled high ball glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Sake Brunch

Sake for brunch? Why not?! At least, that is what I thought when I came across these bubbly libations, courtesy of Zipang Sparkling Sake. This weekend, consider swapping your favorite champagne for a pint-size bottle of this light yet sweet effervescence to stir up something other than the ordinary mimosa.


St. Zipang
4 parts Zipang Sparkling Sake
1 part St Germain elderflower liqueur
Splash yuzu simple syrup

Shake the St Germain and yuzu simple syrup over ice and strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top with chilled Zipang Sparkling Sake. Garnish with a fresh raspberry.





Sparkling Sugarplum
2 ½ parts Zipang Sparkling Sake
½ part Gekkeikan Plum wine
½ part ginger liqueur or ginger syrup
1 part passion fruit nectar or puree

Combine plum wine, ginger liqueur and passion fruit nectar in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top with Zipang sparkling sake, stir gently and garnish with a candied ginger slice.



Ninja Bellini
4 parts Zipang Sparkling Sake
1 part peach liqueur

Pour the peach liqueur into a chilled champagne flute and top with chilled Zipang Sparkling Sake.

Martini Talk presents: Sex and The City Week!

I have to admit, I was not a fan of the first SATC movie, for a number of reasons: too long, too sad, too too much bad product placement. But surprisingly, with the arrival of the sequel I find myself planning a SATC-themed cocktail party and dedicating an entire week's worth of blog posts to the fab foursome. What's changed? Eversince I found out that a certain handsome someone other than Big was making an appearance, I've been secretly counting down the days until the premiere.

Sex and The City may have escalated the Cosmopolitan into superstar status, but the show has also turned out other great cocktails and inspired many spirit brands to create their SATC-themed sips. This week, I'll be posting a few of my faves. So let's get started. Here are a few, courtesy of Prairie Organic Vodka.

Carrie Cosmo
Prairie Organic Vodka
St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Organic Cranberry juice
Fresh lime.








Red Headed Miranda
2 parts Prairie Organic Vodka
2 parts pomegranate juice
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Shake over ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a fresh mint leaf.


Sweet Charlotte
3 parts Prairie Organic Vodka
4 parts green tea
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

Shake over ice and strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass.






Sultry Samantha
2 oz Prairie Organic Vodka
2 oz Fresh Apple Cider
25 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
5 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with an apple slice or cinnamon stick.

Get Your Tickets!

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic is just around the corner and the events are selling out fast. This is the first event of its kind in NYC, complete with parties, workshops, and lots of tasty cocktails. But perhaps the most anticipated events are the Stories from Behind the Bar series, where you'll get an insider's look at Manhattan's famed cocktail bars, such as Little Branch, Macao Trading Co., Pegu Club, Apotheke, and my favorite - Flat Iron Lounge.

For tickets and a list of events, click here.