The NUTELLA MARTINI

You may not need another way to enjoy your favorite chocolate hazelnut spread, but there's nothing wrong with an option for happy hour, right?

THE
NUTELLA
MARTINI

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 Oz. Chocolate Vodka

1/2 Oz. Frangelico

1 Oz. Half & Half

Dash of Sea Salt

Garnish:  2 Tablespoons Melted Nutella, Crushed Hazelnuts

DIRECTIONS

Place the crushed hazelnuts into a small plate then set aside.

Warm the Nutella in the microwave for 10 - 15 seconds, pour 1/2 onto another small plate.

Dip your glass rim in the Nutella, then into the crushed hazelnuts and shake gently to remove any excess.

Chill the glass in the freezer.

Pour the chocolate vodka, Frangelico and half and half into an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake until well chilled.

Sprinkle on the sea salt and serve.

VOICEOVER VIDEO with Ingredients & Directions:

World Nutella Day is February 5th.

Updated 2-2022

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SUPER BOWL 2014 FOOD & DRINKS!

This Sunday is Super Bowl and you can't have a Super Bowl without Super Bowl food, right? First of all you need BOOZE! Then you have to have those wings, pizzas, chips & dip and even something sweet!

Below are links to recipes for some of my favorite football enjoying food (let's be clear here, I'm not a huge football aficionado but I am a HUGE fan of football food!)

SUPER BOWL SIPS & SNACKS

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY Updated 2-2017

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!

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

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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