If I get stuck in Chicago....

Right not I'm in Kansas City on business, waiting to hop a plane to Chicago. There's a good chance I'll get stuck there since one of my flights today has already been canceled, and its major snowin' in NY. But if that happens, I'm not worried. It'll give be an excuse to finally go tiki!

There has been a lot of tiki talk lately on cocktail blogs and magazines. I've been meaning to get some tiki drinks up on Martini Talk, but haven't had time to check out a real tiki bar myself. So if I get stuck in Chi-Town, it's Mai Tai's for me in at new outpost of Trader Vics. Otherwise, I promise to get some tasty recipes from New York up here soon. Stay tuned...

The Original Mai Tai Recipe
Courtesy of The Food Network
1 1/2 oz. Myers's Plantation Rum
1 oz. Cuban Rum
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. fresh grapefruit juice
1/4 Falernum*
1/2 oz. Cointreau
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash Pernod
1 cup cracked ice
Slice squeezed lime, for garnish
Pineapple spear, for garnish
Mint sprig, for garnish
*Falernum is a lime/ginger based syrup and can be found in some large liquor stores.

Pour all the liquids into a cocktail shaker. Fill it with ice and shake for about 30 seconds. Pour it all into a 16-ounce double old-fashioned glass. Garnish with lime slice, pineapple, and mint sprig.

Tis the Season for Bubbly

My 2008 sip of choice? Champagne (more specifically, a little Veuve), and all the bubbly cocktails that go along with it. So I was so excited when Kim Haasarud's 101 Champagne Cocktails arrived in my mailbox. There are so many recipes that are perfect for the holiday season. Here are two to try:



Poinsettia Cocktail
1/2 oz. Combier
3 oz. cranberry juice, chilled
Orange twist
Champagne

In a champagne flute, combine Combier and cranberry juice. Add the orange twist, top with champagne and serve.

Champagne Celebration
Created by Tony Abou Ganim
1 sugar cube
Peychaud's bitters
1/2 oz. Hennessy VSOP
1/2 oz. Combier
Chilled Moet & Chandon White Star
Long orange twist for garnish

Soak the sugar cube in Peychaud's bitters and drop into a champagne flute. Add cognac and Combier. Slowly fill with champagne and garnish with orange twist.

To good health, good fortune, and infinite happiness!

mmmm....White Russians

From today's New York Times, an ode to one of my all-time favorites:

White Russians Arise, This Time at a Bowling Alley

AMONG the significant dates in the history of Kahlúa, the Mexican coffee liqueur, surely March 6, 1998, rates a mention. That was the release date of “The Big Lebowski,” the Coen Brothers movie about an aging slacker who calls himself the Dude, and who, after a thug urinates on his prized rug, becomes caught up in a Chandleresque mystery.

Played with slouchy brio by Jeff Bridges, the Dude’s chief pursuits involve bowling, avoiding work and drinking White Russians, the sweet cocktail made with vodka, Kahlúa and cream or milk.

Click here for the full article.

Movie Stars, Green Fairies, and more...

So I'm in LA for the weekend. Everyone who knows me knows I'm not a big fan, but maybe it's because I just haven't found the right cocktail bar -- until last night. We went downtown to The Edison, a renovated power plant that looks like you've just stepped into Baz Lurhmann's Moulin Rouge. I was waiting for Nicole Kidman to come down from the ceiling, but instead, we saw girls dressed up as green fairies wheeling around absinthe carts. I still haven't tried Absinthe, the drink with the kryptonite glow. After writing about it's hallucinegenic effects in Wine Spirits Quarterly, I'm a little bit of a scared-y cat, even though the new recipe has been tweaked to be less harmful. Still, I settled for the bar's signature sip:

The Edison
Lavender-Honey infused Woodford Reserve Bourbon
Pear liqueur
Fresh pear juice

I have to say, with this drink, I think I'm over the whole pear craze. It's become a little too sweet for me and its time for a new favorite flavor. Stay tuned...

Ruby Red

Sorry, I've been a bit MIA lately. I recently started a new job, a somewhat new relationship, and a GMAT prep class all in the past month. Needless to say, things have been a little crazy, but that doesn't mean the cocktails stop flowin'. Like weddings (a subject I know a lot about), cocktail culture seems to be recession proof. In good times or bad, people still need a drink. And though it seems almost every company is scroogin' out on their holiday parties, I myself can't wait for the holiday season to get here. In these tough times, a little mistletoe and Christmas Wrapping is sure to go a long way, and it all begins with my favorite holiday of them all: Thanksgiving.

Though I will be spending Turkey Day in LA with Ed (somewhat new relationship), I'll be thinking of my friends at Blue Sage on Friday, when we would normally gather for Potato & Corn Chowder soup, Casbah salads, and a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau. Luckily, co-owner Holly was kind enough to give me her secret recipe for a seasonal-inspired sip I can make on the West Coast.

Ruby Sipper
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup pomagranate juice
2 cups sugar
Rind & juice of two oranges
Sparkling white wine/ Prosecco
Red sugar for glass rim
Whole fresh cranberries for garinsh

Add to a sauce pan coarsely chopped cranberries, juices, sugar & orange rind simmer until syrupy about ten minutes. Strain; cool syrup to room temp. Pour into squirt bottles( this makes it so to pour into champagne flutes). Pour 1-2 tablespoons syrup into sugar rimmed flutes, then top with sparkling wine. Garnish with cranberry.

*cranberry - ponagranate syrup is also great in vanilla vodka
*syrup lasts in refrigerator for two weeks.

Vote on the Rocks

Just got back from voting and thankfully I did not have to wait in line. Unfortunately, it sounds like millions of people are not so lucky, which means many voters will need a drink once they finally get their turn at the polls. After months of swimming through a see of red and blue, I thought a green cocktail, courtesy of Stirrings, would be a nice change of pace:

Grassroots Gimlet
Organic efforts do pay off.
2 parts Stirrings Organic Classic Sour Mixer
1 part gin (organic gin optional)
Garnish: lime wedge and wheat grass

In a rocks glass, combine Stirrings Organic Classic Sour Mixer with gin over plenty of ice. Stir and garnish with lime wedge and wheat grass.

Find more Election Day cocktails from Stirrings at Simple Stated.

Game-Time Decision

It's the day before Election Day and I still have no idea who to vote for. It's all my fault too, since I don't go out of my way to research who stands for what. That's mainly because I don't think there is a source out there that gives unbiased information. So call me what you will, but I plan on making my decision about who the next president should be the same way I choose my cocktails: I got it narrowed down to two options, whichever one I say when the bartender takes my order is the one I'm stuck with. Usually, I have no regrets.

The Maverick
3 parts Grey Goose vodka
1/4 part Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
3 olives

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add vermouth, stir well and then strain out excess. Add two dashes of orange bitters and Grey Goose vodka. Stir well until the outside of the shaker is frosted and beaded with sweat. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with three olives.

Muddled Rebuttal
5 raspberries
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 parts Grey Goose Le Citron
Fresh squeezed lemonade

Muddle 5 fresh raspberries with 1 tsp. sugar. Pour into tall glass over ice. Top with vodka and lemonade. Garnish with lemon wedge.