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

What's in your 12 bottle case?: Bartholomew Broadbent

 by: Hoke Harden


It's a fascinating question, one that is often asked---right behind the unanswerable “What’s your favorite spirit?”---and one that requires a little thinking: If you had to limit your available spirits to one case, 12 bottles, which 12 would you choose?
 
The answers, it turns out, are always different.  And the choices reveal much about the people making them. 

The ‘rules’ were simple: Only 12 bottles, any spirits you wish, and they don’t have to include bitters (they’re small, so they’ll fit in to your case anyway, and we didn’t want to make it too difficult).  You

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 A true Long Island Iced Tea, as it was originally made, has always had tequila.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

Grilled Gin Chicken Kabobs

What better way to liven up a cocktail party than to make foods with actual cocktails. Try this chicken kebab recipe the next time you have such a party. Make sure you don't let the chicken marinate longer than 20-30 minutes.

 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 13 minutes

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 6-8 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
• Marinade:
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup gin
• 1/4 cup tonic
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Optional:  Assorted Green Pepper, Red Pepper, Whole Mushrooms, and Yellow Zucchini Slices 

Preparation: 

 

Combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken pieces and marinate for 20-30 minutes. Preheat grill. Removed chicken from marinade, but do not discard. Thread chicken onto skewers, alternating a chunk of chicken with a veggie chunk (if using veggies).  NOTE: If using bamboo skewers, remember to soak them for an hour before use!  Place kabobs on grill on medium high heat for 4-6 minutes per side, turning once. Take remaining marinade and simmer in saucepan. 

 

Once chicken has finished cooking, serve with sauce over top.

 

 

 

The Remix; Now Serving | Hold The Tonic

Gin is ready for its close-up. Though most of us associate it with lethal cocktails, and with at least one memorably bad night in college, a new generation of distillers is ignoring its mixed reputation and creating versions that are distinctive enough to convert even the most resistant palates. 

By United States law, gin must have a flavor dominated by juniper berry, so each brand's unique profile comes from its secondary notes. Hendrick's Gin, introduced in 2000, is distilled with 11 botanicals, rose petals and cucumbers, a combination that makes it dangerously easy to drink.

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