Month: June 2014

Summer time is a good time for drinking

Tomorrow is the beginning of summer and I am excited! It’s been a great spring so far – a bit rainy, but perfectly mild – and I expect that summer will continue the same way. Great summers come with one of my favorite things – drinking outside. I love sitting outside at a bar, restaurant, or patio, sipping on beer, sangria, or a refreshing cocktail, and chatting with friends, or staying quiet and just enjoying the world around me. Life is just better with a drink and some sunshine.

Along with drinking outside comes farm fresh brunches and day drinking. Bloodies Mary with just picked garnishes, mimosas with freshly squeezed orange juice, mint for your mojitos that the bartender sent you back to grab from the vine yourself – these are just a handful of reasons that summer day drinking is the best.

Pool or beach side, summer brings us classic and new takes on margaritas, pina coladas, and daiquiris. These drinks bring us to a tropical state of mind and keep us their all day, weekend, or even summer long.

And the beers! Oh, the beers of summer are the best, aren’t they? IPAs, wheats, kolsch, sour ales, and saisons make the summer nights so much more tolerable, bringing your spirits up and cooling your body down (and rocking your pallet all the while).

No matter how you drink your summer, it’s going to be a good one. So fill up your cups, and go enjoy. I’ll be with you all the way.

Cheers!

June 20, 2014
The Moscow Mule

What happens when a group of businessmen from complimenting companies sit down for a drink? Well, if it’s 1941 and their companies sell ginger beer and vodka, the Moscow Mule is born.

The story is legendary. Jack Morgan, president of Cock ‘n’ Bull Products and owner of the Hollywood Cock ‘n’ Bull Restaurant, John G. Martin, president of G.F. Heublein Brothers Inc, and Rudolph Kunett, president of Pierre Smirnoff, Heublein’s vodka division, sit down for a drink at Chatham Bar in New York City. As with any good boozing story, the guys were thinking and talking business, and before long Martin and Kunett started to wonder out loud how their vodka would pair up with Morgan’s ginger beer. Ice, mugs, lemon, ginger beer, and vodka were summoned, and, after a five count, the gents took down the mix, and were happy with the result. It needed a name though, and, after four or five rounds, they had a good one – The Moscow Mule.

The highball caught on and made its way to the glamorous Hollywood set, where it would remain a favorite to this day. Since its origin, the lemon has been replaced with lime, and it is now properly served in a copper mug, but other than that, the recipe has remained the same.

Who says a bunch of businessmen can’t come up with good ideas?

The Moscow Mule

Ingredients:

2 oz vodka
1 oz fresh lime juice
4 oz ginger beer

Pour vodka and lime juice into ice-filled copper mug or highball glass. Add ginger beer and stir. Garnish with a lime wedge.

June 11, 2014
The Negroni

This week is Imbibe Magazine and Campari’s Negroni Week. Like many other days and weeks that celebrate specific cocktails, this one is meant for appreciation of the classic apertif, but it is also for charity! Participating bars around the country will give a portion of their Negroni sales to the charity of their choice. Campari will then throw in an additional $10,000 to the charity of the establishment that raises the most money.

So what’s the big deal about the Negroni? Let’s take a look.

History

Back in Florence, Italy, somewhere around 1919, bartender Fosco Scarselli was ready to serve one of his regulars, Count Camillo Negroni, his favorite drink, the Americano. That day, Count Negroni stopped him and asked that he kick it up a notch, and replace the soda water with gin. To differentiate the drink even more, Scarselli added a twist of orange as a garnish. It became Negroni’s signature drink, and so after him it was named.

The Ultimate of the Old Recipes

As a cocktail, the Negroni is not complicated. With just three ingredients – gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, it’s easy for anyone to learn, perfect, and then, if they choose, experiment. Many bartenders will make their Negronis differently for each season, changing up the gin or the vermouth. It’s the original, though, that people rave about. Complementing flavors of sweet, bitter, and boozey make it popular among all whose lips touch it – classic cocktail enthusiasts and new drinkers, women and men, young and old. It is the ultimate of the old recipes.

The Negroni

Ingredients:

1 part gin
1 part Campari
1 part Sweet Vermouth*

Build in a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a twist and/or slice of orange.

*Many recipes call specifically for Cinzano Rosso, but any similar vermouth is acceptable

June 5, 2014
Beach Drinks: The Pink Slip

It’s been a cool spring so far, but that doesn’t mean we’re not thinking about the beach. Before you know it, the humidity is going to climb, the sun is going to beat down and begin the torment that can only lead to two things: the beach and cold cocktails. Together, the two are what make summer bearable, so why not enjoy them together? This year, we will tip our hats to the combination in our summer beach cocktail series.

This week, we feature a bubbly pink cocktail made with rum, cranberry juice, and champagne. An excellent drink for summer, the Pink Slip can (and should) be enjoyed with friends as you relax in your beach chairs and gaze at the water.

The Pink Slip

Ingredients:

1 part coconut rum
1 part cranberry juice
Champagne

Chill ingredients. Combine coconut rum and cranberry juice in a glass*. Top with champagne. Enjoy!

*Tip: Prepare the coconut rum and cranberry juice before heading to the beach, and just add the champagne to individual glasses as you pour! Saves time and room!

June 4, 2014