Monday, August 13, 2012

Four Ways to Drink Corono

Been experimenting/reasearching interesting ways to consume Corona, and have been insanely amazed by how many interesting variations there are.

Here's the top four i've discovered.





The Traditionalist:

12 oz Bottle of Corona
Lime or Lemond Wedge  
Salt

Take a traditional chilled bottle of Corona, and add fresh lime juice. The best way to achieve your desired result is to insert a lime wedge into the neck of the Corona bottle, place your thumb over the top, and flip the bottle upside down (very carefully) so the lime wedge floats to the bottom, which allows the lime to give the most flavor. Lemons also have a similar affect.

Note: try salting the lime or lemon before placing it in the beer to add an even more intense flavor.



Corona Sour

12 oz Bottle of Corona Lager
3 0z Sweet and Sour Mix
1 lime wege

Take a chilled bottle of corona, and fill a chilled pilsner glass 1/3 of the way with Sweet and Sour Mix (Margarita mix works as well). Fill the remainder with chilled Corona.

Serve Pilsner glass with a salted rim, and garnish with a lime wedge.






Beergarita

1 oz Gold Tequila
1 oz Triple Sec
1 oz Lime Juice
12 oz Bottle of Corona Lager



Mix all ingredients (except for the beer) in a blender with ice. Pour into a large pilsner glass (or pint glass), then add chilled Corona on top. Salt the rim of the glass and garnish with a lime wedge.







Michelada

12 oz Mexican Lager (dark is better)
1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice
1-2 dashes of hot sace (such as cholula, tapatio, or tabasco)
1 Dash of soy sauce
1 Dash of worchestshire sauce


In a Pilsner Glass or Pint Glass: Salt the rim of the glass, and fill halfway with ice. Add lime juice, and other ingredients (sans the beer) into the glass while mixing with a bar spoon. Lastly top off the mixture with beer. Garnish with a wedge of lime and serve immedietly.





All those wonderful things that make beer into a COCKTAIL!!!!!



Essenital Bourbon Cocktails: Manhattan



The Manhattan


3/4 oz. Sweet Vermout
2 1/2 oz Bourbon Whiskey
1 Dash Angostura Bitters
1 Marashino Cherry


Combine the vermouth, bourbon whiskey, and bitters with 2 - 3 ice cubes in a mixing glass. Stir gently, don't bruise the spirits and cloud the drink. Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey mixture over the cherry. Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils but don't drop it in. 

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Lavender Mimosa's and a Fathers Day Suprise

Per usual, mid June rolled around this year and I still had no idea what to do for Fathers Day. Not that this is a new issue....every year, despite a good two decades of practice, I spend two or three days in a panic over what to get my father. I hate being repetitive. OR obvious, hence all the panicking.

This year though, an interesting idea sparked in my mind, brought on by an old memory and a fairly common garden plant.

Lavender. Or as I chose for my fathers day gift, lavender simple syrup. My fathers always had a love of Mimosas. And before you roll your eyes too much at the idea of a grown man drinking sparkling wine and orange juice out of a champagne flute, keep in mind that champagne is a classic drink and my father, despite some of his shortcomings, has always been a classy man. Over the years, as we would head out on weekends to get lunch or dinner together, he was always on the quest for the pefect mimosa. And about six years back, he found it at a local eatery known as Caseys Caffe. The caffe itself I have very little to say about, but the mimosas  are another story.

Casey's caffe is one of the only places that i've seen do Lavender mimosas. Lavender you say? As in the plant, the garden plant? The one people use in perfume, and bathsalts, and in sachets under pillows and in your underwear drawer? Yep. That would be the one. Despite what a lot of people think, lavender is not simply a fantastic fragrance. It also offers a very unique taste to many food dishes. Take for example, lavender tiramisu.....a unique twist on a classic dessert by far. Lavender often mixes well with chocolate but is also known to mix well  with lemon, honey, and vanilla flavors as well. In this case, the lavender mimosas are an interesting balance of sweet, bubbly and a spicy-herbal taste that really jazzes things up. The champagne offers a crisp and fruity flavor which is enhanced by the somewhat sweet taste of the lavender.

For father's day, I decided to replicate my Dad's favorite drink by ordering Lavender syrup from a company called Monin Syrups. I had the whole thing planned out to a tee. Dinner out, followed by Mimosas while we sat and smoked cigars together. Yes, a woman who smokes cigars.....hell will freeze over and penguins will learn to fly shortly after I complete this blog post. But anyway, back to what I was saying.....My game plan was simple, a nice Dinner withDrinks afterwards. Not too complicated. Lots of room for improvisation. But seriously, imagine my suprise when Amazon sent me an email letting me know it would take an additional week for my syrup to arrive. However 'if I wanted to upgrade to super saver shipping for an additional $93' I could get my syrup on time. Seriously? $93 freakin bucks? I dont think so. Amazon can dam well suck it.

Obviously with that set back, I didnt have too many options for coming up with a new Fathers day suprise last minute. So instead I went with the simple approach: Dinner as planned, with drinks in the resturaunt bar instead. And a cute little card that promised lavender mimosas in the near future. All in all the evening was great, with wonderful food, some quality company, and great drinks. Dad was happy. And I was perfectly content with the alternative.

To cut myself off before I continue with my long winded dialogue about Father's Day Traditions, and Amazons crappy shipping policy, I'm going to go ahead with the long awaited Lavender Mimosa Recipe.

The Simplistic Version

1oz. Lavender Syrup
3/4 of a glass of champagne or Prosecco

Pour lavender syrup into the bottom of a champagne flute. Fill the remainder of the glass with champagne or sparkling wine of choice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh lavender.



The Red Carpet Version



Ingredients:
  • 1 Bottle of Sparking extra dry wine, chilled½ Cup Ultimat Vodka
  • ¾ cup of green grapes, halved
  • 11/2 cups white grape juice, chilled
  • 2 tablespoons elderflower cordial
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh lavender sprigs for garnish
*Serves 8 people



Borrowed From: http://heidiklum.aol.com/category/lifestyle/red-carpet-cocktails/



Saturday, August 4, 2012

Happy Hour and the Inevitable Call For Shots

Its Five in the bloody morning, and for whatever reason I can't sleep.
So.....here's a blog post about shots.


Liquid Cocaine 


 1/2 oz. 151 Proof Rum
1/2 oz. Jagermeister
1/2 oz. Rumple Minze

Chill liquor. Shake over ice and strain into a chilled shot glass.





Scoobie Snack 

1/3 oz. Midori Melon Liqueur
1/3 oz. Vodka
1/3 oz. Half n' Half (or Milk)

Pour over ice and strain into a shot glass.

*Note - The vodka can be switched out for  1/3 oz. of Malibu  Rum to give the shot an even sweeter and more tropical flavor instead.



Kamikaze

1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Triple Sec (or Cointreau Orange Liqueur)
1/2 oz. Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice (A dash of sweet and sour mix works too)

Shake over ice and serve into a large shot glass. Garnish with Lime wedge.

*Note - Muddling fresh limes in the bottom of the shaker instead of using freshly squeezed limes adds less intensity to the drink, but still gives the perfect amount of flavor.





Blow Job

3/4 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream
3/4 oz.  Kahlua
Whipped Cream

Combine Bailey's Irish Cream and Kahlua in a chilled shot glass. Top off with whipped cream.





Sex On the Beach

1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Chambord Raspberry Liqueur
1/4 oz. Pineapple Juice

Shake ingredients with ice, and pour into a shot glass.









Orgasm

1/3 oz. Amaretto
1/3 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream
1/3 oz. Kahlua

Layer in order (kahlua at the bottom) in a shot glass.







Jolly Rancher
1/4 oz. Amaretto
1/4 oz. Melon Liqueur
1/4 oz. Grenadine
1/4 oz. Sprite

Mix Amaretto, Melon Liqueur, and Grenadine. Top with sprite. Serve in a shot glass. 

*there are more than 8 different recipes for Jolly Rancher shots/ shooters. 











Thursday, July 5, 2012

Tequila Art



TEQUILA 1800 ART LINE

Anyone who's every truly had a passion for tequila, or atleast spent enough time in a bar, has probably come across Tequila 1800. Produced by the Beckmann family, who also own Jose Cuervo, 1800 tequila is a blue agave tequila and is bottled in Jalisco, Mexico. Known for its exceptional quality,  Tequila 1800 hundred is also known for its unique bottle style, which has a bottle stopper that fills itself (if the bottle is turned upside down), and is the precise amount of a single shot of tequila. Pretty darn cool right??!?!

Tequila 1800 recently promoted three consecutive lines of uniquely designed tequila bottles, all designed by select artists and art firms. The most current line consists of Lucha Libre inspired tequila bottles. Practical and artsy, Tequila 1800 is worth picking up at your local liquor store, even if its just for the awesome bottle art.


LINE Number II





LINE Number III







Friday, June 29, 2012

The Ladies Auxillary

One of the perks of working in a bar that I discovered very early on is getting to witness all the outrageously crazy things that people do when under the influence. Not all of it is pleasant, believe me....but most of it is atleast entertaining.

Earlier this afternoon, one of my co-workers and I got to talking about a particularly funny group of ladies who came in one afternoon to partake of the bar. This group of ladies, or the Ladies Auxillary (from hell), as I prefer to call them, came into the bar around 3:30 in the afternoon and proceeded to order round after round of Cosmos and Lemon Drops. After two rounds, all thirteen ladies in the group had started a resounding chorus of 'shots, shots, shots'. Needless to say the shots came next, followed more girlie drinks and AGAIN more shots.

After an hour or so of this going on, two of the more Sober ladies in the group suggested they all head outside to our patio to continue their drinks and give the rest of the bar some peace and quiet. Believe me when I say we were all grateful to have them gone. The noise level in the bar shrank down to its normal pitch, and both the bartender and I could finally feel our ears stop ringing. I was somewhat distressed however when not even fifteen minutes later, the two semi-sober ladies came back again in again to ask for a few pitchers of water for the other gals outside. Nonetheless, I went out with pitcher in hand to do my job.

Dont get me wrong, when I say I was less than thrilled it doesnt have anything to do with having to serve people drinks; That is my job after all. Its just that drunk people....especially drunk women get really, really loud and obnoxious. Combining thirteen of them together at one table is a servers worst nightmare. And more importantly, it can almost garuntee trouble of some kind.....

And speaking of trouble....as soon as I got outside, I was greeted by a overabundance of giggling and a resounding chorus of "oh look...its the bartender...she's bringing us water...she must want to quiet us down....and sober us up". This was of course punctuated by more giggles. It wasnt until this point that I realized that more than half of the ladies were missing from the table and were instead posing against our heart shaped fence towards the far side of the deck posing topless. Yes, topless.....as in 'no bras- no shirts-no service' topless.

Standing there for a moment, first in shock, and then in deep contemplation about what I should do about the whole thing, I asked one of the topless ladies who was staring at me rather intently "so what are you ladies up to? I mean other than the obvious". My question was followed by a round of uncomfortable giggles, and an immediate shuffle of ladies bumping into each other as they searched around the corner of the deck for their shirts and bras. The only clothed woman out of the whole group, a cute little blonde woman, came over and nervously asked me ' so are you um...going to call the cops on us?' I just laughed and told her that as long as no one complained and as long as I didnt "see it", I didnt   particularly care.  She laughed and looked relieved.

As I was heading back inside I briefly asked her the question I had been dying to know, and which no one had answered. "So seriously though, whats up with the topless pics? Are you guys working on a body friendly collage or something?"

Her response it what keeps killing me, even a few weeks later: "well, we decided to all take pictures of our breasts so that one of my girlfriends could send them to her boyfriend to see if he could tell her breasts apart from the rest of us". Laughing hysterically, I walked back inside.

Its days like that when I love doing my job.