goldschlager

AlcoHOLidays | Valentine’s Day | Loving Cup

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jwalker_lovingcupcocktail

Ah, yes, Valentine’s Day…

Thought by many to be a wonderful day of expressing our love for others in various public and private ways. Thought by others to be a trumped-up excuse by the candy and card manufacturers to bilk out a little more money between the Christmas holidays and Easter. I’ll never forget the time my economics professor held up the start of class because he had to go on a tirade about how silly it was that the depth of his love for his girlfriend was decided by what he did or did not do on a single day of the year.

I’ve always been of the mind that days like Valentine’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries and the like are all wonderful for reminding us to show people how glad we are they’re in our lives. Yes, it’s fabulous if we do it the other 364 days of the year, but we’re human, we get busy and preoccupied and maybe we forget to show our feelings as often as we intended.

Obviously, I’m pro-Valentine’s Day.

And for those who blame major corporations for trumping up the Feast of Saint Valentine (and I’m not saying it’s not incredibly commercial these days), giving cards, candies and flowers on February 14th goes back to the 1400s–well before Ye Olde Hallmarke Shoppe ever opened.

So, whether you go “all out” with the flowers delivered to the office, a candlelight dinner at a corner table for 2, maybe something sparkly or shiny, or prefer a more laid-back approach (picnic in the living room or backyard, depending on the weather, a favorite movie and avoiding the crowds, and a handwritten note of affection are all grand ways to mark the day), if you’d like a creative drink to serve your sweetie, try this on for size.

Loving Cup

1 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 oz Cranberry Juice
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/4 oz Goldschlager
splash of Rosewater

Combine all ingredients over ice and shake like your heart is on fire. Strain into a chilled, sugar-rimmed cocktail glass and garnish with a heart-shaped marshmallow.

The Loving Cup takes an old stand-by, the Cosmopolitan, and adds a little more sweetness, some spice, and a subtle perfume–all the things I think a perfect Valentine’s Day should contain.

Cheers!

AlcoHOLidays | Election Day | Political Party

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Back when I was first in college (in the dim mists of the late 20th century), I was incredibly political and planning to become an event planner. I even went as far, for a Intro to Business project, as creating a business plan based on my company-to-be, aptly named Party Politics. I’ve volunteered on campaigns, participated in straw polls, attended election parties, and become thoroughly disillusioned with the entire process.

And that’s about all I’m going to say on the subject of politics as I blog about cocktails to be convivial, not combative.

Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday of November (so somewhere between the 2nd and the 8th), was chosen for its “sweet spot” location of just after harvest but just before the bad weather. And while some states consider it a civic holiday, most folks have to squeeze in their voting before or after work (unless they use the increasingly available early voting options). I remember one Election Day in particular, again in college, where our economics professor was so disgusted that only a few of us had voted (it was only 9 am, by the way) that he cancelled class so people could go vote.

Didn’t matter than many of us didn’t have cars and taking the bus wasn’t practical when you had a 10 am class to be back for, but whatever.

This was also the same professor that held up class for a tirade on Valentine’s Day, so take that for what you will.

At any rate, when I decided to create a drink based on politics and elections, I had to think of what spirits would best reflect the process.

Political Party

1 1/2 oz Vodka
3/4 oz Kahlua
1/2 oz Goldschlager
1/4 oz Galliano

Combine all ingredients over ice in a mixing glass and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish patriotically (I  used a skewer of star fruit, blueberries, and raspberries).

With a bit of reflection I settled on vodka for the clean-as-a-whistle background you want to have as a candidate, Kahlua for the numerous cups of coffee those all-night strategy sessions can take, Goldschlager for the money that powers the campaigns, and Galliano for the bitterness of losing. After all, elections are the one area where they’ve yet to play the “everybody wins/there are no losers” card.

While this cocktail retains a certain sweetness (gotta lure you in somehow), it may not appeal to every palate. That’s okay… partisan politics isn’t to everyone’s taste.

What a Way to End the Night!

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Conventional wisdom suggests that Santa Claus is a devotee of milk (with cookies), hot cocoa and a certain red-canned cola.

Santa's Nightcap Cocktail

But if you ask me, after circumnavigating the globe in one night I’d want something a little stronger to take the edge off.

Which is why we’re devoting the ‘S’ alphatini to the jolly dude in the red suit.

Santa’s Nightcap

2 oz Vanilla Vodka
2 oz Cranberry Juice
1/2 oz  Buttershots
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/4 oz Goldschlager
garnish of icing, coconut flakes and a mini-marshmallow

To prepare your cocktail glass: paint the outer lip of your cocktail glass with icing or a thick sugar syrup and press on coconut flakes (it helps if they’re chopped a little finer than they come in the package). Let rest upside down so the sugar can dry while you mix the drink.

Combine vodka, juice, liqueurs and grenadine in a shaker over ice and ho-ho-ho your way to an icy finish. Strain into a prepared cocktail glass and float a mini-marshmallow on top. Kick off your boots and let the night melt away.

This cocktail is like a spicy cranberry cookie in a glass, made the perfect shade of red by the grenadine, but most of the fun–I admit–is in the presentation. The drink is good on it’s own but with the garnish it looks like an inverted Santa hat and, well, it’s just more fun that way!

Cheers to the Holidays!

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?

Earth, Air, Fire, Water

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Thank you, everyone, for being patient during my August-off. I did get quite a bit done, but now it’s back to the usual blogging schedule and back to the bar!

~~~oOo~~~

Elemental Cosmos Cocktail

Elemental Cosmos

So, this week’s Alphatini asks us to tackle the letter E. Early brainstorming turned up eggplant (not sure how that would work), eggnog (which was a contender, if a little predictable), and Everclear (just say no!). The everything concept, a la the bagel with everything on it, also made a brief appearance on the list but I figured the Long Island Iced Tea has the ‘everything’ vote covered. The wonky weather these last few weeks had me thinking earthy–but what flavor (other than, say, dirt) says earth? Mushrooms and brie, but even I don’t view those as potential cocktail comestibles.

Accompaniments, yes. Ingredients, no.

Earth kept bumping around in my brain (no jokes about having a big head, please) and I was this <-> close to concocting something with the name EarthShake, but I was still stuck on my primary flavor inspiration. Meanwhile, the idea evolved–maybe not just earth but all the rest of the elements too! Not that that helped with the earthy-flavor issue, but it gave me more to play with.

What’s better than over-thinking a cocktail theme on your own? Musing aloud to the Tester Monkey!  He came up with the brilliant idea of carrot juice–or some other liquid from something that was grown in the earth (peanuts, potatoes, grains, etc.). Then he struck gold, quite literally, when he suggestion Goldschlager. I mean, what’s more natural than a mineral straight from the earth?

The Elemental Cosmos

1.5 oz Pepper Vodka (like Absolut Peppar)
1 oz Cranberry Juice
3/4 oz Goldschlager
1 Orange slice (plus one more for garnish)

Combine vodka, juice and liqueur over ice. Squeeze in the orange slice and drop the rind in for good measure. Shake like the creation of a world depends on it and strain it into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the second orange slice and enjoy.

Even if earth took some time to come up with, fire was an easy match: pepper vodka fit the bill nicely. I took a bit of liberty with water and air, though, choosing both for their environment: oranges grow hanging in the air and cranberries are harvested by flooding their bogs.

Of course, when you’ve got citrus, vodka and cranberries staring at you across the bar, the first thing that comes to mind is the classic Cosmopolitan. Using that drink as a guide for the quantities in this version, I was pretty certain some tinkering would be necessary to get a balanced drink. I definitely though we’d need more juice to balance out the 2 very strong alcohols.

Turns out, you should never doubt the classics.

Which is probably a good philosophy to live by in general, doncha think?

~~~oOo~~~

Hope everyone has a fabulous Labor Day weekend. Yes, it’s the unofficial end to summer but I happen to really love fall and everything that comes with it, so I’m looking forward to the next season or two!

Next week we’ll be back with a fabulous f-themed cocktail!