Tropical Cocktails for National Escape Day

January 30th is National Escape Day. If you live in the Western Hemisphere, it's winter, it's cold and maybe even freezing. Who wouldn't want to escape to the tropics?
While it's not always possible to escape to a tropical location, it is possible to escape to a tropical happy hour with a cocktail. Below are myriad ways to do so.
COCONUT COCKTAILS DAIQUIRI COCKTAILS MOJITO COCKTAILS PINA COLADAS  PINEAPPLE COCKTAILS RUM COCKTAILS
KEEP CALM & ESCAPE!

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Updated 1-2017

56th GRAMMYS COCKTAILS & CUISINE

I don't know about you but I will be glued to the television screen tonight to watch the Grammy awards, if only to see if Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr perform together for the first time in decades!  Being who I am, I will be watching with cocktails and a little nosh.
So I did a little research and found out what they're serving to the Grammy nominees, officials, presenters and hangers-on. Here is the inside scoop on what the glitterati will be eating and drinking at the 56th Grammy Awards tonight:
At the Levy Restaurants and Staples Center executive chef Joseph Martin will be serving Grammy guests:
Braised Short Ribs Ahi Tuna Sandwiches Peking Duo Sandwiches
Sweet Chili Chicken Salad, made with Asian pears, toasted sesame seeds, chili-spiced cashews garnished with black and watermelon radishes and drizzled with honey-ginger dressing.
Atlantic Wild Salmon, cooked on charred cedar planks, gemstone potato salad and skewers of chicken tikka served over pistachio rice and garnished with mango-red pepper chutney.
Nicoise Salad, made with grilled artichokes and seared ahi tuna, and deviled eggs with candy bacon.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries. 
The official cocktail? The GRAMMY OLD FASHIONED featuring a miniature Grammy Award Ice Sculpture re-frozen inside a sphere of clear ice and a Grey Goose Vodka Martini rimmed with Gold!
GRAMMY OLD FASHIONED
2 Luxardo Maraschino Cherries 1 Tsp. Brown Sugar 2 Oz. Hudson Manhattan Rye Whiskey Dash Orange Bitters Candied Bacon* Orange Zest Garnish
Muddle the cherries and brown sugar in the bottom of an old fashioned glass. Add the whiskey, bitters and a large ice cube then stir thoroughly. Garnish with the candied bacon and the orange zest.
*Recipe for Candied Bacon
24K GREY GOOSE MARTINI
2 Oz. Grey Goose Vodka Splash Dry Vermouth Edible Gold Leaf Rim
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, pour the vodka and the vermouth and shake until chilled. Pour into a chilled martini glass.
The official after party will feature PATRÓN SPIRITS cocktails:
The PATRÓN GUITAR
1-1/2 Oz. Patrón Silver Tequila 1-1/2 Oz. Patrón Citrónge Orange Liqueur 2 Oz. Cranberry Juice 1 oz. Mango Juice Blackberry Garnish Served in a Mason jar 
The ULTIMATE MUSIC
1-1/2 Oz. Ultimat Vodka 1/4 Oz. Patrón Citrónge Orange Liqueur 2 Oz. Fresh Cranberry Juice 1 Oz. Fresh Orange Juice Orange Garnish Served in Cosmopolitan glass.
Here's a great slide show of the 2014 Grammys Nibbles, Nosh & Spirits.
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Vintage Cocktails: THE MANHATTAN

Current cocktail trends are doing a time warp towards great vintage cocktails, bringing a big resurgence in Post-Edwardian, pre and post Prohibition, Tiki and even sixties and seventies drinks to happy hour.  Interestingly, I seem to be right in tune with this retro kick and have been revisiting some of my favorite classic cocktail recipes for a while now, especially those involving whiskey. Probably a backlash from all my tinkering with those flavored vodkas back when I first got interested in cocktailing.

I particularly love a Manhattan. It's a classic cocktail whose origins are, like many vintage drinks, clouded in the mists of time. The first full written recipe occurred in 1884 in The Modern Bartenders' Guide but a reference was made in 1882 in The Sunday New Morning Herald of a whiskey, vermouth and bitters drink that was referred to alternately as a Manhattan, a Turf Club cocktail and a Jockey Club cocktail. 

Many vintage recipes called for a bit of maraschino liqueur and a few even popped up using absinthe and many used gum syrup (simple syrup with gum arabic) as well. Below is today's accepted standard recipe.

The original drink was most likely made with rye whiskey, as it was highly favored in New York in the 1800s. It is my preferred whiskey for a Manhattan as well, but others have used Canadian whiskeys and even Bourbon. As far as I'm concerned, the sweet vermouth isn't up for play.  If you use dry vermouth you have a Dry Manhattan and equal parts sweet and dry give you a Perfect Manhattan, just like you have in the Martini. See below for additional variations, including a couple of my own recipes.

The
MANHATTAN

INGREDIENTS

2 Oz. Rye Whiskey

3/4 Oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 Dashes of Angostura Bitters

Garnish: Cocktail Cherry

DIRECTIONS

Fill a mixing glass with ice.

Add ingredients.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish and serve.

Voiceover Video with Ingredients and Instructions: 

VARIATIONS

• A Rob Roy, made with Scotch Whiskey instead of Rye
• A Dry Manhattan which uses Dry Vermouth in place of Sweet
• A Brandy Manhattan which is made with Brandy instead of Rye
• A Royal Manhattan which uses Crown Royal instead of Rye
• A Ruby Manhattan, made with port rather than vermouth
• A Metropolitan which is a Brandy Manhattan with a ratio of 3:1 cognac or brandy to vermouth
• The Chocolate Manhattan is a favorite way of mine for bringing in some chocolate to the mix. 
• The You Don't Need A Man, You Need A Manhattan is another chocolate version with a very special cherrywood rye out of my old stomping grounds in Sonoma.

Get the MANHATTAN COCKTAIL RECIPE ART on Posters & Prints, Party & Bar Supplies, Cards & More:

Get the MANHATTAN COCKTAIL RECIPE ART on Posters & Prints, Party & Bar Supplies, Cards & More:

Updated 3-2022
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BOURBON OLD FASHIONED COCKTAIL

HISTORY OF THE OLD FASHIONED:

The Old Fashioned is possibly one of the oldest drinks to be called a cocktail.  The earliest known printed use of the word “cocktail” was in 'The Farmer’s Cabinet' published in April 28, 1803 with the first definition of the word coming in May 13, 1806 in the 'Balance and Columbian Repository' and it's description is a very close approximation to the recipe for an Old Fashioned made with brandy:

“Cocktail is a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters — it is vulgarly called a bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a Democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.”

The

Bourbon

OLD FASHIONED

INGREDIENTS

2 Oz. Well Aged Bourbon

2 Drops Angostura Bitters
1 Tsp. Sugar

(Or 1 Sugar Cube)
2 Orange Slices

Garnish:

Homemade Bourbon Maraschino Cherries

Orange Slice

DIRECTIONS

Classic (and Proper) Preparation

Add the sugar cube to an Old Fashioned glass (yup, that's why they're called Old Fashioned glasses).

Tap the bitters on the cube.

Add a dash of water to soften the sugar cube then muddle until sugar has dissolved.

Fill glass with ice.

Add your bourbon, stir to chill, garnish and serve. 

My (Pansy Ass*) Version

Muddle a teaspoon of sugar, 1 orange slice, bitters and a cherry in the bottom of your Old Fashioned glass.

Remove the orange rind.

Add ice to the glass, pour in the bourbon and stir gently until chilled.

Garnish with the second orange slice and more Homemade Bourbon Cherries.

*I admit to adding a little extra orange, an extra teaspoon of sugar and a bunch of extra cherries for my own personal version. Yes, I'm a bit of a pansy, but mainly this was exactly how I was introduced to the Old Fashioned way back when.

National Old Fashioned Day is June 14th and Old Fashioned Week is celebrated the first week in November.

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS

MORE OLD FASHIONED COCKTAIL RECIPES

Updated 3-2021

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ESPRESSO YOURSELF COFFEE COCKTAIL on Coffee Break Day

ESPRESSO YOURSELF

COCKTAIL

1 Oz. Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka
2 Shots of Espresso
Splash of Half & Half
Whipped Cream
Shaved Dark Chocolate

Into a warmed coffee cup add your hot espresso, pour in the whipped cream vodka, add a splash of half & half, stir gently then top off with the whipped cream and garnish with some dark chocolate shavings.

Nothing easier and what a great way to perk up your coffee break!

Or you might like to try one of my other
COFFEE COCKTAILS

Updated November 2015

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CHEAP THRILLS COCKTAIL TRIBUTE TO JANIS JOPLIN

SOUTHERN COMFORT, CHEAP THRILLS AND THE BLUES
A COCKTAIL TRIBUTE TO
JANIS LYN JOPLIN
January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970  

For a child of Woodstock, there is no female singer who holds a candle to Janis Joplin. Her whiskey soaked, bluesy voice and "Screw You" attitude endeared her to a generation of disenfranchised youth. Her music, along with her contemporaries, was the soundtrack to the whole hippie counterculture. 

Janis' philosophy was to have a good time, which included a goodly amount of alcohol, and her favorite libation was Southern Comfort. She was rarely without a bottle on her person and even knocked Jim Morrison out cold* with a bottle of of the liqueur** at their first meeting.. It's said the bottlers of Southern Comfort gave her the lynx coat she wore on the Pearl album (at her prodding) because she boosted their sales, though I can't find any hard and fast proof of this tale.
Her love of Southern Comfort is recorded for history by David Dalton, who writes of the contents of Janis' purse in his book "Piece of My Heart":
"two movie stubs, a pack of cigarettes, an antique cigarette holder, several motel and hotel room keys, a box of Kleenex, a compact and various make up cases (in addition to a bunch of eyebrow pencils held together with a rubber band), an address book, dozens of bits of paper, business cards, match box covers with phone numbers written in near-legible barroom scrawls, guitar picks, a bottle of Southern Comfort (empty), a hip flask, an opened package of complementary macadamia nuts from American Airlines, cassettes of Johnny Cash and Otis Redding, gum, sunglasses, credit cards, aspirin, assorted pens and writing pad, a corkscrew, an alarm clock, a copy of Time, and two hefty books-Nancy Milford's biography of Zelda Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel."
Yes, Janis liked her Southern Comfort.

THE CHEAP THRILLS COCKTAIL     INGREDIENTS 4 Oz. Southern Comfort Liqueur Juice of One Lemon 2 Drops of Fee Brothers Peach Bitters 
2 Tablespoons of Honey

DIRECTIONS
Combine all the ingredients in a cool flask, give it a good shake, toss it in your purse (or pocket) and rock on.
Voiceover Video with Ingredients & Directions

A BIT ABOUT THE CHEAP THRILLS ALBUMThe Cheap Thrills Album by Big Brother and the Holding Company was released on August 12th, 1968 and is the last one where Janis performed with the band before going solo in December of that same year. The album cover was drawn by underground cartoonist Robert Crumb to replace the original cover idea of the group in bed together naked, an idea frowned upon by the record company.  Joplin loved Crumb's work and insisted on this illustration being used as the substitute cover though it had originally been planned for the back cover. This album design hit number nine on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Album Covers. The album itself was ranked #338 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.Not only was the original cover idea rejected by Colombia Records, the original album name - Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills - was vetoed as well and Cheap Thrills became the album name.
SOME JANIS JOPLIN TRIVIA 

• Janis' nickname in The Haight was Pearl
• The movie The Rose was based loosely on Janis' life.
• Her last recording was a birthday greeting (Happy Trails To You) for John Lennon.
• Her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean along Stinson Beach, by the San Francisco Bay.
• The first record Joplin ever bought was by Leadbelly.
• She was a huge fan of Billie Holiday, carrying an autobiography of the legendary singer with her to San Francisco.
• She once worked as a computer programmer.

Joplin's last public performance, with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, took place on August 12, 1970, at the Harvard Stadium in Boston. Janis Joplin died at age 27, October 4, 1970. 

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got." ~ Janis Joplin

"When I get scared and worried," she said at the time, "I tell myself, 'Janis, just have a good time.' So I juice up real good and that's just what I have."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEARL. Here's hoping Heaven's bar carries Southern Comfort.
* Break On Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison
** Contrary to popular believe, Southern Comfort in NOT a whiskey as contains only neutral spirits, fruit flavors, spices and "whiskey flavorings" and not any actual whiskey (except for the "Special Reserve" version).  Classified as a "liqueur" Southern Comfort has a distinct peach flavor with a bite from the spices and a bit of smoky aftertaste from the "whiskey flavorings".
Updated January 19th, 2022 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

WATERMELON ROSEMARY GIN SOUR

With the availability of produce from all over the world it's easy to indulge in a summer cocktail even in the dead of winter.  Believe it or not it's been in the high 70's here for the last week and right about cocktail time is the warmest part of the day so I was craving something cool and refreshing.   This Watermelon Rosemary Gin Sour is truly more of a summer cocktail, but thanks to the global fruit availability I happened to have one of those nice little "personal" watermelons to bring to the cocktail shaker.  A little lime, a splash of sparkling water and some honey and I was chilling on my deck with the sun setting on a warm Arizona winter day.

I bowed to winter with the addition of the rosemary, it is after all January!!
Get my recipe for this: WATERMELON ROSEMARY GIN SOUR   
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