Spirited Cocktails

During our Brown Liquor Tweetup earlier in the week, our group eventually made its way to a wonderful cocktail bar called the Clover Club. You may remember, I’ve posted about the Clover Club cocktail in the past, and while they seemed to do a fine job mixing their namesake drink, another cocktail on the menu caught my eye: the Ward Eight.

The Ward Eight is essentially a whisky sour, but with the addition of grenadine. In The Essential Cocktail, Dale DeGroff teaches us about its historic political roots in Boston’s Eighth Ward. The story goes that it was created on Election Eve 1898 to celebrate the victory of Martin Lomasney. Historians can debate if that’s true. While they do, I’ll be pouring myself a drink. Read More

There’s something deeply satisfying about an apple. The combination of the sweet and the tart. The crunch of that first bite, and the soft flesh inside. Apples have always been one of my favorite fruits, and I relish the idea of bringing them to one of my other favorite things – cocktails!

The Jack Rose is an absolute classic. It has appeared in hotel bars for over a century, and has even shown up in the writing of Ernest Hemmingway. It’s made in the traditional sour style, using the 2:3/4:3/4 ratio, as you’ll see below. Read More

Today is World Cocktail Day. I think I’ve found my new religion.

For those of you in NYC, NBC has a round-up of some great World Cocktail Day events! Cheers!

Update: For those who weren’t able to attend, @livethelushlife has some some great video of one of the events celebrating World Cocktail Day. The video features many of the masters of the cocktail industry, including Dale DeGroff, Audrey Saunders, Dave Wondrich and others. Take a look:

Head on over to The Wednesday Weekly where our friend @EkeyNYC provides a round-up (and some great pictures!) of our brown liquor tweet-up earlier this week. @livethelushlife, @ekeynyc, @sweetblogomine, @csmcbride and I hit the bars in Brooklyn to sample some fine whiskey at Char 4, and some fine cocktails at the Clover Club. Check it out.

Many thanks to @EkeyNYC for the round-up and the pics!

As anyone who went to college with me knows, tequila has not traditionally been kind to me (nor I to it). However, during a recent trip to Mayahuel, Phil Ward’s new tequila haven in the East Village, I was reminded that there’s a big difference between a crafted tequila cocktail and shots of Jose Cuervo in a dive bar.

My bartender at Mayhuel, Kevin (and at times, Phil Ward), were kind enough to give me a modern survey of tequila and mezcal (tequila’s cousin), but it really all begins with the Margarita. A simple cocktail that allows the flavor of a good tequila to lead, the Margarita is the perfect way to reintroduce yourself to tequila if you, like I, might have had an “unpleasant” experience in the past.

The real key is quality tequila. This is not a time to take the value route. You want the good stuff – 100% pure blue agave tequila. Take it from a guy who knows – choosing tequila isn’t the time to pinch pennies. For this recipe, I’ve chose Siembra Azul Blanco tequila, which I’ve found to be an excellent balance of quality and affordability. And no, they haven’t paid me a dime to say that. Read More

The Tom Collins is the classic gin-based sour. It follows the traditional formula of 2oz base spirit, 3/4oz sour and 3/4oz sweet, topped off with a bit of club soda for some fizz. The best thing about a Tom Collins is that it’s not only tasty and refreshing in its own right, but one might consider it the blank canvas of cocktails – it’s very easy to create variations to suit your tastes and impress your guests. Read More

Editor’s Note: We have a special treat this Friday. Katy, our guest-blogger and chef d’cuisine, brings us a recipe for Shrimp Ceviche – the perfect accompaniment for summer cocktails! Enjoy.

Josh’s recent posts on strawberry daiquiris and pisco sours reminded me that the hot, hot days of summer are soon upon us. A cool shrimp ceviche is a great pairing to both drinks and is simple to make.

Ceviche is a traditional South American seafood dish in which fish is marinated in a combination of fresh lime juice and lemon juice. The fish “cooks” due to the acidic combination of lemon and lime juices. Ceviche is traditionally made with red snapper, but can be made with almost any white fish.

This recipe uses shrimp that is lightly pre-cooked. I know, food purists will say that it’s not really ceviche if it’s cooked. While the marinade cooks seafood, it doesn’t kill the bacteria. This isn’t much of an issue with raw fish (think sushi), but it can be with shellfish like shrimp or scallops. So, for safety reasons, it’s a good idea to lightly pre-cook the shrimp. Read More