Don't Judge a Bottle by Its Label - Vintage 17-Year-Old Bourbon
OK, OK, so we're a little obsessed with bourbon right now. But Derby Day is just around the corner, the sun is starting to make a cameo and, well, bourbon is absurdly delicious.
While at a whiskey-and-barbecue eatery the other night, the bartender stopped short when he heard me order Woodford Reserve, mistaking me for some high-rolling aficionado (I'm new to the cult and have never even tried Pappy Van Winkle). "You like bourbon?" he asked, smiling. With a flourish, he produced this bottle of Vintage 17-year-old bourbon. I laughed when I saw it. Look at that photo! It was like someone saying, "You know what's a high-quality nail polish?" and dramatically presenting you with an old bottle of cherry-red Wet & Wild with its insanely '80s script. How could this be tasty stuff?
One sip shut me straight up. My companion crowed, "It's incredible! It coats the palate with caramel!" All I could muster after a long day writing about food was a sober, "Yeah," and a deep sigh -- the sigh of a woman who had just acquired a very expensive new habit.
A Hedonist in the Cellar - Book Review
A few years ago – which, if memory serves me, corresponds to "the Paleolithic era" when you're young – jaws dropped all around the oenophilic community when Jay McInerney was named wine columnist for House and Garden magazine. McInerney has been considered something of a voice of a generation (read: mine), but I always thought he was unfairly freighted with mis-perceptions and even some guttersniping: a talented writer who writes about the social milieu can be misunderstood as having an attitude, and even if they do, it is the writing that should, and ultimately does, speak for itself.
It seems that many among the cigars-and-snifters crowd dismissed McInerney's wine writing as disdainfully as they would a box of Franzia, while many among the hipster-wine-bar set dismissed McInerney's wine writing as cloyingly as they would embrace the "irony" of that selfsame box of wine. But anyone so dismissing often so dismissed for no better reason than the fashion of scorning the 1980s, a critical posture that the decade itself certainly bears some responsibility for. I've actually read one reference to this best-selling – and, to my mind both as reader and writer, very talented – author as a "wine brat."
Tuesday Happy Hour: Hard Root Beer
Though I drank a lot of root beer years ago, these days all of my soda needs are taken up by Diet Coke and Pepsi (yes, I have someone learned to love both of them). But icy cold root beer can hit the spot on a warm day. I have to admit I've never had it with alcohol involved.But AOL Food has the recipe (from DrinksTV) for Hard Root Beer, which is basically 8 ounces of root beer and 2 ounces of spiced rum. Pretty simple and delicious-sounding (unless, of course, you don't like root beer and/or rum, I guess). Some people, however, think the amount of rum should be kicked up a notch. This one calls for some experimentation.
Friday Happy Hour: Traffic Light
I've never been very good at making cocktails where you have to pour in the ingredients in a certain way to create a layered effect. But the colors on this one, if you can do it right, make the drink seem rather intoxicating (no pun intended).It's the Traffic Light, a red, yellow, and green concoction that has a few variations. This one comes from In The Spirit and involves a shot glass (the pic above is a slightly different version, from B52s). You need a half shot of of Midori, a half shot of Disaronno Amaretto, and a shot of De Kuyper Cranberry Liqueur. You pour each one (in the order you see) over the back of a spoon, being carefully to layer them in the glass. The site categorizes this drink as "hard."
Needless to say, just because this drink has the name Traffic Light doesn't mean you can drive after drinking it.
Tuesday Happy Hour: Jealous June
I don't know if this recipe refers to the month of June or a woman named June. Perhaps Ward Cleaver created it after his wife got all jealous and suspicious when he worked late at the office so many nights in a row. But it just sounds like a June (the month) the drink, so here we go.It's from Alex's Cocktails in the UK and includes very summer-sounding ingredients such as Midori, white rum, Cointreau, and pineapple juice.
Friday Happy Hour: Eli's Elixir
I don't think of bourbon as a summer drink ingredient. Summer drinks to me are ones that are fruity and light and crisp and maybe have an umbrella in them. I mean, they don't have to have an umbrella in them, but fruity and light are what I think of when I think of summer drinks. Bourbon is a harder potion to me, made for fall and winter nights.But this recipe over at MarthaStewart.com for Eli's Elixir (created by Allen Katz) sounds promising, because it does have that fruit element in it (apple juice, apples) along with 2 oz of bourbon. You also use a Homemade Ginger Cordial in the recipe too.
Weekend Happy Hour: Drinks for the Indy 500
It goes without saying that you shouldn't drink and drive. And I would add that you certainly shouldn't drink and drive 200 miles per hour.This Sunday at 1pm marks the start of the Indianapolis 500 race. And to go along with the popular sporting event is a series of cocktails. More precisely, official "Victory Cocktails," including Pit Lane Lemonade and the Winner's Choice Cocktail. After the jump is the recipe for the latter, created by Curtis Parker of the Mudsocks Bar & Grille in Noblesville, IN.
The Winner's Choice Cocktail actually sounds better to me (I like gin, not vodka), but I didn't, um, have a picture of it.
Hump Day Happy Hour: Bonecrusher
When I think of the word "Bonecrusher," I don't usually think of a champagne cocktail, but that's what this is.
It's from WineIntro.com (I like how they have a pic of the ingredients you'll be using - more sites should do that), and even though it has champagne, it also includes rum, gin, and vodka, so maybe that's where the crushing of bones begins. This drink is a lot stronger than it looks, even if it does also include grenadine and Sprite.
Friday Happy Hour: Apple Bomb
For a couple of years in the 1990s, I drank ginger beer all the time. I can't even remember what brands I used to drink, but I was always experimenting with the stuff to see what cocktails I could come up with. I have to admit I never tried mixing it with apple.This is the Apple Bomb, and besides ginger beer it features applejack, apple juice, and a lot of apple pieces on a skewer.
Friday Happy Hour: One-Armed Bandit
We conclude this particular numbered cocktails theme week with the One-Armed Bandit.I'm more of a red wine guy than a white wine guy (much more, actually), but this drink has so many other ingredients in it that I love that I'm going to try it tonight. It's white wine with Cointreau, grenadine, oranges, lemon, and lime. Cocktail.com doesn't say who created the drink, but does say that it was "discovered in Vegas." That's good enough for me.
Thursday Happy Hour: 20th Century
Continuing with the theme week of numbered cocktails comes the 20th Century, from the book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. Wikipedia says it was created in the late 30s to help promote the introduction of the Hudson Dreyfus Engine, which powered the 20th Century Limited Train.
I like the color.
I like the color.
Hump Day Happy Hour: The 747
Continuing with the "numbered cocktail" theme, I think this is the first drink of the Happy Hour series I've posted that's served in a shot glass. This is the 747. Not sure why it's named after an airplane, but some cocktails have mysterious origins. This is made with Kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream, and Frangelico. From those ingredients I'm sure you can tell immediately what it might taste like and if you'd like it or not.
Tuesday Happy Hour: Esplanade 1925
I think I inadvertently started a cocktail "theme" week here yesterday: cocktails with numbers. Yesterday I had the Shane 75, and today is the recipe for Esplanade 1925. This one is also from Imbibe.It's a drink that was inspired by the Regent Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb. Esplanade 1925 also happens to be the named of the lounge/bar there.
Monday Happy Hour: Shane 75
Saw this recipe in the latest issue of Imbibe. It's named after the son of Highland Kitchen owners Marci Joy and Marc Romano. You have to be a fan of blackberries to enjoy it, since it's not only made with blackberry brandy but also has a fresh blackberry floating in it.
Hump Day Happy Hour: The Wet Wednesday
I almost didn't post this, because the sound on the video is so terrible (really, why would anyone film a drink recipe video at a bar that's not only open but one where there's loud music in the background?), but decided to post it anyway since some sharp readers might be able to figure out the ingredients. There's also a Facebook group for the Wet Wednesday, so if you're a member check that out.
