Saint Germain Cocktails

These are a couple of new ones I pulled out of my behind on the spot. I mean it happens all the time, customers come to you and say things like: "What do you make that's good?" "What is your favorite thing to make?" Or the ever popular "Surprise me." Like I have any idea what their personal taste is. Here I am going to make you a $12 martini and you are going to take one sip and tell me you don't like it because it is too sweet, sour or because it is yellow. So this time some one asked me to surprise them. They liked "fruity drinks, sweet but not too sweet."

I like to use Saint Germain in these instances. It adds a floral and exotic entity and a touch of sweetness without going over the top if used sparingly. Saint Germain is a French liqueur made from elderflower blossoms. So next time you find yourself in my neck of the woods or at home with the right ingredients feel free to enjoy one of these little bits of heaven in a glass.


Forbidden Pear Martini
2 oz. - Ginger infused Pear Vodka
.5 oz. - St. Germain
1 oz. - Pear Nectar
1 - Slice of Fresh Lime squeezed
Shake over ice and strain
Finish with a splash of Chambord that will sink to the bottom.
Garnish with 1/4 of thin sliced pear fanned around the glass.

Orange Sunrise Martini
2 oz. - Orange Skittles Infused Vodka
.5 oz. - St. Germain
1 oz. - Sour Mix
.5 oz. - Cointreau
Shake over ice and strain
Rim glass in orange sugar
Garnish with a Orange slice
Top with Champagne

Cheers!

A Few Good Cheers!

When god made man he made em out of string,
He had a little left over so he left a little thing,
When god made women he made em out of lace,
He didn't have enough so he left a little space,
Here's to space!

May we get what we want,
May we get what we need,
But may we never get what we deserve.

May you never lie, steal, cheat or drink.
But if you must lie, lie in each others arms.
If you must steal, steal kisses.
If you must cheat, cheat death.
And if you must drink, drink with us, your friends.

CHEERS!

Put Down Your Damn Cell Phone Already!

This is a rant. Make no mistake about it. More than 98% of my posts are pertaining to cocktails and my life behind the bar and this does have a very small touch of that however for the most part this is a rant. So if this makes your stomach turn or makes you feel in anyway ill, then by all means look away now.

PUT DOWN THE DAMN CELL PHONE!

The other day I was at the bar and working my normal shift. There was a man and woman having a spectacular cocktail together and some conversation. Every couple of seconds the lady would pick up her cell phone and open it up read the text message and then type a return text before putting it down and continuing the conversation she was already half engaged in. This went on throughout the conversation and eventually the guy started to show signs of growing tired of this. And he should be! This is a refusal by her to share this moment with him. I have even seen it where one person texts the other right across the table! This is insane.

PUT DOWN THE DAMN CELL PHONE!

In daily life there are enough distractions with work, family, money, friends and so much more. Living in the moment and for the moment is something almost lost. Cell phones allow us all the communication we can handle and in most cases more than we can handle. So while you are suppose to be enjoying the moment with the people right in front of you. We find ourselves taken away to someone elses moment and not living our moment at all. If you don't want to spend the time with the person in front of you then find the person you do want to spend time with. Friends can be selfish and even knowing you are spending time with someone will engage you in their own thoughts and feelings. Draw the line and pay attention to those who mean more to you than a text message. Live your life in person instead of from a cell phone screen.

PUT DOWN THE DAMN CELL PHONE!

Now I realize that that tiny devise is your life line to the outside world and in some cases you can't turn it off completely. However there is no need to loo at it every 3 seconds that is why it rings when it really needs you. Show those you care about that you do care about them by giving them your undivided attention. It costs you nothing. It speaks volumes to your character and shows people you care about the moment you are sharing with them.

PUT DOWN THE DAMN CELL PHONE!

Cheers!

Thanksgiving Delights

Thanksgiving is coming up this week! This is a holiday I can definitely appreciate. I mean hanging with lots of family, eating to excess, watching football, eating dessert, watching more football before passing out on the couch just in time to wake up to say goodbye to whatever family must go home and for whatever movie is being shown after the game. I mean this holiday is just filled with other side shows like the drunk uncle, the nephew who decided to make this his coming out party or cousin who lives alone with her cats and always brings her "friend" every year to dinner. There is the opinionated but deaf Grand Father and someone always shows up with a new haircut that everyone tells that person they love but the minute they leave the room they talk about in quite the opposite manner. All of these components make this holiday about family and that in and of itself makes it great. Embrace these pieces to the puzzle that is Thanksgiving this year and while you do that be sure to have a few great drinks!

Here are a few easy and tasty cocktails you can have prepared while people are walking in the door. Hell if you have to spend the next 8 hours with these people before kissing them off till Christmas you might as well do it with a buzz on!

Bing Cherry & Thyme Champagne Cocktail
First the Cherry juice portion of this cocktail
1 Can of whole cherries in the juice
3 Sprigs of fresh Thyme
Strain the juice out of the cherries into a sauce pan
and add thyme Let this simmer on on low heat for 8 minutes

Now in a Champagne flute
3 Tblspn Cherry juice
1 Cherry
Fill half way with Prosecco of Champagne
Squeeze 1 slice of lemon
Garnish with a small sprig of thyme.

Cranberry Tangerine Sparkler
In a Champagne Flute
3/4 of a glass of Champagne or Prosecco
.5 oz. - Orange Vodka
.5 oz. - Cointreau
1 Sugar Cube
Garnish w/ a sliced cranberry & Tangerine wedge

Apple Cider Sidecar
2 oz. - Brandy
1 oz. - Cointreau
Splash of lemon juice
2 oz. - Apple Cider
Shake over ice and strain
Rim glass with cinnamon sugar
Garnish by floating a thin cross section of apple

Pumpkin Pie Cocktail
(or as my Poppop would say with his thick Philly accent "Punkin Pie")
1 oz. - Coconut Rum
1 oz. - Kahlua
2 oz. - Milk
Splash of cinnamon schnapps
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie filling
Shake over ice to a froth
Rim glass with Graham cracker crumbs
Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon




Cheers!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed...

Today I will be bartending a wedding party and maybe this has sparked my romantic side. Something about the thought of two people coming together and wanting to share the rest of their lives with each other. Never to be torn asunder. To have and to hold, through good times and bad, for rich or poor. Till death do they part. It all sounds very final and yet romantic and pure. Today my posting will not be my typical sarcastic, bordering on ridiculous banter. Today will be about love, hope and two peoples dreams to build a life together and just how beautiful a relationship like this can be. For this day it will just be a couple nice easy cocktails that can be served for any occasion but a wedding celebration is the occasion today.


Something Blue
2 oz. - Hpnotiq
2 oz. - White wine
1 oz. - Ginger ale
Serve in a champagne flute

Wedding Toast: May the roof above you never fall in,
And those gathered beneath it never fall out.

Bridesmaid Cocktail
1 oz. - Citron Vodka
1.5 oz. - Pomegranate juice
Splash of St. Germain
Splash of Champagne
Serve over ice
Wedding Toast: May your home always be too small
to hold all your friends.

Kiss the Bride
2 oz. - Spiced Rum
2 oz. - Sour Mix
2 oz. Cranberry juice
Serve over ice

Wedding Toast: Top two secrets to prolong your marriage—a good sense of humor and obviously a short memory

Cheers!

For Goodness Sake Let them Eat Cake!

With my birthday looming in a couple short days I was asked the other day if I like cake. My response was an emphatic "Who the hell doesn't like cake?!!" Now I'm sure there are a few of you out there that are the exception to the popular opinion and we call you people "Idiots." Yes you read that right!


Cake is among the most perfect of treats. It brings people together who would otherwise never even talk. Just look in the break-room of any Fortune 500 company during a celebration. Without cake 3 people would be singing happy birthday. With cake an entire department, the better part of the floor it is on and anyone with a C in their title wants to be seen as one of the "cool" management trying to connect with their minions.


Even better look at the faces of those around cake as it is being handed out among the masses. There is a giddiness in the room. Ever been to a party where a half naked person jumps out of a cake? That big cake being wheeled in alone tells you good times are on deck for the evening. Everyone gets a little wide eyed at the site of cake. All the ladies ask for just a small slice and will always say no matter what they get is far too big but you know they will eat it all. There will always be someone who says "none for me I'm on a diet." This opens them up to speak about the type of diet they are on and just how much they have lost. There are the closet cake eaters too. These are the ones that take a good size piece and go sit in the corner to eat it like a lion that just killed an elk and doesn't want the hyenas and buzzards to get any. Lastly take a peek at the faces who are eating cake. It is completely impossible to be angry and eat cake at the same time. If you are angry while eating cake you are without a doubt a serial killer. Seriously call security and check that guys cubicle for weapons and body parts.


Cake is the great equalizer. No ones piece is really better than anyone else. The first piece is just as good as the last. If it is a special day for you and you don't get cake you feel cheated, and if you do show up to one of these break-room shin-digs and there is no cake left your day is ruined. Cake is so good it now has a very popular sibling the cupcake. FINALLY! I have been searching for eons to find a cake I could eat while driving and checking my text messages.


So as you may have guessed my focus here is on cake. To go along with this I have a few takes on a few cakes. So next time you feel like celebrating try one of these cakes with a bit more kick.


Wedding Cake Martini
1 oz. - Gin
1 oz. - Amaretto
Splash of OJ
Splash of Pineapple juice
Splash of Cream
Shake over ice and strain

German Chocolate Cake
1 oz. - Coconut rum
1 oz. - White creme de cacao
.25 oz. - Frangelico
Splash Half-&-Half

Shake to a froth and strain
Top with Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
Garnish with dark chocolate shavings

Red Velvet Cake Martini
2 oz. - Vanilla Vodka
1 oz. - Godiva White
Splash of Simple syrup
Splash of Heavy cream
1 Tblspn. - Red Velvet Powder
Shake over ice and strain
Swirl glass with white and red chocolate syrups.
Rim glass with vanilla frosting.

Birthday Cake Martini

1.5 oz. Vanilla Vodka
.5 oz. - Amaretto
.5 oz. - Chambord
Splash of Cream
Splash of Lemoncello
Shake to a froth and strainGarnish with lemon zest and rainbow sprinkles
*Add a puff of whipped cream
on the side of the glass to support a candle!

Cheers!

Cocktails of the 30's and 40's

Anyone that that knows me will tell you I am among other things a bit of a history buff. My head is chock full of useless fun facts and historical novelties. So this weekend I would like to hearken back to a innocent however extremely challenging time in history of our great nation. The 1930's and 40's are the focus of my cocktails this weekend. Days just after the American prohibition (1920 - 1933,) Through some of the darkest days of the Great Depression (1929 - the early 1940's) and through "The Big One" World War II (1939 - 1945.) America saw some of our greatest challenges of it's very young history. Through all this we still found a way to let off steam and enjoy our lives a bit.


The roaring 20's saw dances like the Charleston. The 1930's and 40's brought in the age of swing music to blow your wig, along with the Foxtrot, Waltz and even tap made a splash. The chocolate chip cookie was created by 'brodie" (accident) by Ruth Graves Wakefield (My waist line thanks you for that nifty little doozy.) Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs was released in 1937 and The Wizard of Oz in 1939. Louis Armstrong was blowing his horn and the martini made its grand debut! The list goes on and on.


About this time as well bar-keeps started to get a little creative with their "giggle juice," "hooch" or "mule" (booze) not only in what they created but also in their naming of their cocktails. Drinks that "dames" (ladies) might want to order. The type of "sauce" (cocktails) that make the "chickadees" (ladies) with great "pillars" (legs) come to your "clip joint" (bar) and the the "sweet daddy -O's" (guys with the) "lettuce, folding green or kale" (money) set down a "checker" (dollar bill) for a concoction or two. In hopes of getting a "honey cooler" (kiss) at the end of the night. The man with on the "gobble-pipe" (saxophone) would blow his horn. The "skin tickler" (drummer) would "wail" (play the drums well) and the "canary" (female vocalist) would sing. "Cats" or "Alligators" (fans of swing music) along with the "dead hoofers" (bad dancers) and "jelly beans" (unpopular people) would get on up and "cut a rug" (dance.) While the whole night turns into a "ring a ding-dingy" (great party.) ... Did any of that make sense??


Long story short this time in history brought us more than a few good cocktails and here is my spin on these clever cocktails for all of you to guys and dolls to put up to your "kissers" (lips.)


Pink Lady
1.5 oz. Gin
.5 oz. - Grenadine
.5 oz. - Cream
Splash of Lemon juice
1 oz. - Egg white
Rim the glass with grenadine & strawberry sugar.
Shake over ice and strain
Garnish with a cherry

Orange Blossom
2 oz. - Orange Vodka
1 oz. - Grand Marnier
1 oz. - Fresh OJ
Shake over ice and strain
Rim 1/2 the glass with orange sugar
Top with Champagne
Garnish with a orange twist.

Sidecar
(otherwise known as the Cosmo for men of the era)

1 oz. - Cointreau
1 oz. - Brandy/Cognac
1 oz. - Lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain
Frost the glass with a sugar rim
Garnish with a lemon twist

Cheers!

Funny Stuff

This guy has nothing to do with the bar he is just damn funny! His name is Bret Ernst. This bit reminds me of my days back in Jr. High at Roller Kingdom

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