New Year’s Resolution: Craft Cocktails at Home or Why Cocktails are Like Sex

It’s time to take the plunge and start making some creative cocktails at home. Discovering cocktails leads you down the same path as learning about sex:
*Infatuation: you throw vodka and rum into everything, pretend your are Capt. Morgan and drink with wild abandon.
*Experimentation: oh, gin is good; scotch is interesting, what happens when I add some bitters to the mix!
*Regrets: I went home with who?? I’ll never drink tequila again.

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Seasonal Cocktail: Tangiers

Tangiers Happy First Day of Spring! The tangerines are in season in my neck of the woods, and they were Jeff’s inspiration for the Tangiers Cocktail.

2 oz. gin.

1/2 oz Maraschinio

1/2 oz freshly squeezed tangerine juice

Delish. Next time we’ll try it with a Campari rinse, just to keep things interesting. Looking forward to all colors and flavors of springtime!

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The Mysterious Marvelous Mythical Martinez Cocktail

Mysterious because there are more variations on this classic cocktail than I’ve seen for any other cocktail. It’s odd that this cocktail has no ‘definitive’ version, although it is alleged to be the precursor to the Martini.
Marvelous because it is very delicious in an aromatic way.
Mythical because every cocktail historian has another spin on how it came to be.
Martinez? I have yet to find a reference as to why it called a Martinez. Something about a guy in a bar named Martinez….?

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Zone Diet and Cocktails at the Salone del Gusto

Day 3 and we’re about to rename this event the Salone del Bust-Out because the temptation to taste is so strong, we can’t resist, and now we are about to Bust Out of our clothes! We finished off last night with a rousingly good cocktail workshop hosted by Agostino Perrone. He runs the fabled Connaught Hotel Bar in London.

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Evolution of a Cocktail

we invented the Pomeranian cocktail. So named because our friend Deb was infatuated with the idea of getting a Pomeranian puppy and because the drink featured pomegranate juice. Deb realized her folly, got another cat or three, but we’re still in love with grenadine. That’s what you call fresh pomegranate juice mixed with simple syrup: grenadine.

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Bitter Brandy Shake

Once again, Cocktail Guru Mitch comes through! When I shared my recent goods news with him…I FOUND LIMES! He immediately suggested we give the Brandy Shake a try. For anyone not familiar with my lime angst, I’ll keep it simple: There are no limes in Umbria. It puts a serious crimp in cocktail making, I’ll tell you that.

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