Hunting for bargains in a gold mine

When you see a single bottle of spirits sporting a Double Gold Medal, that can get your attention.  The Richard Hennessey Cognac received not only a Double Gold Medal, but was honored as the Cognac Best of Class in a major competition.  When you notice the bottle carries a price tag of $3500, your interest likely becomes strictly theoretical.  After all, what are the chances you’re every going to taste the nectar in a $3500 bottle of anything?  And besides, you say, shouldn’t a $3500 bottle come with at least a couple of gold medals in the first place?

Let’s get reasonable here: most of us can’t afford the rarefied prices of those gold-encrusted bottles t

Candy flavored Cocktail - 4th of July fun!

Milky Way

2 parts amaretto almond liqueur     
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon

Combine milk, amaretto and vanilla extract in a blender for 60 seconds. Pour over ice cubes in an old-fashioned glass, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir with a straw, and serve.

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The Perfect Twelve Bottle Bar

Twelve bottles is a strict limit for a bar. What should be included? What should be excluded? What is going to give the best variety in drinks? Those questions have been revolving through my head since I first heard about this topic from Joseph Mailander at The Cocktail Circuit. It is a challenge to limit any bar to twelve spirits; it would be significantly easier if fifteen were allowed, unfortunately that luxury is not afforded.

Obviously the main spirits (vodka, gin, rum, brandy, whiskey) need to be included, the choice from there is the brand. Although whiskey did present a special challenge in deciding which type(s) of whiskey to include, the resulting decision has grown on me and become a whisky that has yet to fall in any drink.

The accent liqueurs were a challenge within themselves. My decision was primarily founded in how often is a certain liqueur used in the greatest number of cocktails or cocktails where the liqueur can act as a substitute for another. After that list, it’s back to choosing a brand. With a well-stocked supply of essential mixers this list can make at least 100 different cocktails.

The brands I finally decided on are on my personal top choice list. From that list of favorites the final brand choice was a matter of versatility and quality. Some brands are spectacular on their own but are not as mixable as others. I was looking for both qualities.

Charbay Clear Vodka- Wholesome and honest vodka that is true to its roots and enhances any cocktail with clean style. 

 Martin Miller's Gin- Features the crisp taste of refined gin without an overabundance of botanicals that can interfere in the flavors of a cocktail.













 

Corazon Reposado Tequila- Smooth and flavorful are the distinct qualities of this aged tequila. It adds the expected tequila kick to cocktails in a spicy flourish.








 

Jacques Cardin VSOP Cognac- A new personal discovery in the exploration of brandy. Notes of sweet vines fill this many-sided spirit, making it perfect in many classic brandy cocktails.

Long Live the Long Island Iced Tea!

A Long Island Iced Tea is a highball made with, among other ingredients, vodka, gin, tequila, and rum. A popular version mixes equal parts vodka, gin, tequila, rum, and triple sec with 1½ parts sour mix and a splash of cola.


Most variants use equal parts of the main liquors but include a smaller amount of triple sec (or other orange-flavored liqueur). Close variants often replace the sour mix with lemon juice, replace the cola with actual iced tea, or add white crème de menthe; however, most variants do not include any tea, despite the name of the drink. Some restaurants substitute brandy for the tequila. A true Long Island Iced Tea, as it was originally made, has always had tequila.


The drink has a much higher alcohol concentration (about 22 percent) than most highballs because of the proportionally small amount of mixer. Long islands can be ordered "extra long," which further increases the alcohol to mixer ratio.


Outside the United States, this highball is often altered, due to the unpopularity of sour mix. Long Island Iced Tea served outside the States is often made of liquors and cola alone (without sour mix), with lemon or lime juice, orange juice or with lime cordial

History of the Cocktail:

Long Island Iced Tea, a summer drink, was first served in the mid 1970s by Robert (Rosebud) Butts, a bartender at the Oak Beach Inn, in the Town of Babylon, Long Island, New York.  Robert “Rosebud” Butt began his bartending career at a Glen Cove bar. In 1972, he landed a job with the Oak Beach Inn (OBI) East in Hampton Bays, working for the infamous Bobby Matherson.


If you grew up on Long Island in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, odds are you had spent some time at one of the OBI’s. In 1969, Robert “Bobby” Matherson bought what was then a waterfront barrier island restaurant and converted it into a popular nightclub on Jones Beach Island. Matherson opened four more OBI night clubs: OBI North in Smithtown, two OBI West locations in Island Park and OBI East in Hampton Bays—where the famous Long Island Iced Tea was said to have been born.

Butt says he created the popular drink, the Long Island Iced Tea, in 1974. It was a cocktail-creating contest that “Rosebud” would never forget. Triple-sec had to be included in the concoction. The end result was a mix of vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple-sec, lemon and a drop of Coke for color. Though “Rosebud” did not name the drink, he does claim the recipe to be his very own.

“Rosebud” left the OBI in 1979 and later left the bartending business altogether to pursue other things. He now lives in Del Ray Beach, Florida. Butt continues to visit Long Island and says whenever he does, he visits his favorite spot: Huntington Village. And the Long Island Iced Tea, too, remains a part of his life. Butt says, “Till this day wherever I go, people want me to make the drink for ‘em.”


“All of a sudden, the drink caught on and Bobby said to start making them,” says Butt.





 ^{Popular Variations:}

• Peach Long Island: tequila is substituted with peach schnapps
• Jersey Tea: cola is substituted with a shot of Jaegermeister
• Pittsburgh Tea: tequila is substituted with Wild Turkey
• Long Beach Iced Tea: cola is substituted with cranberry juice
• California Iced Tea: cola is substituted with orange juice
• Tokyo Iced Tea: tequila is substituted with Midori liqueur and cola with lemonade
• Alaskan Iced Tea: cola is substituted with Blue Curaçao
• Blue Motherfucker or Electric Iced Tea: triple sec is substituted with Blue Curaçao and cola with Sprite
• Tennessee Iced Tea tequila is substituted with Jack Daniel's
• Beverly Hills Iced Tea cola is substituted with Champagne

NEW! SlapTail and WebFoot Vodka!

Starting a new business can be a lonely undertaking. But building a new industry? That's a team sport.


That's the lesson Dawson Officer learned when he set out to launch his new venture, 4 Spirits Distillery. The 31-year-old Iraq War vet had a business degree, a desire to be his own boss and a yen to make his own liquor, but he really didn't know how to go about it. So he started asking people who did.
"I had lots of help from lots of people," Officer said. "In the Oregon distillery world, everybody helps everybody else."

Although better known for its Pinot noirs and microbrews, Oregon is emerging as a trailblazer in the craft distillery movement. With 44 licensed distilleries turning out everything from brandy and grappa to whiskey and gin, there's plenty of expertise out there,

Seagram's Sweet Tea Vodka - Ya'll have a good time!

I used to live in Georgia.  I love ice tea. That is natural ice tea, fresh brewed tea leaves and cold filtered water over a tall glass of ice. Add a generous amount of sugar, a sprig of mint, maybe a slice of lime, orange or traditional lemon. Anyway, not long ago, at my local Liquor Emporium I found this Seagram’s flavored Sweet Tea vodka drink. It looked interesting and it was inexpensive, so I figured “Why not Y'all?”

I was hooked my very first sip. It tastes exactly how you would think a pitcher of down South sweet tea should taste, with of course a little kick. Not the kinda vodka that burns your pipes, but on the contrary it is very smooth and mellow and can sneak up on you "right quick." Women love sweet drinks and this baby makes some pretty darn good ones!

I may be partial from my days of Tea and NASCAR, but I think it pairs really well with Southern food, including of course BBQ, and is a very refreshing drink on ice. Seagram's Sweet Tea combines all the charm and refreshing sweetness of Southern sweet tea with five-times distilled premium vodka.  This is a highly mixable spirit that has the potential to turn any night into a hot Southern night.

Calories	66	Sodium	0 mg
Total Fat	0 g	Potassium	0 mg
Saturated	0 g	Total Carbs	0 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	0 g
Monounsaturated	0 g	Sugars	0 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	0 g
Cholesterol	0 mg
Vitamin A	0%	Calcium	0%
Vitamin C	0%	Iron	0%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Seagram's also makes a Sweet Tea Vodka with a Peach Flavor kicked in.

But Seagram’s Peach Tea is more than just another hot package. It has everything the Sweet Tea does, but with a mouthwatering tease of peach flavor for added extra sparkle. Seagram's added a squeeze of a special blend of genuine Summer White Pearl and Laurel peaches into their naturally-flavored sweet tea, for a taste of some true Southern soul. It's a bold 70-proof, it’s got all the buzz and none of the fuzz. Try it with good ole'soda and a squeeze of lemon - you will be HOOKED.

















DELICIOUS RECIPES include

Experiments with Booze and Jello

What is the Ultimate Jell-O® Shot?

The Experiment

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the highest possible concentration of alcohol attainable in a Jell-O shot, while still maintaining the structural integrity (i.e., the gelling properties) of the gelatin. For the purposes of our study, structural integrity was defined as the ability of the gelatin to hold its shape when removed from its container. Recipes for Jell-O shots are often accompanied by the explanation that only a certain amount of liquor can be added to Jell-O shots, the reason being that a minimum amount of water is necessary to enable the gelatin to gel, and too much alcohol will prevent this. How much water is enough? Or more to the point, how much alcohol is too much? As you will see, too much is much, much more than we would have guessed. 

June = Summer = FROZEN BLENDER DRINKS!

A beer tastes good when you're watching a football game, and red wine is the perfect accompaniment to a steak dinner, but nothing says "party time" quite like a frosty blender drink. It's one of the constants of the universe: blend up some hard liquor with fruit and ice so it looks like dessert, and no one can turn down a glass. 

Your local megamart probably carries several dozen frozen drink mixes in bottles or buckets. While those products will indeed help you create a halfway decent beverage, they're usually full of artificial ingredients and yield a drink texture that's a little on the thin side. Making alcoholic blender drinks from scratch is about as easy as using a mix, and the results taste better than anything you'll get from a bucket. 

The first thing you'll want to have, of course, is a good blender. In this case, good means at least 400 watts. You need

Slick's Whiskey Based BBQ Sauce - FANTASTIC!

Dan and Barbi Slick, founders of Slick’s Big Time Sauces, are an active couple who love to cook and entertain their family, friends and neighbors!  The Slicks are always searching to make everything taste better and put a smile on every face while cooking up new dishes to please their honored guests!
 
Barbi has previously been a practicing Registered Dietitian and has always had a knack for “Big” flavor in all the foods she serves up!  One of their favorite things to do is BARBEQUE!  Food just always tastes so good when it’s BBQ, especially when it’s good BBQ!!! Dan takes pride

Indian Inspired Cocktail - Bitter Orange & Cardamon Martini

At your next dinner party why not serve Indian food and try some Indian inspired cocktails?  The one we've chosen is based around the spice cardamom which we think is quite an unusual ingredient for a cocktail  and to that is added orange marmalade which we think can be representative of the British rule of the last century. The cocktail is called the Bitter Orange and Cardamon Martini, this recipe makes 6 martinis so it's ideal for a dinner party. Unlike most cocktails, this one can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge.

Bitter Orange and Cardamon Martini

12 cardamon pods
6 tbsp orange marmalade
400 ml vodka
125 ml cointreau
4 tbsp lemon juice

Place 6 of the cardamom pods into a pestle and mortar and bash them until they split
Melt the marmalade in a pot and then whisk in the vodka.
Add the split cardamom pods to the pot for a few minutes so that the flavors can infuse, do not allow to boil just warm through the mix.
Leave off of the heat for 20 minutes so that the flavors can continue to mingle together.
Add the cointreau and lemon juice to the mixture and chill.
To serve place a little marmalade in the bottom of a martini glass, add ice and then the martini mixture and float a cardamom pod on the top.

Morning Cocktails Get a Wake-up Call

By ASHLEY GARTLAND / Photography by MOTOYA NAKAMURA

Well, carrots are health food, right? So a carrot martini seems like a reasonable way to start the day. 

 
Bloody Mary and mimosa might headline the brunch menu at Country Cat Dinner House & Bar, but that doesn't mean they're the sole stars of the morning cocktail hour. Rather, these ubiquitous eye-openers share the spotlight with the Maple Leaf, the citrusy G'morning Sunshine and the spritzy French 79th -- all cocktails that hint at bartender Jessie Matthews' mission to move beyond the mimosa.
  
Matthews isn't the only local bartender set on shaking up the brunch cocktail scene. At Toast, owner Donald Kotler mixes tequila, spiced rum and vermouth into cocktails for Woodstock regulars, while Accanto's bar manager, Chris Grant, offers a

ABOUT VODKA!

Our Thanks to Chris Carllson w/ The Spirits Review