Grapefruit Martini

This is a delicious referral from 'Drink Up' where I also received the Smokey Smash featured further down on the blog.  The bartender named this drink the Grapefruit Kiss, which I don't love so went ahead and renamed it something simple and less kissy...Grapefruit Martini.

This was my first use of Agave Nectar, which I didn't realize was basically just a substitute for simple syrup.  It added a less-than-attractive color to the drink, but it has a really smooth sweetness that's a little stronger than simple syrup.  It adds a perfect balance to the bitterness of the grapefruit.

Ingredients:
Grapefruit Vodka (used Finlandia)
White Wine (used Sauvignon Blanc)
Agave Nectar
Grapefruit Juice

In a shaker add 1 oz grapefruit vodka, 1 oz white wine, 1 oz grapefruit juice (fresh squeezed is always best), 1/2 oz agave nectar and ice.  Shake vigorously to make sure the nectar mixes in and strain into a chilled martini glass.  Garnish with a segment of grapefruit.

Dark Passenger (Dexter Premiere Cocktail: Adam & Michelle)

Dark Passenger

The blended flesh look of Amie & Bonnie's drink is über-Dexter, but I love the bloody red color of our cocktail.  (Holy crap, I just figured out how to make an umlaut on my mac--is that only cool for people with German minors?)  Anyway, I ended the Summer Cocktail series with a desire to experiment more with beer and wine cocktails, so the fall premiere of our favorite show seemed like a great way to use up some leftover Cabernet Sauvignon.

This might seem like a strange combination of ingredients, but it's inspired by the description of flavors on the back of our Brandy bottle: "warm, inviting flavors of vanilla cream, maple and old sherry."  That screams Vanilla Cream Soda to me and it turned out to be a perfect pairing.

Ingredients:
Cabernet Sauvignon (used Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells)
Brandy (used E&J VSOP Superior Reserve)
Vanilla Cream Soda

In a red wine glass combine 1 oz Brandy, 2 oz red wine and 2.5 oz cream soda.  If you add them in that order they'll mix themselves and be ready to drink.  We chilled the cream soda but had the other ingredients at room temperature and enjoyed it as-is.  I also think this would be great with all the ingredients chilled or served on the rocks.

I hate serving a drink without some kind of garnish but unfortunately time ran out.  However, if you're serving this at a Dexter theme party we all thought this would be awesome with a gingerbread man impaled with a little appetizer knife.  The flavor of the gingerbread would be amazing with the vanilla creme of the drink and appetizer knives are complete underutilized in general.

GET D-squared 4 (Dexter Premiere Cocktail: Amie & Bonnie)

GET D2 4 (Good Enough to Dexter & Die 4)

Cheers to a new season of drinking to pair with a new season of TV.  Welcome back Dexter; we've been dying for the continuing saga of your morbidly sordid ways!  And yes, we're still using the infusions from my summer farm stand over-splurge.  We're down to the nitty gritty and this blend textured perfectly to fashion the glass Dexteresque grotesque.

Ingredients:
3 oz Peach-infused Gin
3 oz Strawberry-infused Gin
3 oz Lemonade

Mix alcohol, fruit and lemonade in blender.  Some of the peaches turned less savory-looking, but some maintained their original color (these were used in the drink).  And unlike the vodka-infused strawberries, the gin-infusion left these usable and perfect to texturizing.  Had this not been a tribute to Dexter theme, we might have blended the ingredients with ice for a refreshingly slushy treat.  Here we've chosen to simply serve the blend over cubed ice.  So tasty!

Fall Favorite

Grandma's Applesauce has become a Fall favorite in our house.  Michelle and I both love it more and more each time we have it and it gets consistently great reviews when we serve it to visitors.  It was recommended to me by an ex-coworker who doubled as a bartender and has been one of our favorites ever since.  It tastes like homemade applesauce, but even better because it contains two kinds of schnapps.

Ingredients:

Goldschlager

Sour Apple Pucker

Pineapple Juice

In a shaker combine 1/2 part Goldschlager, 1 part Apple Pucker and 3 parts pineapple juice with ice.  Shake to chill.  If I shake until my metal shaker is so cold I can hardly stand it then I know it's ready.  Strain into a martini glass and enjoy!

Cure for the Common Cold

Torn between nurturing your cold and enjoying a cocktail after suffering through a 10 hour day at the office?  I may have found the perfect way to accomplish both.  This recipe does come with a word of caution as the alcohol warning on my cold medication is eerily ominous and vague, however I'm pretty sure my liver will only melt and ooze out my belly button if I drink too many.

3 years since I first asked the question, "What kind of liquor would possibly mix with tea?" the answer finally materialized.  EW Honey Reserve is extremely smooth with a touch of sweetness, which blends perfectly with tea.

Ingredients:

Hot Tea

Evan Williams Honey Reserve

Choose your favorite tea and steep.  Select a souvenir mug from a relaxing vacation destination and add 1.5 oz of honey liquor.  Pour in the hot tea, kick back on the couch and relax. 

P77: Summer Cocktail Week 16 (Adam & Michelle)

P77

There was some pressure to wrap up the Summer Cocktail series with a winner and it all came together with the assistance (again) of cocktail sounding board Derek (co-host of his own incredibly informative beer blog at Wild Turkey Beer Club).  Our recent postings feel a little vodka/rum heavy and whiskey deserves another turn.  Even Michelle who isn't normally a whiskey drinker poured the Seagram's 7 heavier to balance out the flavors of this tasty, refreshing cocktail.  It's good enough to enjoy on a regular basis and simple enough to whip up in a minute.

Ingredients:
Whiskey (used Seagram's 7)
7-Up
PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur

Fill a highball glass with ice.  Add 1.5 oz whiskey (1 jigger), 1 oz PAMA and top off with 7-Up.  Give it a stir (the 3 ingredients actually create a pretty cool layered effect when poured, so could be served that way for presentation but I would include a stir stick to maximize the taste).  Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Food Pairing: Whiskey & PAMA Glazed Pork Ribs

I had been eyeing a bourbon-glazed rib recipe for a while and this cocktail lent itself perfectly to cooking up a nice rack.  I swapped in Seagram's 7 instead of bourbon and substituted 1 oz PAMA for the plum sauce, but otherwise followed this highly recommended recipe at epicurious.com: Glazed Baby Back Ribs.  They were super tender and the sauce was fantastic.  I prefer my usual cooking technique, which is 100% on the grill as I like the texture of the ribs and spending a few hours on the patio downing a drink or two while keeping on eye on the grill.  However, I will absolutely pair this glaze and cocktail again.

FemBossi: Summer Cocktail Week 16 (Amie & Bonnie)

FemBossi, coming soon!

Mari Jane: Summer Cocktail Week 15 (Anonymous Contributors)

Anyone who knows someone from Eugene probably thinks 1 of 2 things: (1) You must be a Duck fan! or (2) You must be a stoned Duck fan!  True, Eugene is known as a haven for Deadheads, hippies and a generally laid-back culture, perhaps due to the fact that in 1972, the State of Oregon was the first state in the United States to pass cannabis decriminalization legislation.  If you live in Eugene, you essentially fall into 1 of 3 categories: you carry a Medicinal Marijuana card, are licensed to grow for a dispensary, or have a friend who does at least one of those.  For those who have smoked and eaten their fair share of ganja, infusing for a beverage remains the final weed frontier.  Needless to say, our Tribute to Our City Week is as much about the beverage as it is the theme-related munchies food pairings.

My BFF was kind enough to contribute to our summer's blogging activities by infusing a 1/4 oz of home-grown bud into 10 oz vodka.  Since Oregon also gets credit for developing the blackberry's cousin, Marionberry, we also infused a pint of these into 8 oz vodka (note: in a blackberry vs marionberry infusion taste test, the marionberry was sweeter and much tastier and, like our previous strawberry infusion, was delicious enough to enjoy as a sipping treat).  Unsure of the potency or resulting effects, we rolling this week's recipe using tsp and Tbs.  We've also included a bonus cocktail in case you don't live in Eugene.  :-)

Mari Jane

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp MaryJane Infusion
1 Tbs Marionberry Infusion
1/2 Tbs Black Raspberry Soda (used HOTLIPS Soda from Portland)
1/2 tsp Kraken
1 drop Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters

Shake with ice and serve in aperitif glassware.

Meri Kraken Berry

Ingredients (makes 2-4 drinks):
3/4 cup Peach-Infused Dark Rum
2 oz Marionberry-Infused Vodka
2 oz Kraken Black Spiced Rum
1 oz Patron Orange Liquor
6 oz Americana Black Cherry Soda

Puree in a blender with the peaches from infusion.  Add ice and blend until crushed.

Locally Made Munchies
Chinook Salmon (Oregon)
Tillamook Cheese (Tillamook on the coast)
Kettle Brand Chips (Salem)
Hazelnut Hummus (Eugene)
Marionberry Coated Hazelnuts (Aurora)
Dagoba Organic Chocolates (Ashland)

Theme-Related Munchies
Stoned Wheat Thins
Garden Herb Triscuits
Rainbow Mini Bell Peppers (b/c every munchie fest needs something "healthy")

Song Pairing
'Allison' by Frank Black of The Pixies (who spends much time in Eugene)
'Hey Eugene' by Pink Martini (a Portland-based orchestral and concert group--think Arcade Fire meets PDX Cello Project)

Game Day: Summer Cocktail Week 15 (Adam & Michelle)

Game Day

"Red beer" might be a new concept to some, but if you've ever tailgated in Lincoln or happened to grow up in a handful of select regions like rural Nebraska (wait, isn't all of Nebraska rural?) then it's likely you've tried a red beer.  The classic red beer is comprised of cheap beer and tomato juice and some in my extended family even add a dash of salt for good measure.  Yes, it's hilarious that I married a dietitian and my family salts their beverages.

Unfortunately, I hate tomato juice so have been on a quest to create a red beer sans tomato.  With some help from cocktail experts Derek and Eric (I generally only talk to people with rhyming names) I finally pieced together a really good red beer accentuated with nature's perfect food...bacon.

Ingredients:
Cheap Beer (used Coors Light)
Cran-Cherry Juice (used Diet Ocean Spray)
Tabasco
Maple Bacon

In your favorite pint glass combine 30% cran-cherry juice with 70% light beer.  Add 2 dashes of Tabasco and garnish with crispy fried maple bacon.  The taste is similar to a fruity wheat beer and I love the finish from the Tabasco.

While experimenting to find the perfect garnish we tried plain bacon, maple bacon, maple bacon brushed with maple syrup and maple bacon sprinkled with brown sugar.  The syrup and sugar bacons were both deliciously decadent, but the simple hint of sweetness in the maple bacon won out.  The bacon I used wasn't tall enough to stand alone in the glass, so I cut a small diagonal slit in the side to hook it over the edge.  Mmmm...bacon.

Gemstone: Summer Cocktail Week 14 (Amie & Bonnie)

Gemstone

More details coming soon!

Ingredients (makes 2 drinks):
3 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
4 oz Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice
1 oz Peruvian Pisco
Ruby Red Ice Cubes
Crystal Geyser Sparkling Water Ice Cubes

Food Pairing: Emerald Valley salsa, Black Diamond extra sharp cheddar cheese, whole wheat flat bread fashioned into diamond shapes and made into layers.

Song Pairing: 'Topaz' by B52s