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.