At my wonderful Locatails class last weekend at the wonderful Pantry at Delancey, one of the wonderful assistants (there was a lot of wonderful last weekend) asked me in passing about drinks made using rosé. I was going to round a few up for her, then people started coming in, I started talking, and somewhat forgot. Until now, when looking at the weather and realizing that we might, actually, be in for some more sun this week in Seattle. And when the sun’s out, a light-but-interesting drink like the Rosé Squirt is in (said drink from Wine Cocktails doncha know). So, now, I’m belatedly answering the question from last weekend and getting a wonderful drink on.
Ice cubes
1 ounce maraschino liqueur
3 ounce dry rosé wine
Chilled club soda
Maraschino cherry, for garnish
1. Fill a highball glass three-quarters full with ice cubes. Add the maraschino liqueur and rosé. Stir briefly.
2. Fill the glass almost to the top with chilled club soda. Stir again, a bit more than briefly. Drop a cherry on top and serve.
This is another summer favorite featured in Wine Cocktails (following up the Cactus Berry below), a continental number that’ll go down in a lovely manner while you sit outside under the bright bright sun. It’s also a drink that can be enjoyed year round and is a standard (many would say the standard) in the pre-dinner hour, the apertivo hour, the time when Italians gather at the bar for snacks and a little imbibing. It has been known to cause some disagreement (not too heated mind you, but friendly disagreement) due to the garnish. Depending on where you’re at, you might get a green olive, an orange slice or twist, or something else altogether. I go for the orange slice, but am friends with many who go other routes. There’s no need for tempers during the hot months. In the spirit of this friendliness, this recipe is for two.
Serves 2
3 or 4 ice cubes
3 ounces Aperol
6 ounces chilled prosecco
2 orange slices for garnish
1. Add 1 or 2 ice cubes to two flute glasses (skip this if your Prosecco is super chilly). Add the Aperol.
2. Fill the glasses with the prosecco and stir gently. Garnish with the orange slice.
It seems like summer is upon us (at least everywhere outside of my little corner of the northwest, as it’s, oh, 50 degrees and cloudy here. Which might lead you to think I’m complaining. But I’m not. Cause I know July and August will be wonderful and everyone living outside of here will be melting, melting, like a bad witch. Not that I want everyone to head this way duing those months, though. A few, sure, but not everyone. The bars would be too crowded. But I digress). Which means it’s time to start focusing the sipping on seriously refreshing liquid solutions. And when I want refreshing and light and summery stuff, I usually start by browsing Wine Cocktails, which is a book of my very own. It’s full of prescriptions for the summer months (not actual prescriptions, for those head-shaking pharmacists in the room. But I think you know what I mean), including the below number, the Cactus Berry. A relative of the Margarita (another fine sunshine-y drink), the Cactus Berry goes like shoes and socks with spicy food and rising temperatures. This recipe’s for two, cause summer’s more fun in pairs.
Serves 2
Ice cubes
3 ounces Merlot
3 ounces white tequila (blanco, yo)
1-1/2 ounces Cointreau
1 ounce fresh lime juice
2 lime slices for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the Merlot, tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice. Shake exceedingly well (as if you were shaking cactus thorns from your hands).
2. Strain the mix into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the lime slice and serve.
PS: I think using Herencia Tequila or Dos Manos Tequila will make your summer even more memorable.
If you drink wine, like charming ladies, enjoy reading jolly and informative writing about drinking and drinks (and really, why would you be here if not?), live in the mid-west, want to learn about wine while feeling like you’re hanging out with the rad-est wine teacher ever, or all of the above, then I strongly suggest you visit the Savvy Lush. But who (or what, I suppose), you might ask, is the Savvy Lush? Well, she’s a woman with an incredible knowledge about wine. And it’s knowledge picked up the right way: by drinking a lot of wine, starting with a trip in her youth to Italy (which is the finest way to start, of course). On her site she details reds and whites, skanks and snobs, and more in convivial and bubbly style. She also has a “Guest Swiller” section that she’s kicking off, and right now there’s a bit of wine cocktails talk from me. But don’t let that keep you from her blog–bookmark it and read it regular. With a glass of wine in hand of course.
PS: Naturally, as the cool kids do, you should follow her on the Twitter, too. And the Facebooker.
If you don’t already know, Wino magazine is not a magazine catering solely to drunken reprobates. Though they probably are okay with that readership, too. It’s really a magazine all about Washington wines. And it’s free, and you should pick up every copy you can, cause the guys that put it out are fine fellows and very devoted to their wines (so devoted they drink about a cask a week. Ba-dump-bump). After a few glasses with Doug, the editor-in-chief, this summer, I convinced him that wine lovers would also be wine cocktails lovers with the right edging on, and also convinced him that the magazine should highlight a few of the fantastic new Washington spirits distilleries in an upcoming issue, because they’re new and deliver delicious product and need to be more known.
Little did I know that he’d be okay with me writing the article (I was okay with it, because it meant I got to visit the Pacific and Soft Tail distilleries and hang out with Mark and Dennis, the friendly and super knowledgeable distillers) and that he’d put a big review of the new book Wine Cocktails in the same issue as the article. Holy booze-tastico friends, that makes for a heck of an issue. Now, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a hard copy (it’s free), but Wino also puts most of the articles on their site, so you can read the Wine Cocktails review and Be Still My Heart (the article about Pacific Distillery and Soft Tail Distillery) right from the safety and comfort of your work desk, or home desk, or couch if you’re all wireless’d up. There is also a recipe using Pacific’s Voyager gin and Absinthe Pacifique and a recipe using Soft Tail’s grappa after the article (forget the recipe header that says “Wine Cocktail recipes”–these aren’t necessarily that, but are necessarily tasty). While at the Wino site, I suggest checking every nook and cranny out, especially the online only A Bottle a Week feature (cause wine is healthy and you need more). But enough of me–head on over to Wino and start swilling.
Hello . . . hello . . . is it Wine Cocktails you’re looking for? If it is, you’re in luck, cause as I alluded to below (in the S.F. Part I post), I’m making a few wine cocktails from the book of the same name this Thursday at a sweet bar called Poco here in Seattle (which is named in full Poco Wine Room, but which has recently expanded to be Poco Wine and Cocktails Room, making it the ideal match up for above-mentioned book). The basics are thus (and you can see more on this Facebook page, if that’s your thing):
When: This Thursday, August 20th
Where: Poco, 1408 East Pine Street, near the intersections of Pine, 15th & Madison, Seattle
What: Wine cocktails demos, copies of the book, actually wine cocktails to drink
Who: You, one hopes. And me.
It’s $20 to get in, but for that you get your very own copy of the book (which I’ll of course sign if you want) and two drinks, so it’s a dandy deal. And, Poco is a really nice spot. All of which means you should, as the song says, come on down, have that drink. I’ll be happy to see you for sure. And while the below isn’t one of the featured drinks, it should at least whet your wine cocktails appetite.
I’m sure you’ve had a night like this: you get home, you know you should make dinner (to save money, and to use up what’s going bad in your fridge at this very moment, right now) but you’re having a hard time getting the energy going to get started, and so instead you make a deal with yourself (and maybe your wife or husband too): I/we will go out to dinner, but then I’ll/we’ll fold the unbelievably-large mountain of laundry when I/we get home from said dinner out. That happened to me (and Nat) last night, and the restaurant we ended up going to, to balance out that part of the “deal” was La Casa Azul. We’d never been before, but our pals, tattooed-Nicole and photographer-Josh, had recently A: told us about it, and B: told us it was darn tasty. Well, they’re believable folks, so we figured we’d give it a whirl, even though it’s in a strip mall kind-of a spot. It ended up being just what they said: darn tasty. And cute and cozy too, with both a Frieda Kahlo style and décor focus (and food, in a way) and super nice waiter and chef/waiter (these two guys do it all). If you live in Seattle, take my advice, and make the trip up or over to 14419 Greenwood Ave North. If you don’t live in Seattle, then move here for gawd’s sake. Sadly, our camera ran low on batteries, so I don’t have food pics, but this blog’s about booze anyway. And, luckily, I got some snaps of the lush sangrias before said batteries blew:
The sangria was a touch sweeter than my venerable family recipe (which you can find in about half of my books), but had a great clean and bright taste backed by some fruity but firm red wine, and a full array of fresh garnishes. Nat loved it, and I drank two, so I must have thought it fine as well. We also ate like hogs (or hog-like humans, ala the Island of Dr. Moreau, the book and not either of the movie versions), which is understandable, because the food was done so right, from the spicy salsa to the onion-and-pepper packed queso fundido (which they were nice enough to make for us veggies without chorizo) to the Tlayudes which I had (which was like a giant super thin tortilla–more a tortilla-Italian-style-pizza-combo–topped with black beans, cheese, cabbage, veggies), and the Plato Vegetarianos which Nat had (which was sautéed slabs of squash and nopales, sautéed mushrooms and spinach, and lots of smashed seasoned potatoes with an avocado-tomatillo sauce). Dang, now I’m hungry. Thanks Nicole and Josh for pointing us in the right direction (North, for us).
Hey, check me out on Fox 25 Boston, talking Wine Cocktails with my pal Gene and making up Maibowles for some early morning drinking (and while checking out the fun, well, hopefully fun, stuff you should know that I had just flown into Boston the night before, and my flight was late, and, even though it was a “direct” flight from Seattle to Boston we had a layover in Philly, and they managed to lose my luggage–though I was always on the same plane–and so I was wearing the same clothes from flying the day before, which means I was in shorts and smelled a bit, and had to use a different shaker and all that cause my bar tools were in my luggage, and well, I know I’m complaining, but I also know you want the backstory, and so you’re getting it, but what I really want to say is, “damn you US Airways, how can you stink so much?” I did end up having lots of fun on the TeeVee though, and hopefully didn’t look too sleepy):
The Maibowle’s genius, too, and you should have one this weekend, with mom, who will love it, or just with yourself. And then, come back next week for Italy, Part III: This Time It’s Countryside.
