Making it Official

Today is a good day. Not only is it my 5-year anniversary of living and working up in NYC, but Martini Talk is finally "official" according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office - the seal arrived in my mailbox this morning - woo-hoo!

In addition to the two milestones above, there is a also a slew of other reasons to celebrate:

My best friend, Dayna, finally got engaged to her longtime boyfriend and best friend, Dave.
My other best friend, Tracy, is expecting her second child. Here she is with her super-cute Grady.
My awesome brother and his wife Jenn celebrated their 5-anniversary this past week.
My parents are turning 60 and lookin' and feelin' fabulous.
And my boyfriend Charlie and I are moving in together in a couple of weeks.

So tonight, we are kickin' the holiday season off a little early, poppin' some champagne, and mixin' up a few signature sips with our closest friends to celebrate all of the above. Good times :)

Oh and for today's cocktail recipe, I think the Lovely Day -- a blend of Milagro tequila, Ribena blackcurrent syrup, lime juice, and club soda -- from the lobby bar at the Ace Hotel couldn't be a more perfect sip.

Spanish Sips

The other night, I met a friend at one of my very favorite restaurants in New York, Sala 19. This place is one of those rare restaurants in New York City where I feel the urge to visit again and again. It's my go-to place for meeting up with friends, celebrating Big City milestones and first dates (though I happily believe my days of those are long gone...). Sala 19 is sexy, sophisticated, loud, dimly lit, affordable -- and the tapas are so damn good.


For drinks, I usually get the red sangria, but the other night, bartender Joe concocted up his own specialty for us, the El Halcon, a smooth blend of Hendrick's Gin, St. Germain, grapefruit bitters, a splash of cranberry (for color). Once all the ingredients are shaken and poured into a martini glass, Joe singed and orange peel with a match to give this sip a smokey flavor. The finishing touch? Topping the whole thing off with some bubbly cava. Salut!

Sips from The Knot Gala

This past week, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of The Knot at an amazing gala at the New York Public Library (check out all the pics here). Of course, no party is complete without a menu of signature cocktails, so we called upon the Cocktail Guru himself, Jonathan Pogash, who just launched his Wedding Cocktail Design blog and graciously hopped behind the bar to mix up the following sips for our 750+ guests. Thanks, Jonathan!

Manhattan Wedding Punch
(wedding theme: simple, backyard, harvest, seasonal)
(season: fall/winter)
(color scheme: caramel)

2 parts Bols Genever
1 part Sailor Jerry Rum
1/2 part Domaine de Canton Ginger liqueur
1 part Apple Cider
3/4 part Fresh Lemon juice
1/2 part maple syrup
The Bitter Truth Aromatic bitters to taste

Directions: Add all to punch bowl with several lemon and orange wheels, and chill and dilute w/ ice. Add freshly grated nutmeg when ready to serve.

Cranberry Spice Sparkler
(wedding theme: Holidays, Valentine’s Day, modern)
(season: fall)
(color scheme: cranberry, cardinal, burgundy, candy apple)

5 whole fresh cranberries
1 heaping tsp. pumpkin pie spice agave nectar
splash of fresh lemon juice
3 oz. Sparkling wine

Directions: Muddle the cranberries in the pumpkin agave nectar and lemon juice. Add the sparkling wine and ice and gently fold. Strain into a chilled champagne flute.

Garnish: a floating cranberry

New Favorite NYC Cocktail Den

I know, I know - long time, no sip. Honestly, I didn't do much sippin' (of exciting cocktails, that is), this past summer. However, last week I did venture out to the big, bad East Village to check out a cocktail den I've been dying to try. Mayahuel is this great, little Mexican restaurant off Second Avenue that, of course, barely has a sign for it's name outside. Inside, its sexy, dark, and romantically lit - if there is more than two in your party, squeezing into one of their cave-like booths could be difficult, or just cozy depending on how comfortable you are with getting a little closer - but this is New York, right? We're used to this.

OK, so onto the cocktails. Three words: Smokey. Spicey. Tequila. An excellent cocktail combo in my opinion. Here's what we sipped:

Pale Rider: Fino sherry, jalapeno-infused tequila, sugar cane, and lime juice.

Blackfriar Cobbler: Mescal, sloe gin, lemon juice, sugar cane, and blackberries.

In addition to tequila-infused sips, Mayahuel also has a lengthy list of cerveza cocktails, tequila flights, punches, wine cocktails and more. Seriously, there is so much to try, I may just make Mayahuel my bar of choice for fall and try to sip my way to Mexico.

Not Your Daddy’s Gin & Tonic

Guest blog post from my sippin' sister, Linda.

This is my first time doing a guest post (after being a devoted reader), but I was compelled to write about the buzz surrounding what some may consider an 'old school' spirit. I’m no certified expert, but gin is back and in a big way (or, at the very least seems to be popping up everywhere these days).

Confession: I've always loved a good gin and tonic. However, recently, I tasted an absolutely fantastic cocktail which blends gin with another ingredient that turned out to be equally as refereshing as my old standby –- strawberries (Martini Talk called it earlier this summer -- this fruit is hot)!

Maybe it was the beautiful night under the stars, maybe it was the picturesque location (outdoors by the lily pool), but at a recent Brooklyn Botanic Garden benefit, the bartenders were mixing a signature cocktail (courtesy of Hendrick’s Gin) that simply hit the spot and had me dreaming of the start of summer!

Light and refreshing without being too sweet. It’s a crowd pleaser perfect for your next outdoor party!

Enjoy and happy sipping!!!!
-- LDV

Playful Perennial Punch
(serves 4)
3 oz Hendrick's Gin
2 oz Lillet Blanc
4 med strawberries
1 oz fresh strained lime juice
1.5oz Raspberry Zinger syrup (2 bags: 4oz H20; 4 oz sugar)

Muddle strawberries and syrup. Add Ice, shake with vigor and double strain into a punch bowl with an ice block inside*. Top with 4oz sparkling wine and 4oz Sparkling Water. Garnish with thin peach slices and the freshest edible flowers.

*Take a quart container or jell-o mold, fill it with filtered water and freeze overnight. Pour a little warm water over the outside of the mold just before service to release the ice.

Who is Tom Collins, anyway?

Forgive the plastic cup in the photo above. Traditional Collins glasses just wouldn't work on the boat I spent Fourth of July weekend on. Regardless, I just had to share this recipe for a super simple, classic sip that is perfect for these warm weather days and steamy nights.

Tom Collins
2 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon juice
1 tsp. simple syrup
Club soda

Shake first three ingredients together with ice. Pour over ice and top with club soda.

So who was Tom Collins? With a little digging I discovered that no one really knows for sure, but the name could have come from Old Tom, a gin that was used back in the '50s, while the last name may have belonged to the bartender who first created the sip.

Move Over Watermelon ...

It's strawberry season! What does this mean for cocktails? Well, sips flavored with muddled strawberries just happen to be my summer drink of choice these days. Here are just a few I've recently had the pleasure of sipping:

Strawberry Caipirinha @ Morels: a refreshing twist on a Latin classic made with Cabana cachaca, muddled strawberries, and lime juice.

Art Nuvo [shown] @ Laguna Champagne Bar: A fizzy concoction of Grey Goose, lemon juice, fresh strawberry puree, and Nuvo vodka, all topped off with Moet & Chandon Imperial.

And here is one I hope to be making July 4th weekend - I think it will go perfectly with our patriotic festivities.

Strawberry Rose Gimlet
Recipe by Mixologist Matthew Biancaniello of Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel
2 oz. gin
3/4 oz. Rosewater syrup
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
3 to 4 fresh strawberries

To make stir up 3 to 4 fresh strawberries with Rosewater syrup and fresh lemon juice. Add gin, shake with ice, and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with cut strawberries.