butterscotch schnapps

You Spin Me Right, Round & Upside Down

Sips

Right Side Up Martini
The same restaurant that served Todd that fabulous Lemon Drop Martini had another item on the menu that I wished I’d ordered instead of the all-alcohol pomegranate martini I nursed for the night. But we didn’t order it, so I have no idea what it tastes like, but it sounded so good I jotted down the description with a plan to try it out back home.

Of course, that was three years ago and I’ve yet to experiment with this cocktail: until now.

First, it had vanilla vodka–something we’d only recently encountered at the time and our favorite form of the otherwise flavorless spirit now. Butterscotch schnapps and pineapple juice rounded out the main ingredients, with a splash of cola to finish it off.

Here’s how we put it together:

The Right Side Up

2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 1/4 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz Butterscotch Schnapps
1/4 oz Cola

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice and turn it right round like a record, baby. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a bruléed bit of pineapple, if you happen to have one around.

I expected it to be syrupy. It isn’t. In fact, it’s a nice, calm little cocktail–definitely sweet, make no mistake–that’s evenly balanced between the alcohols and the juice. The cola gave me pause, at first, but it gives the drink that caramelized flavor without which it’s namesake dessert wouldn’t be the same.

Cheers!

That’s How the Cookie Crumbles

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Oatmeal Cookie CocktailOr, rather, shakes.

Okay, the O-cocktail in this series is another one I’ve been looking forward to getting just right. We first had it ages ago at a tapas-style restaurant. We’d gone there after a late movie and ate (and drank) at the bar. While we weren’t really looking for another full cocktail (we’d each had one a piece–moderation, remember?) the martini list was so tempting, so we asked for this one as a shot. Oh, it was divine, and we’ve worked on the right combination off and on since then.

I think we’ve finally got it right.

Oatmeal Cookie Martini

1.5 oz Irish Cream
1.5 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4 oz Buttershots
3/4 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz Goldschlager
garnish: cinnamon sugar, raisins

Combine all  liquid ingredients over ice and shake like a mixer creaming cold butter. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass that’s been rimmed with cinnamon sugar. Garnish with a spear of raisins, if that’s how you like your cookie.

There are many versions of this delectable treat floating around the web and I was astonished to see that several called for Jagermeister–not exactly what I like in my oatmeal cookie. One called for amaretto, which I thought was a nice touch, but so far I haven’t see any with vanilla vodka or condensed milk. What can I say, I have a cocktail ingredient type!

I know it’s a little early to be thinking about the big guy in the red suit, but I wonder if I left this out for him instead of regular cookies, would I find a little something extra in my stocking?

A Little Taste of the Crescent City

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New Orleans Praline cocktail
It’s been a busy week here at Money Creek: 2 cocktails and 3 bottles of wine busy! But it was while creating one of my Character Cocktails for an upcoming product launch (they’re not just for people, you know) that I was struck with inspiration for this week’s Alphatini cocktial, the letter N.

And a good thing I did because I was drawing a pretty big blank, facing the second half of our alphabetical series. But inspiration was found and now I can’t see how I would have missed it.

For this one we’re going to take a little field trip to my favorite city in the USA: New Orleans. Not the city of my birth (though only an hour away) I always get this thrill of excitement when I see those wrought-iron balconies, narrow streets and iconic signs. The go-cups and Marie Laveau’s don’t hurt either. And it’s been far too many years since I’ve made it back to play tourist visit.

New Orleans isn’t short on flavors to savor, either: there’s the seafood delicacies, the spicy sauces, Cajun this, Creole that, and then there’s the desserts. It’s one of these desserts that became our mission to recreate: the Praline.

Pecans surrounded by a creamy, melt-in-your mouth candy. And candy? Is time consuming to make (not to mention dangerous: molten sugar and a better chance that the humidity will prevent it from setting properly). This cocktail? Gets the job done with a lot less trouble.

New Orleans Praline

1 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz Frangelico
1/4 oz Butterschnapps
1 1/2 oz Cream Soda

Combine vodka and the liqueurs over ice and shake with a touch of the zydeco in your soul. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass while adding the cream soda.

There’s not a readily available pecan liqueur that I’m aware of, so we went with the smooth hazelnut liqueur instead. If you prefer, you could use amaretto but you might also need to add more vodka and soda to balance the stronger flavor of the almond liqueur. Either way you’ll end up with a rich, creamy, decadent cocktail that contains the essence of a praline without all the work.

50 Shots of America–West Virginia

Sips
Gold and Delicious Cocktail

Gold and Delicious

I thought we were done with the east coast last time! Looks like I was mistaken. Again.

Turns out the powers that be in the state of Virginia were having some issues within themselves while the country as a whole was in a bit of an uproar. The idea that Virginia was going to secede from the Union didn’t sit too well with some folks in the western counties so they decided they’d just take themselves out of it and create their own rival state government (which was happily acknowledged by the Federal powers that be). On June 20, 1863, (after a 60-day waiting period), West Virginia became our 35th state and the only one to be formed by seceding from a Confederate state.

Coal is the name of the game in the Mountain State, so named because, well, it’s all mountains–Appalachian Mountains to be specific. A few other facts stood out for me as I was doing my research:

  • July 1, 1921: The first state sales tax in the US went into effect in West Virginia.
  • 1926: The first US federal prison for women opened in West Virginia.

Now, does anyone think those two facts might be related? I mean, you ask a woman to pay even MORE for her purchases and, well, sure… laws might get broken.

That’s probably not true, but it was the first thing to pop into my mind. (Admit it, yours too!)

Anyway, with all those mountains, agriculture isn’t any sort of main share of the state’s output. Do you know one thing that does grow in West ‘By God’ Virginia? Golden Delicious apples. Those yellow-skinned, buttery-tasting glorious apples were first discovered in 1775 near Wellsburg, in Clay County. They are my favorite type of apple, and sometimes hard to find, so that’s what this week’s cocktail is dedicated to.

Gold and Delicious

1 oz Apple Juice
1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/4 oz Butterscotch Schnapps

Combine over ice and shake like a freight train full of coal. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

It may not be quite the same as biting into a crisp Golden Delicious apple, but it’s the next best thing in my book.

50 Shots of America–Illinois

Sips
Purple Popcorn Eater

Purple Popcorn Eater

Coming in at number 21 on the sip-by-state roster is Illinois, Land of Lincoln, which became a state on December 3, 1818.

Home to the third-largest city in the country, the state is a bit top-heavy with almost three-quarters of the state’s population concentrated in the northeast: in and around the city of Chicago. Home to the first nuclear power plant, a would-be Latter Day Saints Utopia and the first McDonald’s, the state has oil and coal in the south, corn and soybean fields in the center and industry galore in the north.

It was pretty tough to come up with a theme for this state’s drink, but with a state snack of popcorn and the state flower being the violet, I present to you…

the Purple Popcorn Eater

1 oz Raspberry Liqueur
1/2 oz Butterscotch Schnapps
1/4 oz Kentucky Bourbon

Combine over ice and shake like your stealing home plate. Strain into a chilled cordial glass over ice.

While there is a creme de violette liqueur, it can be difficult to find. I had the raspberry around so I went with that. This drink tastes a lot like having popcorn and a side of really sweet soda, if it’s too sweet and you’ve got room in the glass you can cut it with some chilled club soda. Even though all-alcohol drinks are traditionally stirred, the shaking adds a little of natural mixer via the water that gets added in this step; the ice in the glass is for all the state parks focused on rocks.