Time Hop to Japan
Posted: February 2, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentHave you seen the app called “Time Hop”? It’s a nice “ultra-nostalgic” way to reminisce about or be reminded of your social media posts a year ago on that same day, or even a couple years ago or five years ago for that matter.
It’s an awesome way to reminisce with pictures of your kid(s), but it also provides drinks for me to “recycle” here as we can always use a reminder of a good drink or two, right?
Today’s “time hop” provides one f my favorite drinks…
The “Japanese Cocktail”
2oz brandy
1/2oz orgeat
3d Boker’s Bitters
Garnish with a lemon twist
A Cocktail of Cocktails (?)
Posted: January 28, 2015 Filed under: Cocktail recipe, cocktails, Drink recipe, drinks, mixed drinks, mixology, Uncategorized | Tags: baseball, Cardinals, cocktail of cocktails, Manhattan, Oscar Taveras Leave a commentOn 10/26/14, the world lost a young baseball superstar of great promise, Oscar Taveras. Baseball fans learned of this tragic loss during the 2014 World Series, when it was announced over the air.
Shocked and in disbelief from this unexpected, terribly sad news, I needed a drink to sit back, take in the news and reflect on young Oscar and his saddened families (both his real family as well as his Cardinals family). Too saddened and shook to worry about mixing up a drink from ground zero, I just took the little bit of pre-mixed Manhattan I had already on hand and added cognac to it to make it a better-sized drink. Although the “technique” was unorthodox, the result was certainly tasty. Which begs the question…
Although the excuse for this concoction of mine was due to my lack of motivation to mix a drink from scratch, has anyone ever seen this technique in use before? Perhaps not just a Manhattan plus the addition of one other spirit (like mine was), but maybe two or three complete cocktails put together – A cocktail made of a combo of other cocktails? A “cocktail of cocktails”, so to speak.
I’d be interested to know.
Either way, at the end of the day, we’ll miss Oscar Taveras, and I hold his family and friends and his memory in my heart. This sad excuse for a drink is dedicated to the memory of Oscar Taveras, a tragic loss for St. Louis and the game of baseball…
1 part Manhattan
1 part cognac
Pimm’s Cup
Posted: January 28, 2015 Filed under: Cocktail Book, Cocktail recipe, cocktails, Drink recipe, drinks, mixed drinks, mixology, summer drinks, Uncategorized | Tags: cucumber, gin, ginger ale, ginger beer, lemon, Pimm's Cup, Pimm's No. 1 Leave a commentI really enjoy a good Pimm’s Cup. So much so, that I really should find myself drinking them much more often than I do.
Oddly enough, I usually find myself enjoying them on the most American of holidays… 4th of July, Labor Day, etc. Mainly I guess because these holidays are summer ones where I find myself kicking back on the porch without a care in the world (other than the St. Louis heat and humidity).
However, I usually do feel a bit weird drinking these on the 4th of July for instance. Oh well, they’re a great summertime refresher, so who really cares about tradition and what’s proper anyway, right?
A 2014 Independence Day Pimm’s Cup…
2oz Pimm’s No.1
1/2oz lemon
A couple ounces of ginger ale
Garnish w/ a cucumber
A 2014 Labor Day Pimm’s Cup…
2oz Pimm’s No. 1
1/4oz lemon over ice
A bit of ginger ale
A cucumber garnish
And what a Pimm’s Cup looks like when for some reason, you forget that a Pimm’s Cup has Pimm’s in it and accidentally use gin instead. It’s actually not a bad drink, and I wouldn’t object to someone handing me one.
2oz gin
1/4oz lemon
A bit of ginger ale
A cucumber garnish
Fernet Branca’s Cocktail of the Week
Posted: January 27, 2015 Filed under: Cocktail recipe, cocktails, Drink recipe, mixed drinks, Uncategorized | Tags: Fernet Branca, lavender, Rigazzino, rye Leave a commentIn February of last year, I was contacted by Fernet Branca, and asked if I’d like to be featured as one of their “cocktails of the week” on their social media sites. Obviously, I jumped at the opportunity! I came up with this variation of a drink I’d created almost a year earlier called “The Little Man”. With this variation, I emphasized the Italian origin of the famous amaro digestif, with the name “The Ragazzino”.
The Ragazzino
1.5oz Still 630 rye whiskey
3/4oz lemon
1/2oz Fernet Branca
3 dashes simple syrup
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash lavender bitters
shake/strain
garnish w/ an orange twist
Ferguson, MO
Posted: January 27, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThis past year has been a trying one for St. Louis and specifically our neighboring suburban town of Ferguson.
With everything that’s happened in the area and the social unrest it led to, it also led to unrest in the minds of everyone who loves our town. It caused many of us to examine ourselves and our city, and recognize and embrace how much better we can strive to become.
Despite the positive outcome these unfortunate circumstances will hopefully result in, i.e. a better, more united St. Louis, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who would disagree that St. Louis could use a stiff drink.
That is why I created this drink during the peak of the unrest, back in September of 2014.
A “Ferguson”
2oz brandy
1/2oz Cherry Heering
2d Fortune Teller Bar lemon hopped bitters
Stir with ice, then strain or serve over a large ice cube
Garnish with an orange twist
The Risky Lives of Elegant Cocktail Glasses
Posted: January 26, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
Two of My Favorite Drinks
Posted: January 26, 2015 Filed under: cocktails, Drink recipe | Tags: Boulevardier, Campari, rye, vermouth Leave a commentThey’re like twins… sometimes hard to tell apart, but definitely different.
A “1794” cocktail
2 parts rye whiskey
1 part Italian vermouth
1 part Campari
A “Boulevardier”
Equal parts rye whiskey, Campari and Italian vermouth.
