June 1, 2011
Now this looks like quite an awesome evening: lots of little bottles of booze, a fine DVD to watch (from what I’ve been told, inside that red DVD envelope is a Townes Van Zandt documentary), and copies of old friends Good Spirits and Party Drinks. I’m guessing the lady who took this pic (it was the mother of my pal Rebecca Staffel, chief tasting officer of Deluxe Foods, just in case you’re curious) had an awesome evening indeed:
PS: Do you have a book-in-action photo? Send it to me post-haste.
May 26, 2011
The ol’ Seattle weather recently hasn’t been what you’d (you or anyone, really, unless that other person is someone who revels in dreary wetness) call awesome lately (and by lately, I mean, to all reports, since last August). You might think this rain-cloud-rain pattern would drive me to drink only straight shots of rot-gut (or at least straight shots of almost-rot-gut). But no, fair friend, no. When the weather trots out its worst repeatedly during a time when the very month name should signal clear skies and sunshine (like May, for instance) I go for summertime mixes. A: I’m not going to let that weather tell me who the boss is. I know who the boss is (Tony Danza. And then me). B: I figure if I drink like there’s sun in the sky then maybe, just maybe, I’ll influence said weather to follow my lead. Here’s hoping, at least. Which is why I’m sipping the summertime queen of the jungle, the Ognam (which is straight of out Dark Spirits, don’t you know. Wait, you don’t? Well go buy the book and find out). It was created by wife Nat and has a tropical refreshing vibe (sure, I said vibe, what of it?), and can, if anything can, change the weather:
Ice cubes
1 1/2 ounces brandy
2 1/2 ounces mango juice
1/2 ounce Aperol
Chilled club soda
Lemon slice for garnish
1. Fill a highball or comparable glass with ice cubes. Add the brandy, mango juice, and Aperol. Stir well.
2. Fill the glass almost to the tippy top (Ognam insists on words like tippy top. Don’t infuriate Ognam.) with club soda. Stir again, well. Squeeze the lemon slice over the glass and drop it in.
Tags: Aperol, Brandy, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Dark Spirits, Ognam, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Almost Drinkable Photo, Aperol, Brandy, Dark Spirits, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
May 5, 2011
Well, we’re back (from Italy, that is. If you didn’t know it, wife Nat and I and our two dogs have been enjoying our Italian pre-tirement for the last seven or so months. Interested? Read more about it). Re-entry into life into Seattle hasn’t been rough, but neither has it been a box of chocolates filled with booze. To ease the edges, and to help remind me of things from here I missed, when there, without forgetting what I loved there, I whipped up the following cocktail last night, and think I’ll be whipping up a few more over the next couple of days. See, bourbon is hard to track down in the I-tal, and so I wanted the drink to be serious on the bourbon side. But, I miss (already) having loads of Italian liqueurs in every café and bar, so I wanted hints of Italy surrounding the bourbon. Which led to the Welcome Back, Weary Traveler:
2-1/2 ounces bourbon (I used Blanton’s, but others may suffice)
1/2 ounce Luxardo Maraschino
1/4 ounce Fernet Branca
Orange twist, for garnish (I like’d a wider orange twist here)
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ie.
2. Add the bourbon, maraschino, and Fernet Branca. Stir well.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass or a stewardesses hat. Twist the twist and drink as happily as you can manage.
Tags: Blanton's, bourbon, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Dark Spirits, drink recipes, Fernet Branca, Luxardo Maraschino, Recipes, What I'm Drinking, Whiskey
Posted in: Almost Drinkable Photo, Italy, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking, Whiskey
April 7, 2011
Picked up some dark rum not too long back (at Domini, the best winery in central Italy, funny enough–Diego, the owner and swell fella, is nice enough to stock some other, non-wine, bottles as well) and it lead to me craving a cocktail that had more of an island, and a little less of an Italian feel, but as this was made while living in Italy, and features an Italian tamarind syrup (though really, it’s thicker than a regular syrup—almost molasses-y) by Carlo Erba (a Milan company), I still consider it an Italian drink. Hence the name, which hits both sides of the drink:
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces dark rum
3/4 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 ounce freshly squeeze lime juice
1/2 Carlo Erba Tamarindo
Lime slice for garnish
Pineapple slice for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the rum, juices, and tamarind. Shake exceptionally well (that tamarind needs a bit of serious shaking to play nice).
2. Strain into a cocktail glass, or whatever good glass is nearby. Garnish with the lime slice and pineapple slice (both to add flavor and in case you need a snack).
March 31, 2011
I have a whole host of Dr. Strange posts over on my Italy blog (if you don’t know who Dr. Strange is, then, well, I pity you pal. Go over to Neilalien and do some learning), and have already posted this pic up there, but I liked it so much I wanted to double it up and post it here, too. The long and short is that we were in Florence, having a Negroni at Giacosa (which is the spot where the Negroni was born), and Dr. Strange was thirsty and he wanted one, too. Which was wonderful by me:
March 19, 2011
Even though I’m currently living in the world’s most wonderful land of liqueurs (that’s Italy, yo), I still like to make a few of my own (homemade liqueur freaks like me are like that, yo). Recently, I noticed that in the yard we had a ton of winter herby stalwart rosemary, and though, “why not a rosemary kinda liqueur, yo?” I wanted to have my new liqueur be a colder-weather one (matching up to the rosemary and the season I made it within), which led to picking apples as my other main ingredient. The end result was a rich, textured mix, one that I’ve been having solo, but one I can envision mixing with everything from cider to rum to mornings, yo. Just be sure to swirl and swirl, cause the apple and rosemary need to be cuddle up well—it is chilly, after all.
1-1/2 cups fresh rosemary
4 cups vodka
1 lemon peel
2 apples, cored and chopped roughly
2 cups simple syrup
1. Place the rosemary in a large glass container with a good lid. Muddle it up a bit, but don’t beat it to a pulp.
2. Add the vodka to the rosemary and swirl it around. Then add the lemon and apples, and swirl a bit more. Seal the container, and put it in a cool, dry place away from the sun. Let sit for two weeks, swirling every day or so.
3. Open the container, add the simple syrup to the mix, and stir. Seal and again place in that cool, dry spot. Let sit for two more weeks, swirling occasionally.
4. Strain through cheesecloth at least once, and maybe twice if extra-cloudy, and then pour into large bottles, small bottles, or straight into your mouth.
A Note: Yo.
December 17, 2010
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: most times (that makes it sound sort folksy), most times I say, the simple things are the finest. Example A: I picked up a bottle of Punt e Mes (you probably know this, but it’s a particular Italian vermouth, fragrant and citrus and herbal in action) at one of my local stores here in Italy recently, and instead of getting all jiggy with it, poured it simple over ice, and then topped it with ginger ale (the Conad, which is a line of stores here, house brand, which is quite dandy, dry and ginger-tastic). An orange slice might have made it better, but you know what? It was a fine aperitif even without said slice. And so simple. You should make one yourself. Right now:
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces Punt e Mes
3 ounces ginger ale
1. Fill a highball glass three-quarter-ish up with ice cubes. Add the Punt e Mes. Top with the ginger ale. Stir. Be happy for simple things.
Tags: cocktail recipe, ginger ale, Italian drinks, Italian Liqueurs, Punt e' Mes, sweet vermouth, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Almost Drinkable Photo, aperitif, Italy, Liqueurs, Recipes, vermouth
December 14, 2010
This vacationing vandal special is, in a big way, a liquid shout out to pals Markie B and Andy S. See, these two fine gentleman (and their wives) came with us the last time we were in Italy (way back in April 2009), and during that trip we discovered the somewhat illusive Viparo. You can read my plea for this Italian amaro here, and learn more about our adventures on that trip. On this trip, I was excited to try and track down this evasive elixir, and then when walking into some big new market/grocery/superstore a couple weeks back there it was, staring down at me–a whole display of new bottles of Viparo. Naturally, I picked one up and now it, along with Italian stalwart Aperol, features big in the below drink. The others players are gin (which starts the story behind the name, as I was picturing the drinker as a British stagecoach robber on vacation) and clementine juice (I found a bunch of clementine’s recently)—everything together equals a fine escape:
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounce gin
1 ounce freshly squeezed clementine juice
1/2 ounce Viparo
1/2 ounce Aperol
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the gin, juice, Viparo, and Aperol. Shake well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass or little wine glass or flagon. Drink up.
A Note: Can’t find clementine’s? You could sub in orange juice instead. Call it Highwayman’s Parole.
A Second Note: You might want to strain this through a fine strainer to avoid citrus bits in teeth. But no real robber would care about that much.
Tags: Aperol, clementine, cocktail recipe, Gin, Highwayman’s Holiday, Italian drinks, Italian Liqueurs, Viparo, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Almost Drinkable Photo, Aperol, Gin, Italy, Liqueurs, Recipes, Viparo, What I'm Drinking
