a variation of a favorite ginger martini....

photo credit cuchicuchi.cc
so, i've been thinking. Should I change the name of this rambling man blog to "what should I do with all of this vodka?" because clearly I love making drinks with vodka. It's the ultimate understated spirit...

This next drink is a take on a fave of mine from cuchi cuchi in cambridge ma. my fave restaurant aesthetically, drink-fantastically, and food-artistically

• Grate some ginger into the bottom of a pint glass (enough to cover the bottom)

• toss in a handful of cranberries, dried, dehydrated, fresh, however!

• muddle with some simple syrup (I've been making my simple syrups with raw sugar cane and or brown sugar crystals)

• .5 amaretto

• 2 oz vodka (sobieski for the cheap)

• .5 fresh lemon or lime whatever your taste. For this I prefer lemon.

shake with ice
rim the martini glass with sugar crystals. some sugar in the raw will work perfect!
strain into a martini glass.

Yum! who needs dinner with this one.

The Bond Martini aka the Vesper

photo credit: imaginativeuniversal.com

This drink has been coming up alot lately. A friend was telling me how her husband is obsessed with this boozy drink with a touch lillet- but couldn't remember what was in it. And then one afternoon at work my fellow tendress whips it out as a drink special.

The Bond is basically a Vesper martini. It originally was with kina lillet but that doesn't exist at present. So, a great take would be

• 3 parts gin

• 1 part vodka

• a touch of lillet

1954 Casino Royale style.

You may also add a touch of bitters if you'd like. Garnish with a lemon twist.

pomegranate maraschino world

photo credit:free-stainedglasspatterns.com


You hear pomegranate and you think sweet. Or! if you are me (and a total nerder geek genius) You think of Demeter & Persephene and the myth of 6 months of winter and summer...or whatever..

The maraschino liquer is where this cocktail gets a life.

• 1 oz thatchers pomegranate

• .5 oz maraschino

• .5 lime juice

• .5 cranberry juice

• 1 oz vodka

I used sobieski. This drink is awesome. Fill the bottom of the martini glass with pomegranate seeds and go read a book about greek mythology while you are at it!

I am the brett favre of the restaurant industry!

Yes, I am. I have been donning an apron, dansko mary janes, a pressed white/black/plaid shirt, ponytail, you name it since 1995. First foray? retirement home as a dietary aide (fancy speak for waitress) I can not believe that they gave my 16 year old fine bodied self the power to read strict diet and medical secret lingo& serve the food accordingly to dying people. Next up, Steamers bus girl. One of those Ct mooring restaurants where most of the patrons arrive by sea rather than car. I think the next one was Amherst Brewing Company as a door man with a sprained ankle and eventually as a server. Northampton Brewing Company was next, Chowder Pot Restaurant followed, & then I started to get FANCY! Guilford Tavern, Che Tango, La Luna, Grafton Street in Boston, The Tavern in the Square (hands down worst ever!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahaha) Omni Parker House, 2 days @ the Marriot, Plough & Stars (special fave!) & now for my grand finale! well, I can't tell you but once I retire again I will be sure to! It is however, one amazing place for sure!!!!

After each job I swear off the industry & retire... but like a moth to a flame (or an ex boyfriend to my bed :O) I return.

:))

it's fun to recap on a super nostalgic almost fall day :)

So, let's have a drink in Brett Favre's honor.

This was a college slummin' favorite of mine. We used to call it 'sip & get naked', but from now on- I will call it: The Brett Favre

• 2 cans of busch beer

• 1 pint of vodka (get a handle so you can make a few batches)

• 1 or 2 canisters of frozen pink lemonade

put it all in a pitcher and stir it around with a wooden spoon.

pour in a glass. ahhhhh, to be young.

hot dram! ho here we go again!

pimento dram! So complex. There's anise, nutmeg, cinnamon, all of these fabulous fall tastes & aromas. But it is the pimento = dried all spice berries that really give unto the depth of this bottle.

It reminds me of a holiday themed bottle of bitters...but more! SO complex.

You may play around with dram. Throw it in a side car, throw it in a shaker with some lime, bourbon, triple sec & simple syrup..You only need the tiniest bit.

I put a little drop in a glass of red wine with an orange slice & pretend I'm at a holiday mulled wine party.

blood orange side car

The side car is an understated favorite of mine. From the early 1920's it was originally made with brandy, lime juice & cointreau. Variations include cognanc, bourbons, there is even a version with rum & vodka.

Thatchers Blood Orange is amazing stuff and it screams to me side car variation!

I use bourbon instead of brandy but plan to switch back to the brandy once winter returns.

Bourbon blood orange side car

• 1oz makers mark

• 1 fresh pressed lemon

• 1 oz thatchers blood orange

• splash of cointreau

shake & strain into martini glass. You may sugar the rim if you'd like.

You can have alot of fun with this. Switching out the lemon for lime, cointreau for gran marnier...It's like a rubik's cube of drinks.

banana man

Here's a crazy discovery: if you muddle grapefruit segments with prickly pears & add Gin with a dash of grenadine

Your drink will taste like bananas.

I do

• 2 oz gin (plymouth)

• a heap of already muddled grapefruit & prickly pears

• toss in a shaker with ice

• add a dash of grenadine

shake and pour on some ice
top with soda water.

So, I don't know if you are privy to the conspiracy that the bananas that we enjoy regularly are all dying from a tree illness...or something- but here is a way to recreate it in your cocktail pre- end of the world.

Anthony on RIPE

Not too long ago I was behind my bar on a Sunday afternoon when these two guys came in for lunch. As they sat at my bar I noticed them noticing me (no not that way!) They noticed me making drinks with house made sour mix, and bloody Mary mix. They also watched me squeezing fresh lemon and lime in other cocktails and then introduced themselves. We discussed all things bar, and the importance of fresh ingredients. Come to find out it was Mike and Ryan the founders of Ripe Fresh cocktail mixers at freshbev llc. They explained the new product they were beginning to market and how it wasn’t being used in restaurants as of yet. The focus being on FRESH, Fresh Fruits squeezed at peak ripeness, 100% Organic Agave nectar for sweetening, Reverse osmosis filtered water, made to order in small batches and delivered cold right out of the flash pasteurization into the bottle.

A bit skeptical, I set up an appointment for them to come in and sample me on the product. A few evenings later we were at my bar tasting what I have to say is in fact the absolute best cocktail mixers ever. Ripe Fresh Sour Mix, Ripe Fresh Agave Margarita, Ripe Fresh Bloody Mary, and a little prototype that is bar far my favorite; Passion fruit, Honey, Cinnamon, and Red pepper.
The freshness was evident immediately, the natural flavors and sweeteners perfectly balanced. The only thing that was different was that I wasn’t cutting and squeezing fresh citrus into my drinks myself. It was already done for me as I made cocktails and tasted them side by side; I even tried their mixes in a few of my signature drinks. They made all of them even better and then inspired me to create even more!

The beauty of this product again is the FRESHNESS it allows not only great mixability with cocktails but cross mixing of their products with each other to further create even more cocktails and non alcoholic drinks.
So, I guess we can say I was sold on the product and brought it in. I’ve incorporated it into many specialty drinks on my menu, some were directly inspired from that evenings tasting and made on the spot.
The more I worked with Ripe the more I came up with and the more I was able to enhance many classics as well. That said I asked Mike and Ryan If I could write this. The response was yes and warranted a visit to the production facility.

I went to their warehouse/factory in Wallingford CT to see just how this process was done. Upon entering I was introduced not only to an amazing citrus aroma wafting everywhere, but fresh cases of san marziano(sp?) tomatoes stacked to the ceiling, and by god the largest vat of the best Agave nectar I have ever tasted. We talked a bit about Rums, cane sugar and other agave’s and flavor profiles of each as this day they were designing a new Mojito mixer.
My next journey was into a cooler filled with fresh citrus fruits and out another door into the production room.. One word, well two… COLD and Spotless. I was introduced to the machinery that would squeeze, extract, pasteurize and bottle. And then I had the pleasure in watching a case of what were the sweetest and juiciest limes I have ever tasted put into a basket on top of this automated citrus press and reduced to 4 liters of lime juice in about a minute.
I witnessed the process first hand and can definitely say it doesn’t get any more passionate, professional, or perfect. No additives, no preservatives, micro biotic properties as my wife calls it. I just call it perfect. The perfect sour mix, the perfect Margarita mix, and one of the best and most interesting bloody Mary mixes I have ever tasted. I have heard rumor of and apple ginger and experienced and got to assist in the first batch of Mojito made with fresh squeezed lime and fresh mint steeped in agave. Could this be the end of muddling as we know it? Perhaps.
All in all this is an amazing product and just what us cocktail enthusiasts need in this day and age as we are all searching our farmers markets for the next great fresh flavor to add to our cocktails. Perhaps this is why Whole foods carries them. If you don’t have one near you or the freshness isn’t in your area yet, check out Drinkripe.com click here and tell them Anthony sent you

Things to do with RIPE Fresh SOUR:
Plumbiscus:
1 ½ oz Pearl Plum vodka
½ oz Ripe Fresh Sour Mix
¾ oz Domain de Canton
3 bar spoons Hibiscus syrup
Shake ingredients over ice and strain over an edible hibiscus flower in a chilled martini/cocktail glass

Collins #209:
2 oz 209 small batch gin (the lemon notes match perfectly with the Ripe lemons used in the mixer)
1 oz Ripe Fresh Sour Mix
1 Bar spoon Fresh cracked black pepper
Shake ingredients over ice strain into an ice filed Collins/highball glass and top with soda water

Strawberry Sling:
Muddle two fresh strawberries in 1 oz Ripe Fresh Sour Mix
Top with 2 oz Cruzan Vanilla Rum
Shake over ice and strain into a chilled rocks glass
Garnish with a fresh strawberry




Bluesberry lemonade:
1 ½ oz Pearl Blueberry Vodka
3 oz Ripe Fresh Sour Mix
Shake over ice and strain into a Ice filled Highball glass
Add one tsp blue ciraco on top for effect. If in season toss in a few fresh blueberries.
Pacific Melon:
1 ½ oz Smirnoff melon vodka
½ oz Midori Melon liquor
1 oz Ripe Fresh Sour Mix
1 oz Orange Juice
Shake over ice and strain into a martini glass, garnish with orange

Sapphire Seveche:
Muddle a fresh bunch of cilantro (6-8 sprig tops) in about 1 oz Ripe Fresh Sour Mix
2 oz Bombay Sapphire (as this was designed for and around the botanicals in Bombay Sapphire I do not recommend substituting any other gin)
Shake over ice
Strain into an ice filled highball glass and top with Ginger ale

Frozen Strawberry Shortcake:
Ok, so someone gave my wife a bottle of this new whipped cream flavored vodka over the summer and the question arose. What do we do with it? Well nothing helps like living with a healthy eaters summertime stash in the fridge and a bartender who keeps a bottle or two of Ripe on hand.
A handful of fresh washed Strawberries diced.
1 oz Ripe Fresh sour Mix
2 oz Whipped Cream Vodka
Put all in an ice filled Blender and pulse till smooth.
Garnish with Whipped cream and a fresh Strawberry

And there is oh so much more you can do with this product. It even stands alone, add some water and offer the kids healthy lemonade. Add it to some seltzer water for a refreshing summer cooler. Its not just for cocktails!
Next up..
Ripe Fresh Agave Margarita:

zen green tea drinks

photo credit thenibbler.com
have you noticed i'm like the laura ingals wilder of cocktail concocting? I like to remove the middle man and make my own ingredients. And yes, I regularly fantasize about living off the land, teddy Kacynski shack and all...etc...but I digress. This pioneer spirit is juxtaposed with a whole lot of class & circumstance b/c I also like tea & rituals. Love tea, & rituals. Coffee and rituals too, if that consists of reading the paper & drinking too much coffee.

There was a lot of tea & sweet tea stir on the scene about 3 years ago and still is. I bought some 'Matcha' (powdered green tea) a few months ago for a hairbrained scheme of making green tea icecream & sorbet- but quickly decided that I should just mix it up with some vodka & make the ice cream another time.

Matcha isn't that expensive but isn't exactly cheap. You can get about 1oz for 8.99 and that's pretty middle range stuff. So, in other words you get what you pay for.
I mix up 1 teaspoon or small handed pinch of matcha with 16oz of water. Really really really mix it up, so no clumps! I throw about half of that mix in my shaker with a splash of ginger infused simple syrup. I then throw in some citron vodka (or regular) 8 second pour or 2 full shots-or just about any flavor according to your taste add fresh pressed lemon juice from one single lemon.

Shake it up and you have 2 martinis. It's so good that it feels like you are doing something fabulous for your skin, guts, and overall longevity.
Well, you actually have 4 because you have another 8 oz of green tea water to do it all over again :)

There are so many options to fancy this up. You can do mint syrup, lavender, orange pressed juice, throw in any thing. It's a good drink. And it works well in pitcher form. Healthy fancy lady, pitchers.

*i'm not a cream drinker but there is a whole new world to be explored with those options....

let's make limoncello

photo credit locallemons.com
Makeshift Limoncello

I like lidded mason jars.

recipe yields a little more than quart:

• 12 clean organic lemons.

• 2 .5 cups of Grain Alcohol, grain alcohol is highly flammable, btw.

• 4 Cups granulated organic sugar or sugar in the raw or dabble with alternative routes....stevia, agave etc...honey??

• 4 Cups tap water

with a sharp peeler get rid of the rind, or use your hands. Try to remove most of the white (pith) as much as you can. zest zest zest. the white makes it bitter...

Put the peel in a lidded jar and pour the grain alcohol over the peels. Cover the jar and put it somewhere where you will be reminded to shake it a few times a day. for 2 weeks or more. The longer the better :)
Once you notice that the mixture has permeated the lemon peels- add the sugar and water to a small pot and bring it to a boil.
re: Simple syrup. allow it to cool. and then strain the lemon peeled alcohol mix over a medium sized bowl. Then keep the peels on the strainer and pour the simple syrup over the peels into the same bowl. push the peels with a wooden spoon or muddler and get out all the juice you can. If you'd like to keep the peels for candy or baking projects go for it. But keep in mind they are full of booze.

whisk the newly formed limoncello and sweeten it with more simple syrup if you'd like. You also get crazy with lavender or basil simple syrups and add a bit of that. But this is a recipe for Simple Limoncello, so start pure.
Pour it all into a jar and seal closed & label. If you are impatient you may chug it now, but I recommend you wait a week or so- as the flavor unfolds. Once it's to your liking Throw that pretty jar in the freezer and impress your friends with your renegade limoncello making ways!

or don't tell a sole and drink it all alone...your call ;) but make sure you do it after dinner because it is a Digestive...

209 gin from napa valley

In a world when medicinal & nostalgic packaging seems to be all the rage! Enter 209 Gin.

In a world when fragrant floral gins appear to be all the rage! Enter 209 Gin.

In a world when small batches of US made products appear to be all the rage! Enter 209 Gin.

In a world where the number 9 is the best number on earth! Enter 209 Gin, (well maybe that's just me:)

209 Gin is a lovely little cantina of a delightfully classic- yet orange peely, bergamonty (yes that's a word), cassia, selectively botanical: California made gin. With beginnings dated back to 1870's 209 is back with a flourishing revival! Named from the 'original distillery 209', discovered in the form of faded words on the back of a barn. An added treat of 209 is that you can go to distillery 209 in san francisco to learn more & drink more of this very necessary addition, to the gin world.

honeydew whiskey lemon press (for Other a)

I don't drink brown. Well, I used to. But I am not allowed to write on here why I don't anymore. If you would like to hear the full story in written form as to why I don't drink brown world send a self addressed stamped envelope to po box 4041 madison, ct. And maybe if you play your (whatever sized) cards right. I will tell you a tale.

Any ways. I decided to go for the brown.
This will work with bourbon if that is more your style.

• muddle up some honey dew, enough to cover the bottom of a pint glass.

• .5 gran marnier (i have a story about that stuff too)

• 1.5 irishmans whiskey (or whatever you fancy)

• .5 fresh pressed lemon juice

• shake and strain over ice.

this will not make a brown drinker out of me. But it most certainly tried.

yellow watermelon spearmint world

large handful of yellow watermelon muddle with 4-5 sprigs of spearmint.

• 1.5oz buddha's hand citron vodka or sobieski cytron vodka

• splash of lime

• shake & strain

• serve over SHAVED ICE

YUM