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If you are a regular at any sort of bar, you know that there are other regulars and they all seem to fit a common mold. I probably even fit into a mold, as much as my Gen-Xer self tries to deny it. The common barfly ranges from quiet and introverted to obnoxious to downright scary. Yet one of the most annoying types in the Know-It-All.
It happens to all if us barflies at some point. We're sitting there nursing our boring beer or passe apple-tini, when we see someone across the room presented with something that catches our eye. “What the heck is that?” we wonder. These crazy drinks usually feature a multitude of colors or insane garnishes that make us wish we were brave enough to order the same. Now you can, if your bar is well stocked and your bartender is hip to these concoctions.
Are you looking for just the right love potion for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day? Whether you're heading out or staying in, these drinks might be enough to win her heart, or at least impress her for the night. I avoid the tacky red and pink drinks, preferring a bit of elegance. Those tacky drinks also tend to be sickly sweet, something that just doesn't appeal. My favorite romantic drinks are elegant and never overly sweet, especially if you use only top shelf selections when mixing them up.
You don't have to wait until Saint Paddy's Day to start your day with a little Irish in you. Irish coffee is a tried and true favorite for morning, noon or night. There is nothing like a creamy cup of goodness to wake you up after a large dinner as you sit back with friends, or as a weekend treat with a late and lazy breakfast. A lot of people seem to think that all you need to do is dump some Bailey's into your normal brew, but if you want a truly enjoyable cuppa there's a bit more involved.
I know winter has hit my hometown when my husband busts out the kettle and out sake set. Cold evenings are spent with friends around the table, talking, laughing and sometimes playing cards. They are made all the more warmer with a bit of warm sake to put a fire in the belly and loosen the tongue.
I am as adventurous as the next person when it comes to food and libations. I saw an advertisement for a drink by Jeremiah Weed. Living in the south, sweet tea is an everyday staple that you can order at any drive thru and dine in food establishment. You don't have to brew it yourself and you can even buy it by the gallon from your neighborhood grocery store. When I saw the commercial for sweet tea that can effectively get you buzzed, I was intrigued.
I had a hard time finding the different varieties at he retail outlets that I usually went to. One of the vendors that I frequent actually ordered it for me. I tried some of he premixed varieties that come in the cans but my favorite by far was the sweet tea flavored vodka. Yes, you read that right, it is not sweet tea with a little vodka in it. This is vodka flavored with the tea. Are you as excited as I was?
I found that this was a little strong for me to drink on its own. Don't get me wrong, it is very good and if you are in a hurry to get inebriated, go for it. I created my very own version of a drunken Arnold Palmer. I mixed it with my favorite lemonade over a glass full of ice and I was in heaven. I decided that I needed to stock up. Jeremiah Weed products are not as hard to find as they once were in my little town and I like to think that I had a little something to do with that.
Give it a try but please drink responsibly!
Read more about My Friend Jeremiah
You wouldn't think it judging by the fact that I write a liquor blog and I can get pretty particular about booze and the culture surrounding it, but I'm in favor of avoiding pretentiousness in luxuries like alcohol. In fact, the more my experience with the hard stuff expands, the more I'm convinced that foodie-style snobbery is making liquor culture insufferable. That's why I'm devoting an entire column to cocktails that prominently feature a thoroughly unpretentious and often downright populist beverage: Cola. The one allowance I'll make for nit-picky palates in relation to cola is the clear superiority of cane sugar over corn syrup soda. The stuff just tastes better and that's the only reason I'm okay with the rarer, somewhat pricier substitution. It has nothing to do with the stuff being made outside of America or the fact that even knowing about it is something of an insider track in the food world. If you're making a cocktail, you're already indulging. Spend the extra fifty cents for the glass bottle of Mexi-Coke or whatever cane sugar cola you prefer. Now, onto the cocktails.
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Say what you will about Seattle mayor Mike McGinn, the guy isn't shy about actually doing stuff, which puts him a cut above most politicians. McGinn's got my tentative vote thanks to his most recent project, the Seattle Nightlife Initiative. Basically, it's an attempt to fix some of the city's many ridiculous, outdated and strangely conservative liquor laws without sending the vote to the ballot, where progressive ideals in Washington state go to die. The centerpiece of the initiative is the extension of liquor service hours past 2:00 AM, which is something that makes my lushy heart flutter and will also cut down on a variety of problems that result from last call when bars puke out scads of drunks into the streets every night. Here's a breakdown of what the initiative is actually going to do.
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Building an at-home bar is rather different from building a commercial bar. You only really need to stock bottles you and your guests like rather than a wide enough selection for every taste in a target demographic. You don't need a shelf full of glasses and while it's nice to have bar sinks, they're really not necessary. There are a few tools of the bar that tend to get excluded from home setups, though, that can really make the difference between so-so homemade cocktails and top-notch craft drinks. Here are three pieces you should consider for a truly exceptional personal bar.
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I just got back from a craft distillery that makes vodka, gin and whiskey... except they don't actually make vodka. In fact, I've yet to sample a vodka from a craft distillery that is actually vodka. This is because American liquor crafters imagine themselves to be clever when actually they're just afraid of difficult marketing. Let me elaborate:
Read more about The Lie of Craft Liquor