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  • 12 Alternative Uses for Vodka

    For most people, vodka is useful for only one thing: drinking. It goes well with juices made from oranges and tomatoes, cola, and even other liquors. Very rarely do you see someone pulling out a bottle of vodka to scrub the walls or freshen clothes. Surprisingly, vodka can be used for just that, and more. Check out these 12 ways to use vodka that don’t include drinking it.

    Clean Bathrooms and Showers

    Fill a spray bottle with straight vodka and spray on molding areas like the caulking around the bathtub or the mildew on the shower curtain. Let it set for around five minutes and wash off.

    Cleaning Eye Glasses

    To kill the germs and get rid of stains on your eye glasses, apply a small amount of vodka to a wash cloth and rub on the lenses. No one ever told you vodka could help you see clearly.

    Clean Vomit Stains

    Using vodka to clean up a vomit stain may feel a little ironic, but not only does it work, it will sanitize the area as well. Fill a spray bottle with vodka and spray on the stain, scrub with a brush and blot dry with a cloth.

    Make Your Hair Healthier

    Clean your scalp and stimulate hair growth by adding a half shot of vodka to your shampoo. Your hair will be healthier and toxin-free.

    Kill Bugs

    Fill a spray bottle with vodka and set on stream to kill bees, hornets and other pesky bugs.

    Dry Out Cold Sores

    Use a cotton swab to apply vodka to a cold sore. It will help dry it out.

    Alleviate Foot Odor

    In a wash bin, wash your feet with vodka. It will cleanse away the scent and leave your feet odor free.

    Cure a Jellyfish Sting

    A welcome alternative to curing a jellyfish sting, pour vodka on the area to disinfect it and calm the sting.

    Cure Poison Ivy

    Pour vodka over the poison ivy affected area to clear your skin of the poison oil.

    Keep Flowers Fresh

    Put a couple of drops in a vase with water and one teaspoon of sugar. This will minimize the bacterial growth and provide lost nourishment to the flowers. It will also help them last longer.

    Freshen Up Dirty Clothes

    Spritz dirty clothes with vodka and hang dry in a ventilated place. It will kill odor-causing bacteria and not leave a rancid scent.

    Make a Homemade Salve

    Fill a glass jar with fresh lavender flowers, then top off with vodka. Seal the lid tightly and place in the sun for three days. Strain the resulting liquid through a filter. It makes a homemade remedy to rub into your aches and pains.

    The original article was written for Suite101 in November 2009 by Jessica Spengler. Any permission for republication must be obtained, in writing, from the author.

  • Mr. Beer Classic American Blonde Ale

    After our debacle with the Mr. Beer keg during our first batch of beer, we finally cracked open the bottles of Classic American Blonde Ale this weekend and tried them out.

    The beer poured a nice light brown with a ton of carbonation. It had a nice head that didn’t hold, but it was a good consistency. In other words, we successful poured beer rather than foam. Yay us!

    From the first taste, Adrian noticed that it was a little sweet, but we both agreed that it didn’t take away from the taste. It was refreshing and clean, light and full flavored, but for the most part, unexceptional.

    We were relieved to find that despite our issues with the keg and having to use unconventional methods for fermentation, that the beer turned out pretty good. In fact, we had an excellent Friday and Saturday night, drinking up our successful brew in its entirety.

    Next up, Cowboy Golden Lager. Adrian has sealed the leak in the keg, and we are ready to get going. We just need to be in the same place and not have 500 other things to do.

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  • In the Kitchen: Limoncello

    Limoncello is an Italian digestif liqueur originating in the southern coastal Amalfi region of Italy. Usually served ice cold in chilled ceramic cups or shot glasses, this liqueur is great as a refreshing after dinner drink, or just for fun.

    The most distinctive thing about limoncello is its bright yellow coloring. The coloring is based on the infusion of the outer zest (peels) from lemons and grain alcohol, Everclear, Italian grappa or vodka. While it is bottled and sold commercially, making your own limoncello can be a very simple process.

    While there are many limoncello recipes, we’ve decided to use Food Network’s Chef Giada De Laurentiis recipe. It will take less than one week to complete the process, compared to some more traditional recipes that take up to two months.

    The ingredients for Limoncello are simple: zests from 10 lemons, a 750mL bottle of vodka, and simple syrup.

    Peel the lemons and remove all the excess pith from the inside. Removing the pith is important, as it will keep the limoncello from getting a bitter taste.

    After the zests are ready, place them in a pitcher and pour in the vodka. Cover and let the mixture soak at room temperature for four days.

    After four days, prepare the simple syrup and combine it with the vodka mixture. Let it set overnight, then strain the mixture through a mesh strainer and discard the peels. Bottle the limoncello and chill for a minimum of four hours before serving.

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  • Booze of the Week – Vodka

    Vodka is king this week at the Drink Matron headquarters, and we are loving it.

    Of all the boozes out there, vodka is my best buddy. Despite some not so positive history, ever since I’ve had a grip on responsible drinking, vodka has proven a good friend and go to in any situation.

    Whether covered in tomato juice, sitting freely in a vodka martini, or lying low in a cherry bomb, vodka works well with any mix. Over the years the big name distilleries, creative bartenders, and experimental lushes have all taken their turns infusing this light booze with tasty extras like bacon, chipotle, vanilla, orange, lemon, cinnamon and rosemary (to name a few), making drinking the clear stuff even more fun and bartending a lot more interesting.

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  • New Four Loko… Without Caffeine?

    In November, the US Food and Drug Administration deemed beverages like Four Loko, a malt liquor infused with caffeine and taurine, to be unsafe for the general public calling it a “public health concern.”  Since that announcement, the brands were given time to reformulate their products in order to comply with the new federal regulation.  The Four Loko answer?  New flavors with no caffeine.  Currently, only Green Apple is available, but keep an eye out for Blueberry Lemonade.

    Having only tried Four Loko recently, I can say that the only thing it had going for it was the fact that the caffeine was already in the drink.  Before that, the closest you got to what Four Loko had going for them was vodka and Red Bull.  Now, Four Loko is just a sickly sweet malt liquor.  I don’t see the appeal in drinking a lemon pez flavored malt beverage, but then again I’m not the new generation of imbiber either.

    After reading about the new Four Loko formula, it got me thinking: How easy would it be to get the caffeine back in?  This new FDA regulation means the general public will have to revert back to vodka and Red Bull as their drink of choice, and that’s easy to do: you buy vodka, you buy Red Bull, you mix them together, you drink your “unsafe” concoction, rinse, lather, and repeat.  But Four Loko has the alcohol and not the caffeine.  How do you add caffeine to a drink, but no flavor?  This is something the Four Loko marketing team should be trying to solve.  Imagine walking into a store and sitting right next to the Four Loko XXL Blueberry Lemonade is a small vial of Four Loko Unflavored Caffeine Water, and look at that!  The new caffeine free Four Loko packaging account for just enough open space at the top of the can to pour a vial of caffeine water in.

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  • From Beer to Booze, Daily to Weekly

    After over a year of introducing a new beer everyday, we’ve decided to switch it up.  The honest truth – I feel like I’ve been lying to you. I wanted Beer of the Day to be a communal beer drinking experience, but more often than not I was just filling the line with a beer I’d found on the internet but never tried before. For all I know, some days I was directing you to drinking the most piss tasting trash you’d ever wrapped your lips around.

    But I don’t plan on doing that anymore.

    Starting this Sunday, January 16, instead of Beer of the Day, we’ve decided to move forward with Booze of the Week.

    Booze of the Week will feature a different liquor/booze/wine each week starting on Sunday. It will be complimented by articles featuring that alcohol, and will hopefully bring a little more depth and direction to the site. Adrian and I are both really excited about it, and hope you guys enjoy it as much as we’ll enjoy bringing it to you.

    Thank you to those of you who offered your opinions on how we could improve this portion of the site. I hope this addresses the concerns you have and makes the site that much better for you.

    If you have any article ideas or submissions for Booze of the Week, please email me at boozeoftheweek@drinkmatron.prjct.info.

    Cheers!

    DM

  • Found on the Internet – Cocktail Shortcuts: Gourmet Mixers

    What you mix your booze with is just as important as what booze you’re using.

    http://liquor.com/liquor/articles/cocktail-shortcuts-gourmet-mixers/

  • The Mr. Beer mishap

    My dad is a good Christmas gifter. He listens to what people want, and does the best he can to get exactly what they’re looking for. So, I told him that if he was going to get Adrian anything this year, to get him brewing equipment, and in my email included a link to the exact kit from Midwest Brewing Supplies that he wanted. I thought it would be a no-brainer for him, but bless his heart, he didn’t think the kit looked very “fun” and bought my experienced beer brewing boyfriend a Mr. Beer kit.

    Despite my disappointment, Adrian greeted the present graciously (since he is a good gift getter), and for about an hour after getting the kit, sat and read the directions quietly. When I asked him if he was okay with it, he was like, yeah, this is great, and began listing all the things he could use the kit for in the future after he got the equipment he really desires. He also reminded me that the kit does in fact, MAKE BEER, and even though we can’t make the recipes he’s planning, we will still have some yummy and cheap (free) beer made in our own kitchen. I was also thinking that for me, the non-experienced brewer, this might be a good introduction to the art of beer creation.

    So, not being the types to procrastinate when it comes to any alcohol, we set out to make our first batch of Mr. Beer the day after Christmas.

    We got started in the usual way, making sure everything was sanitized using the Mr. Beer no-rinse sanitizer that was provided. As I sloshed around the liquid in the “barrel” I realized that the top was leaking a bit when I turned it over. Adrian looked it over and said it wouldn’t be a problem, so we put a towel down and waited about 10 minutes to let the sanitizer take effect.

    While we waited, Adrian began preparing the boiling pot and the ingredients. The directions called to boil four cups of water with the “booster” (a bag of powdered corn syrup) and to then add the Malt Extract. We decided on the Golden Ale because, well, we wanted to drink some golden ale.

    After the sanitation was complete, Adrian looked over the barrel to see what he could do to fix it, but while he was doing that, we discovered that the spigot was also leaking – as in, the towel was now completely soaked after 10 minutes. Still, he was convinced he could fix it, so he started poking and prodding and tightening and other manly things.

    Unfortunately, after about a half an hour of truly honorable manliness, he’d exhausted all options and the barrel was still hemorrhaging the waters.

    Now, you’re probably saying, okay, big deal, get another barrel or find another something or another to put the beer in. Wait ’til tomorrow. Well, yes, that’s what we would have done, except, well, we’d already began preparing the beer. So, we had to figure out what to do with our mixture.

    There was the option of asking Matt, but we didn’t think about it until we’d already mastered the task in our own way. And what was that, you ask? The bottles. Yup. We decided to ferment our beer in the liter bottles that Mr. Beer provided for us. Armed with a turkey baster and a measuring cup, we spent an extra half an hour slowly filling up the bottles, trying to get a good mix of beer and yeast into each one, with the hope that it would be good enough.

    The bottles now wait patiently in our dining room, for the moment when we can crack them open and enjoy a tasty ale.

    Let’s see how this goes…

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  • Warm winter cocktails

    It’s December, which not only means Christmas time, but also even colder temperatures, heavier jackets, first snows and first snow storms.

    While the first snow may leave you slipping and sliding all over the road until you’re used to winter driving again, the snow storm allows you to shut yourself in, away from the chances of ending up in the ditch sideways waiting for a tow truck. On these days, it’s nice to curl around the fire, TV, or up with a big book and enjoy a nice hot winter cocktail.

    Some hot winter cocktails are easy to make, and some take a little time, but all will warm your bones on a blistery winter day.

    Spiked Coffee or Hot Chocolate

    Hot chocolate and coffee alone are great for warming up, but get even better with a little Irish cream. Use as much or as little as you want, but once you’ve had any, don’t go out to use the snowblower.

    Irish Coffee

    Ingredients:

    • 1 1/2 oz. Irish whiskey
    • 1 tsp Brown sugar
    • 6-8 oz. Coffee
    • Heavy Cream

    Combine whiskey, sugar and coffee in a mug and stir until dissolved. Float cold cream gently on top. Do not mix.

    Hot Buttered Rum

    Ingredients:

    • 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
    • 4 tsp Butter or margarine, softened
    • Dash Ground Cinnamon
    • Dash Ground Nutmeg
    • 1 1/2 cup Warm Water
    • 1/2 cup Rum
    • Lemon Slices (optional)

    In a two-cup measure, stir together the brown sugar, butter or margarine, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in the warm water. Serve immediately in mugs.

    Tom & Jerry

    Ingredients for batter:

    • 12 eggs, separated
    • 1 pound sugar (if you’d like it sweeter, add more)
    • 2 ounces aged rum
    • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
    • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
    • 1/2 tsp ground allspice

    Ingredients for Serving:

    • Brandy
    • Aged rum
    • Hot milk
    • Boiling water

    Beat the egg yolks well, then gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the rum and spices. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the yolk mixture until well mixed. Keep batter refrigerated until serving.

    For each drink, put 2 ounces of batter into a mug. Add 1 oz each of brandy and aged rum, and fill with equal parts hot milk and boiling water. Top with grated nutmeg. If using a small coffee cup or classic Tom & Jerry mug, you can cut the serving size in half. Serve with a spoon.

    Just a note: While this recipe is for making your own Tom & Jerry mix, in case you have no time or no urge to make it, frozen batter can be found in bakeries or the dairy coolers at grocery stores, in liquor stores or on the internet.

    Hot Toddy

    Ingredients

    • 1 oz brandy, whiskey or rum
    • 1 Tbsp honey
    • 1/4 lemon
    • 1 cup hot water
    • 1 tea bag

    Coat the bottom of a mug with honey.  Add your chosen liquor and the lemon juice. Separately, heat water in a tea kettle and add the tea bag to make hot tea. Pour the tea into the mug and stir.

    Bourbon Furnace

    Ingredients:

    • 6 oz. hot apple cider
    • 1 1/2 oz. bourbon
    • 3 whole cloves
    • 1 stick of cinnamon

    Combine cider and bourbon in a mug. Garnish with cloves and cinnamon.

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  • Working & Playing Hard at Dogfish Head

    Today is Crafting Day on my calendar, and since we don’t have an article from Matt, Brian or Adrian, I thought I’d talk a little bit about one of my favorite craft brewers, Sam Calagione.

    Now, many of you may know Sam because of his new show, “Brew Masters”, which follows the day to day happenings of Calagione’s brewery, Dogfish Head. It’s a fun show, and it’s endeared me to Sam even more than I already was. For the record, I was familiar with Calagione prior to the show, and have been a big fan of Dogfish Head not only because of their beer, but because of Calagione’s attitude toward his business and life in general.

    I am a big supporter of work hard, play hard, and the staff of Dogfish Head seems to have that down to a science. It’s impressive to see a group of people who clearly care about the product going out and clearly love going to work everyday. And from what I’ve seen, I believe it has everything to do with the excellent work environment offered at Dogfish Head. Calagione seems to have high expectations that the people that work for him care about what they’re doing, but he also allows a high amount of creativity, silliness, and fun throughout the day. Despite the fact that good beer is serious business, how serious can you be when you work for a brewery that’s catch phrase is “Off-Centered Ales for Off-Centered People”?  That kind of open atmosphere has got to make working for Dogfish Head one of the best jobs out there.

    I’ve heard a few reviews from people who dislike “Brew Masters” because they find Calagione a bit, well, off-centered. Well, to them I say, lighten up.  You’d be that excited about life too if you were living your dream – or even if you just had that freaking tree house!

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