Food and Drink

Dark Side of the Moon Cocktail

Food and Drink, Recipes / By

Today is the day in 1969 that Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. We thought we’d celebrate by combining that event with one of our favorite albums and feature a Dark Side of the Moon Cocktail. When you see the ingredients you’ll realize that you and I won’t ever get there….Either to the back side of the moon or the cocktail. At least at home. Here’s a recipe from Inshaker.com:

  • Fill a Collins glass to the top with ice cubes
  • Place 0.1 oz of bamboo powder into the shaker
  • Pour in 0.5 oz of lime juice and 0.5 oz of ginger syrup
  • Add 0.5 oz of picon and 1 oz of mezcal
  • Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake gently
  • Strain through the strainer and sieve into the Collins
  • Garnish with an orange wheel

Bamboo powder?? Picon??

If you have some, let us know when to show up!

  • Jet Cannon

What A Pair!

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Canada’s Elle Gourmet (ellegourmet.ca) suggests we try pairing fresh strawberries with bourbon! Okay! “We’re pairing the intense sweetness of fresh strawberries with the caramel and vanilla flavours of bourbon.” Let’s just say it works.

– Jet Cannon

Strawberry Bourbon Sour

1 Serving

Ingredients

2 strawberries, chopped
1 oz vanilla simple syrup (see tip)
1 cup ice
2 oz bourbon
1 oz each freshly squeezed lemon and lime juices

To Garnish
lemon balm and strawberry slices (optional)

Method

1. In cocktail shaker, add strawberries and vanilla syrup. Use muddler or handle of wooden spoon to muddle ingredients until jammy. Top with ice, bourbon, lemon juice and lime juice; shake for 10 seconds. Strain into a rock glass and garnish with lemon balm and strawberry slice, if desired.

Tip: Vanilla simple syrup: In saucepan, bring ½ cup each granulated sugar and water to boil until sugar is dissolved. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds; stir pod and seeds into syrup and let cool to steep.

Tip: The subtle citrus notes of lemon balm are a more delicate (and prettier) alternative to mint.

Keep It Simple Stupendous

Food and Drink / By

Tasting Table has done it again!  We rarely have all the ingredients needed to craft the intriguing cocktails we read about on the InterWeb so Tasting Table compiled a list of cocktails that only each require two ingredients!  And they list 40 of them!!  Even our poorly stocked bar and fridge could probably come up with twenty of them.  Here is the complete list.

– Jet Cannon

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Hot Potato

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Continuing our dogged pursuit of foods that were once considered bad for us but are now found to be not so bad after all, let’s talk potatoes.  (Add that to butter, chocolate, eggs, MSG, etc.)  Too many carbs, right? Today.com reports, “Eating one medium-size potato a day can be part of a healthy diet and doesn’t increase cardiometabolic risk — the chances of having diabetes, heart disease or stroke — as long as the potato is steamed or baked, and prepared without adding too much salt or saturated fat, a study by nutritionists at The Pennsylvania State University found.  Potatoes are a rich source of potassium, which is important for blood pressure regulation, but which most Americans don’t get enough of in their diet.”  Read the entire article here and don’t fear the potato!

– Jet Cannon

Going Off The Rails In Coeur d’Alene

Food and Drink / By

Workaholic Buzzed Boomer Rural Correspondent, Maserati Mike, rolled into the Iron Horse Bar & Grill in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to conduct in-depth research.  He discovered The Derailer, their signature drink.  This cocktail means business.  It’s 48 ounces of three kinds of rum (Bacardi Silver, Spiced, and Gold), ginger ale, 7 Up, orange and pineapple juice, sour mix and as many straws as you need to share with friends.  Or not.  

– Jet Cannon

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Mai Tai Mahalo

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On this day in 1898, the Hawaiian Islands were annexed by the United States. If that somehow fostered the popularity of Mai-Tai cocktails, then we are forever grateful!

  • Jet Cannon
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Doggonit!

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As the Fourth of July holiday approaches we like to remember two important facts. First, Americans will eat 150 million hot dogs on the 4th. 150 million. Second, we know this because the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council counts them. America!!

  • Jet Cannon

The Last Word In Tasty Cocktails

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Near-genius Mercer Island bartender, Earl Bahama Armani, recently introduced us to the Last Word cocktail.  Where have we been?  We missed some noteworthy cocktail history from the Zig Zag Cafe. Per Wikipedia, the Zig Zag Café is a craft cocktail bar and restaurant in Seattle, Washington. Established in 1999, the bar is considered one of the best in the United States, helping lead the craft cocktail movement. From 2002 to 2011, noted bartender Murray Stenson worked at Zig Zag Café, and created innovative cocktails as well as reintroduced the pre-Prohibition-era Last Word cocktail to the public and to bars around the world. The Last Word is a gin-based Prohibition-era cocktail originally developed at the Detroit Athletic Club. While the drink eventually fell out of favor, it enjoyed a renewed popularity after being rediscovered by Stenson in 2003.  Thank you Murray…. And Earl!!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 ounce gin

  • 3/4 ounce green Chartreuse

  • 3/4 ounce maraschino liqueur

  • 3/4 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

  • Garnish: brandied cherry (optional)

Steps

  • Add the gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and lime juice into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

    – Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

    – Garnish with a brandied cherry

– Jet Cannon

Photo and Recipe: Liquor.com

World Martini Day

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June 19th is when the world celebrates our favorite cocktail. Here is some useful information from NationalDayCalender.com about martinis and how to order them. We learned a few things ourselves.

Martini Lingo

  • Dirty – This Martini includes olive brine or juice from the olive jar.
  • Dry – The vermouth is decreased significantly in the Martini, and gin becomes the primary spirit. Extra dry tips the ratio even further.
  • Gibson – Instead of an olive, bartenders garnish the Martini with a pickled onion.
  • Shaken vs. Stirred – Most bartenders will tell you that the better Martini is stirred. Shaken Martinis tend to be inferior due to a couple of reasons – ice chips water down the drink, and shaking the Martini adds air to the cocktail. A stirred Martini results in a smoother, fuller experience.
  • Straight Up – This Martini may be either shaken or stirred, but it is strained and served without ice – the opposite of a Martini on the rocks.
  • Smoky or Burnt – Scotch whisky replaces the vermouth in this Martini. A twist of lemon garnishes the glass.
  • Wet – Where the dry Martini has less vermouth, this one has more.
  • With a Twist – The bartender adds a thin strip of citrus peel to the Martini as a garnish or in the drink.  

– Jet Cannon

 

Photo:  WallPaperFlare.com

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Capable Cranberries

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Read this Health.com article about cranberry juice.  There are too many potential health benefits to summarize and there are other possible risks to consider for certain people.  Lots to digest. Worth reading to get all the details.  Besides making an excellent cocktail, the juice packs a nice, healthy punch.

– Jet Cannon

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Kicks Like A Mule

Food and Drink / By

Breaking News from VinePair.com!!  “The Margarita is currently the most-ordered cocktail in the United States.  The Cocktail Sales Tracker records on-premise data at more than 10,000 establishments across the United States. While the Martini captured the No. 2 spot last year, it’s since been overtaken by the Moscow Mule.”  Shocking!  Our favorite cocktail has fallen to #3.  And not to get political, but we will be substituting in a Kyiv Mule.

– Jet Cannon

Lady Liberty Lemonade

Food and Drink, Recipes / By

Thank you Mixology Pro’s for sharing five patriotic cocktails for Memorial Day Weekend. 

 

Here’s the recipe for Lady Liberty Lemonade:

– 2 oz (60 ml) Master of Mixes Single Pressed Lemon Juice

– 2 oz (60 ml) Master of Mixes Simple Syrup

– 1 oz (30 ml) vodka

– Lemon-lime soda

Directions:

– Build all ingredients in order in tall/collins glass filled with ice.

– Fill with lemon-lime soda.

  Click here to see four more Memorial-able recipes from Mixology Pros!

– Jet Cannon

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The Paper Plane Takes Flight

Food and Drink, Recipes / By

We all know the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright, Kitty Hawk, and the experiment of human flight. But how many of us know the name, Charles Edward Taylor? Well, Chuck was the Wright Brothers’ mechanic and today is National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day because it would be Chuck’s birthday.  So, if you happen to be flying, be thankful for the maintenance professionals who keep you safe up there.  And while you’re at it, order a Paper Plane cocktail from the beverage cart. Good luck with that.  Here’s how you make one at home:

Ingredients

1 oz bourbon

1 oz Amaro Nonino

1 oz Aperol

1 oz lemon juice

 

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake, and strain into a chilled coupe.

– Jet Cannon

 

 

Photo:  Mashed.com