Ingredients

1 part Vodka
1 part Drambuie
2 parts Cranberry juice
Splash of white wine
Ice

Mix in a shaker, add the ice and shake well. Strain and pour into a martini glass rimmed with lemon and sugar.

Enjoy…. and Happy New Year!

Ingredients

1 part Appleton rum
1 part Sangsters rum cream
1 part Drambuie
1 fresh squeezed clementine orange
Ice

Mix all ingredients together with ice and shake well. Strain drink and garnish with clementine slices, cinamon stick and top with nutmeg.

Rim the glass with the orange, and dip in sugar. Peel the rind for garnish as well.

A delicious Christmas martini

So I’m watching the Grey Cup Sunday night with my father when a couple of commercials come on to promote various alcoholic drinks. (Surprisingly, I noticed more liquor company commercials than beer commercials. What does that say about the Canadian Football League’s viewing demographic?) So we watch this commercial for Drambuie that shows a guy getting out of the water, running away from arrows and then avoiding trees exploding to life around him. The commercial ends with a note about how the recipe for the scotch whisky hasn’t changed in centuries and still has a hint of mystery to it.

Well, that’s great because I found the commercial a complete mystery. I decided to turn to my father for help in understanding the meaning of the commercial. Here is a rough transcript of the ensuing conversation that made me feel like a four-year-old all over again. (Not too sure if the same conversation caused my father to feel younger, or simply older.)

Me: What the heck was that?

Pop: Pardon?

Me: That commercial made no sense.

Pop: Explain.

Me: I have no idea what meaning I’m supposed to derive from that advertisement.

Pop: Well, they’re trying to say that the forest, which takes a long time to grow, has changed over time while the recipe for Drambuie has not. It’s a testament to how long it has lasted and that the only thing that has changed in the more than 200 years that it has existed is the bottle.

Me: Okay, so why was he coming out of the water?

Pop: Maybe he was going for a swim.

Me: And what was the purpose of the arrows being shot at him?

Pop: Maybe they were trying to go through the history of armaments.

Me: Why did he have to run away from the trees exploding out of the ground?

Pop: Got me.

Me: Ah, the commercial still doesn’t make sense.

So that was how the conversation went. I then made a comment about Wiser’s new commercials and the “Wiserhood” brand that the company is trying to build. That commercial, I said, was easier to understand. It is a play on the brand name and trying to relate drinking it with being a sophisticated, well-rounded man. Maybe it’s simplicity is what captured my attention. Have a look at the latest commercial:

But then I got to thinking about the Drambuie commercial. I was so confused by it and wanting to understand it that I went to the Drambuie website and read through what information was available so I could connect the leftover dots from the commercial. In doing so, I began to realize that the point of the ad was likely to neglect giving me all the information in order to prompt me into further investigation, and idea known as “Transmedia storytelling” where the audience has to go to multiple media to form an entire storyline:

Transmedia has its antecedents in the serialized fiction of Charles Dickens and the interlocking characters and locations of William Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County. Superheroes like Superman, created in the 1930s, came closer, appearing in comic books, radio and live-action serials but without coordination from a central creative force.

[…]

Audiences are especially active in what Jenkins dubs “transmedia” storytelling, in which a story spans multiple media in a coordinated way. In the traditional Hollywood model, the novelization, video game or website simply restates the characters or the plot of a film or a TV show. In transmedia stories, the creators of the entertainment will use those extensions to, say, fill in the gaps in a narrative or look at events from a minor character’s point of view — all of which combine into one big story that audiences have to piece together. “It appeals to the hunting-and-gathering impulses of fans,” Jenkins says. For instance, “District 9″ has online documentaries, websites for fake alien-rights organizations and, yes, benches, all of which help drive home the human-alien divide in the film’s fictional Johannesburg. “Those benches are designed to shape our experience of the film,” Jenkins says. “They’re not just designed to get us into the theater.”

Smooth. Very smooth. Two different commercials, but both with the same result. Very clever.

There are multiple ways to destroy your liver. There’s Tylenol, liver punches and stabbings, to name a few. The primary focus of this blog has been, and will remain to be, beer, but not everybody is a fan of consuming massive quantities of carbs in order to get their alcohol fixins. They call it a beer belly for a reason, and while the portlier among us tend to be jovial and funny,Carlos Mencia is still a dick.

Not funny.

So, I’ve decided to expand my horizons a bit and branch out to liquor on occasion. Now, my spirit of choice is whisk(e)y, particularly bourbon, neat. But, studly as that is, it’s not very interesting. So I’ve decided to go with one of my favorite drinks: the rusty nail.

Now, the rusty nail is somewhat special to me. Whenever I go back home to Cincinnati, my dad will make rusty nails and we’ll watch old film noir. So, in the stress of exam week, I got the hankering for a rusty nail and went questing for a bar that could make me one.

The rusty nail, with it's signature liqueur, Drambuie.

You’d think with the proliferation of bars in Athens that it would be no problem to sidle up to a bar and get a drink. But not every bar is equipped to make a rusty nail, and that’s because of it’s ingredients: Scotch whisky and Drambuie.

The rusty nail is a quintessentially Scottish cocktail (yes, the Brownfields have a little Scottish in them, via Clan MacDonald). It’s made with 1.5 oz Scotch whisky and .5 oz Drambuie, a honey- and herb- flavored golden Scotch whisky liqueur. The problem with finding it in Athens bars is that a great majority of them don’t stock Drambuie. So I went questing on Wednesday night, looking for a bar that had “the drink that satisfies.”

View Larger Map

Well, so far as my decidedly unscientific search could determine (I pretty much stopped searching once I found it), the only two bars you can get a rusty nail in are Casa Nueva  and Tony’s Tavern (Casa had a cover that night). Ironically, they’re across the street from each other.

Casa by default makes theirs with Dewars Scotch for $5.50, or you can get Johnnie Walker Red for $7. The dude at Tony’s was kind of a dick; aloof, dismissive, and he had to ask one of the patrons how to make a rusty nail, and on top of that he charged $5.75 for the drink, so I didn’t bother finding out which kind of whisky he used. But, I’d grudgingly admit that the Tony’s one did taste a bit better.

A rusty nail is actually pretty sweet, despite being made with the smokey, earthy Scotch. You can taste the smokiness of the Scotch, but it is cut by the honey sweetness of the Drambuie. It’s a potent drink, as both Drambuie and Dewars are 80 proof.

What are your favorite mixed drinks, and where do you go to get them?

Don’t forget to vote for a name for my beer! The winner gets a free six-pack.

Happy Halloween

A great Halloween martini….when all those little ghosts and goblems come knocking at your door.

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz. Appleton reserve rum
1 1/2 oz. Drambuie
Equal parts orange juice
Equal parts ginger ale or sprite
Squeeze of lemon
Ice

Prepare

Add all ingredients into a shaker. Shake well. Strain and pour. Add a lime for garnish.

Enjoy!!
Check out Kitchen Rumblins’ for some history on Drambuie

Monday night was full of events and one of them was the Drambuie Den held at Touch. It was a competetion of the bartenders to get the people to vote for the best Drambuie concoction. Let’s just say that there was a lot of sampling and swiping of Remy and Drambuie off the counter. juss sayin. Thanks for the neat Drambuie Flask!

She Won out hearts with her drinks

All my drinks, lol. jk or am I?

More Photos after the jump…

Premium Scotch Distillers Eye Huge Potential, Existing Growth In Chinese, Emerging Markets

Chivas has enjoyed great success in China since entering the market in 2001

China’s love affair with the national sport of Scotland, golf, has also spread to the national drink of Scotland — scotch whisky. The Chinese market has become a prime market for Scottish distilleries in the last 10 years, as brands like Chivas Regal (introduced to the Chinese market in 2001) and other Speyside whiskeys like BenRiach and Glendronach (which have entered the market more recently) have attracted the devotion of everyone from scotch connoisseurs to well-heeled bar patrons in China. Chivas in particular has seen business booming as a result of its China expansion, where within a year of entering the country China had become the biggest global market for Chivas. For many scotch brands, which have seen their popularity in western countries steadily diminish in the last few decades as scotch has lost its allure among younger drinkers who increasingly favor vodka, China has great potential since it is a “blank slate” with fewer preconceptions about brands, flavor, region or pedigree.

One interesting characteristic of scotch consumption in China is the sizeable gulf that separates the devotee from the social drinker. In bars across China, it is common to see premium scotches like Chivas offered in a promotional “package” for a relatively high price, typically bundled with a bucket of ice and several bottles of sweetened iced green tea. While serious scotch drinkers would recoil in anguish at the sight of partygoers haphazardly mixing high-quality scotch with sugary tea, this home-grown concoction is one of the main drivers of Chivas Regal’s growth in the Chinese market, and the agreeable taste of the resulting cocktail suits the local market extremely well. Far from resisting the trend of Chivas becoming a “mixer” of sorts in China, the company has actively encouraged and nurtured its image as a sophisticated yet youthful party liquor, one that bestows a certain amount of status for the individual ordering the Chivas package for his or her table. In tacitly encouraging this localized brand image throughout the country, Chivas Regal has — in only 8 years — become the envy of other foreign liquor brands, and is no doubt the case study pored over most when foreign companies look to carve out a niche in China.

Following Chivas Regal, other premium brands like Drambuie have seen the Chinese market as both a brand “savior” of sorts as well as a sustainable market. Drambuie, like many other scotch brands which have lost their allure among younger drinkers, over the last year has embarked on a campaign to bring in younger talent in order to rebrand the spirit and grow in new markets. In an attempt to shed its image as an after-dinner drink for older individuals, Drambuie recently launched a campaign to popularize a new cocktail called the “Drambuie Fizz” — perhaps with an eye to the Chinese market, where the popularity of Chivas and green tea will, undoubtedly, necessitate the sale of cocktail packages in bar environments for years to come.

So what about the devotees, who have developed a taste, and appreciation, for fine scotches? We have seen interest in fine wines heat up in the Chinese market — often driven by the purchase of wine as an investment rather than a tipple — but scotch and other foreign liquors seem to have a different role in China among sophisticates.

In this regard, I don’t see the premium scotch market in China that differently than I see the premium baijiu (traditional Chinese spirit) market. These spirits are rarely collected in China, aside from perhaps the rarest and most expensive bottles, and are meant to be consumed over time. Scotch distillers, then, must walk a fine line in China between appealing to the younger, flashier bar market and the more sophisticated, connoisseur market. Both present huge opportunities for growth, but the latter demographic could be turned off by the ubiquity of ostentatious advertisements or by seeing their favorite scotch bundled in promotional packages with ice and green tea. In this sense, the runaway success of Chivas could potentially carve out a natural niche and save smaller distillers many of the difficulties in cracking the huge but diverse Chinese market.

By playing on their target demographic’s desire to be taken seriously, smaller distillers can, ironically enough, take the promotional strategy of Drambuie in the 1970s to heart, building their brand on the concept of after-dinner relaxation and conversation among older yet more sophisticated individuals. While this strategy could spell disaster in many other parts of the world, in China it would connote erudition, wealth, and success, calling back to the centuries-old Chinese tradition of social drinking among old friends.

Brand-building for scotch distillers in the Chinese market does not have to be about slogans, trendy cocktails or expensive ad campaigns. Although the market has steadily become more crowded, there is room for everybody. If scotch brands want to see their spirit rivalling baijiu as the national drink of China — strange as it may sound — they simply need to appeal to the traditions and cultural habits of their target demographic. For rapid growth but limited esteem among serious aficionados, take the Chivas route — develop a strong trademark in the market through extensive advertising efforts and flashy marketing campaigns. Otherwise, build your brand on an image of pedigree, history, and taste.

This dessert is dead simple and it’s full of flavour. You can use any soft fruit really, but raspberries are associated with Scotland. I have tried using Drambuie instead of whisky and it also worked pretty well.

60g medium oatmeal
150g raspberries
600ml double cream
4 tbsp runny honey
4 tbsp malt whisky

Scatter the oatmeal on a baking tray and toast in a low oven or under a medium grill until golden. You’ll have to watch it closely or it may burn.

Blend 50g of the raspberries in a liquidiser until smooth. Whip the double cream until stiff, then stir in the honey and whisky and mix well but do not over-whip. Fold in 50g of the oatmeal, then carefully fold in the raspberry purée to form a rippled effect.

Spoon the mixture into glass coupes or a serving dish, then scatter the rest of the raspberries and oatmeal on top.

What drink should I start with? What would be an appropriate first post for this blog? Hmmm…

Why not a tribute to my mother? I named this drink after her. I didn’t make it up, though. The recipe came with the liqueur bottle, but I decided to give it a clever name.

To be honest, she likes the drink, but it is not necessarily her favorite drink in the world. I actually like it quite a bit. It is simple and refreshing, a good summer drink.

• 1 part Drambuie
• 3 parts Ginger Ale

Combine Drambuie with ginger ale in a glass of ice. Garnish with a slice of lime.

Drambuie is a honey-sweetened, scotch-based, herbal liqueur. For a liqueur, the alcohol content is pretty high: 40% (80 proof), so it packs a punch. Drambuie is actually pretty good all by itself, and complements a cigar quite nicely. It has a very complex and delicious but hard-to-put-your-finger-on flavor. Anise? Coriander? Hard to say. The recipe is a closely guarded secret. But there must be a rabbi out there that knows what it is, because Drambuie is kosher-certified by the London Beth Din. (Their symbol is the letters KLBD beneath a vaulted roof shape.)

• Official Drambuie Site
• Drambuie on Wikipedia

What happened was, the year I asked my (first) ex and (later) late husband for a divorce, there was this British guy, as there often is, I mean, in these situations of dissolution and rebound you frequently find someone who is at best marginally available, but fairly exotic and represents a whole new life or some similar crap. Whereupon you go temporarily gaga, and this I did, especially since he was six-two and tolerably dashing and lanky with a velvety actor’s voice (he did local amateur theater and panto) and, I think, about ten years younger than myself with a thing for older women. We were both mighty fans of Garth Ennis’ Preacher comic and connected through the letters page of the serial. One thing led to another and I ended up flying to London in the dead of February with an agenda that included the RAF Tank Museum near Clouds Hill (T. E. Lawrence, one of my historic fascinations, mustered out of the RAF there), Avebury Henge, and the chalk carvings of Dorset.

I had been living up till that point with a man who, despite brilliance and wit and tenderness and all, hadn’t had a genuine job in five years and had been letting his teeth rot out of his head for the past two or three and simply didn’t care, so even when my spider-sense tingled I did my best to ignore it. Brit Guy, who lived in a flat in a terrifically depressed suburb near Heathrow, had this idea of taking a trip down through Wiltshire and Dorset, stopping at the various henges and carvings, and fetching up at a bed and breakfast in the coastal town of Weymouth, once a naval base and now grasping at the holiday market for survival.

He found someplace that had little cottages just at the beach, with king-sized beds, hot tubs and a bar, yet. I was up for some tacky romance, so off we went, and Brit Guy teased me suavely as we bucketed along the M-way by swearing genially at passing bad drivers and saying “My girl friend can beat up your girl friend!”

So we got to this cottage eventually (I will skip over Stonehenge where he lost his hat and had to violate a barrier to retrieve it) which was just big enough to accommodate the king sized bed, and its attached bath with a hot tub large enough for one middle sized person. We were pretty shellacked from driving through Dorset and inflamed from flirting and quipping; once again one thing led to another or I thought it was going to, when the self-dramatizing bugger seized up on me and, all missish and anguished in his fisherman sweater, went blethering about this and that and how much it frightened him and his Salvation Army upbringing and he would step in front of a bullet for me but don’t ask him to do this, meaning, I gathered, demonstrate that he had the courage of his erections. Well, there I was, forty-two years old and well and truly flummoxed. He suggested we just go get dinner and sit in the hot tub with drinks from the cottage bar.

There was, for no earthly reason that I can imagine, a Thai restaurant in Weymouth which fortunately served Guinness, and I tanked up on it. Back in the hot tub there was Drambuie and a whole lot of ridiculous claustrophobic (virtually gymnastic) colloquy, and the sorry dickweed finally worked up his nerve, by which time I was fit to be tied and responded with a comprehensive spasm of the ischiocavernosus, bulbocavernosus and pubococcygeus musculature, which would have been unpleasant in any circumstance; given that Brit Guy was packing a poleaxe that, if replicated in silicon, would have been sold with a warning label attached, it verged on the catastrophic. Only a long history of repping to failure in the lactic-acid-saturated Pain Zone saved me from the humiliation of hollering Uncle. Adhering to the Guy Rulebook, Brit Guy then entered a deep coma, allowing me to make sure that everything was more or less in the place where it belonged, anatomically speaking.

Around three AM, however, I needed to pee. And when I tried to flush, the goddam thing wouldn’t flush. I lifted the lid of the tank, stealthily, in the Dorsetshire darkness, listening to the hiss and crash of the waves that Sophocles long ago heard on the Aegean (okay, that was Dover Beach, but close enough). Perhaps a chain had broken –I’ve repaired my share of rickety tank assemblies, and probed this one for flaws. Still nothing. Finally, dismayingly, I heard Brit Guy stirring and asking what was amiss.

“Oh,” he said when I told him. “It’s a power toilet. Here at sea level there’s no bloody water pressure and they have an electric pump on the things, you’ll have to turn on the light switch.”

So I covered my eyes and squinted anyway when the light hit them, and flushed. Whoosh.

Ah, Love, let us be true to one another!

I suppose he eventually found a woman who didn’t mind getting fuzzy sheep slippers instead of an engagement ring. I should have run like hell as soon as I came face to face with the power toilet, which is an omen that would give a Feng Shui consultant sweating nightmares, but divorce precipitates temporary insanity.

Review: Red Stag by Jim Beam: Bourbon for the Playful Spirit  - The bourbon that has caused quite a stir for veering from traditional bourbon with its black cherry flavor.  Red Stag by Jim Beam just might be the ‘gateway’ bourbon that introduces an entire consumer group to brown spirits.  It’s playful and meant for fun.  The review compares Original Jim Beam to Red Stag, the traditional Manhattan and how Red Stag weighs in, and three original Intoxicologist created Red Stag cocktails that will change the way you think about bourbon and cola and chocolate covered cherries. 

Review: Bacardi Raspberry Mojito: Effortless, Quick, Refreshing – Pre-mixed cocktails have come a long way in the last few years.  Bacardi proves bottled cocktails can make entertaining a breeze and still come packed with flavor. 

Cocktail: Superior Pursuit – An Intoxicologist original creation using Bacardi Superior, Drambuie and NAVAN. 

Father’s Day: The Macallan: Express Yourself – Expressing yourself straight from the heart with The Macallan.  The Macallan and The Masters of Photography inspired me with a little creative gift giving of my own.  See what The Macallan inspires in you.

Cocktails: Languid 10 Cane Rum cocktails for summer fun – 10 Cane Rum breezes in with the summer wind and offers three cocktails to relax with Caribbean style.  My personal favorite; my simple 10 Cane Daiquiri. 

For those in and around the Omaha, Nebraska area – Two wine dinners.  One benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  Even if you can’t make it for the dinner and auction, you can make a donation to help further diabetes research. 

• Peony Park HyVee to host JDRF dinner & silent auction
• 585 Wine Partners offers wine & food pairing at Peony Park HyVee

Stay up to date with The Intoxicologist by setting your bookmarks, blogrolls and favorites listings to www.intoxicologist.net, the new permanent home for The Intoxicologist.

Copyright 2009 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved

We’re going to try something a bit new this week: a brief trip into a confused mind.

The thought goes something like this: we know that the action of shaking with ice affects the liquid in the shaker in a couple of noticeable ways:

• it chills the contents, courtesy of the ice
• it adds dilution to the contents, again thanks to the ice
• the motion thoroughly mixes the liquids within
• it aerates the contents by trapping small bubbles of air within the mixture

The first three effects are also observed with stirred and built drinks, but the fourth is unique to shaken drinks. The first three effects can also be observed in warmed or hot cocktails through the addition of boiling water – a Blue Blazer, for example. Continuing the original thought, would it be possible to create a hot cocktail that is aerated by shaking?

Unfortunately, while ice has the handy properties of reducing temperature while also adding solid matter to aid the physical motion of shaking, there isn’t an easy alternative for increasing temperature while adding solid matter. Hot coals, possibly, but I didn’t have any handy and there’s a possibility of the final drink tasting all carbony. At any rate, I decided to try the same recipe twice – one cold, one hot. Just to see if it’s possible.

Cold
25ml Johnnie Walker Black Label
25ml Drambuie
25ml espresso
5ml sugar syrup
Shake with ice and fine-strain into a chilled brandy glass. No garnish.

The cold version turned out much as expected – a rounded, Scotch twist on an Espresso Martini. For the hot version, I opted to add 40ml of boiling water to add the dilution that would normally come from the ice, and popped the spring from a Hawthorne strainer into the tin as well.

Hot
25ml Johnnie Walker Black Label
25ml Drambuie
25ml espresso
5ml sugar syrup
40ml boiling water
Dry-shake with the spring from a Hawthorne strainer, and strain into a warmed brandy glass. No garnish.

The hot version turned out, well, weird. It looked the same as the cold one, but the crema formed by shaking the espresso quickly disappeared. The other notable difference was the temperature – it came out of the shaker more towards lukewarm and didn’t retain what heat it had for long either. The dissipation of the crema can – I think – be attributed to the difference in temperature (colder temperatures encourage molecules to stay closer together, if my memory of high school chemistry serves), but I think there are steps I could take to preserve a higher temperature – perhaps using a vacuum flask rather than a regular Boston shaker and heating the ingredients beforehand.

There’s something here, maybe. Maybe not; but even at a slightly disappointing temperature, the hot version had both striking similarities and dramatic differences to its cold brother. Returning finally to the thought that started this whole diversion, can you create a hot cocktail that is aerated by shaking?

Almost.

Gents, This is an amazing flaming cocktail that everybody must try.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Drambuie
• 1.5 oz Grand Marnier

Mixing instructions:

Pour equal amounts into Brandy Snifter and light.

Mixing Methods:

Customer places hand over top of glass to form airtight seal that extinguishes flame. Straw is slid in between fingers keeping seal as tight as possible. Drink beverage through straw. Remove straw after drink is finished. Put glass to nose and remove hand to allow burnt fumes to be inhaled through nose. Definitely a one-a-nighter.

I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly…

-Ron Burgundy

So, this week’s Dig column focused on the lovely Laphroaig, the distinctly smoky, peaty scotches the famed Islay distillery produces,  and the female distiller who helmed the operation for a generation, Bessie Williamson.

For more smoky scotch tippling, here are a few scotch recipes the ladies of LUPEC curated for an upcoming event hosted by the Boston University Scotch Club in honor of the Women’s Law Association at BU Law. Knock one of these back in honor of lady lawyers, distillers, and scotch lovers everywhere.

Cin cin!

PRINCE EDWARD

In a mixing glass, filled with ice, add:

2 oz Scotch

.75 oz Lillet Blanc

.25 oz Drambuie

Stir to chill, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

BOBBY BURNS (Try with Highland Malt, then another with an Islay)

In a mixing glass, filled with ice, add:

2 oz Scotch

.75 oz Italian Vermouth

.25 oz Drambuie or Benedictine

1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir to chill, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

GENTLE JOHN

In a mixing glass, filled with ice, add:

2 oz Scotch

.5 oz French Vermouth

.25 oz Cointreau

1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir to chill, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

BLOOD & SAND

1 oz Scotch

1 oz OJ

.75 oz Cherry Heering

.75 oz Italian Vermouth

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

THE MAMIE TAYLOR COCKTAIL

1 oz Scotch

.5 oz lime juice

ginger ale

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add Scotch and lime juice and top with ginger ale.

BALVENIE ROB ROY (Also try with an Islay)

In a mixing glass, filled with ice, add:

2 oz Balvenie 12 year Scotch

.75 oz Italian Vermouth

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

LOCH KATRINE

A LUPEC Original, by Hanky Panky

2 oz Scotch

.5 oz Cointreau

.5 oz Lillet Blanc

muddled lavender

In a mixing glass, muddle lavender with Cointreau until fragrant. Fill with ice and add Scotch and Lillet

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

So, in honor of Valentine’s Day (in case you forgot, or don’t care) and the wasteful spending that may accompany it; as well as today, Friday the 13th; here are some timely drink recipes to help you get in the mood (whether the mood is a romantic evening with your significant other, or the merciless slayings of delinquent teenagers, we aren’t judging you.)

Vampire Martini

1 Shot of Bourbon Whiskey
1 Shot of Drambuie
1 Shot of Dubonnet

Stir alcohols together with ice, then strain into a cocktail glass. Drop or spear a cherry or eyeball for decoration. Garnish with blood.

Dark Angel

1 Shot of Black Vodka
1 Shot of Jagermeister
½ can of Red Bull

Pour Red Bull over ice in a highball glass. Add the vodka, the the Jagermeister in layers. Tip: For clean separation of layers, pour alcohol slowly over the back of a spoon into the glass.

Naughty

3 haves strawberries
1 pc watermelon off rind
Muddled jalapeño peppers
1.5 oz tequila
0.5 oz creme de fraise des bois liqueur
0.5 oz sweet and sour

Muddle fruit and jalapeno peppers in glass until pulverized. Add liquor, shake vigerously and strain. Serve in martini glass and garnish with pierced strawberry and jalapeno.

Nice
3 haves strawberries
1 pc watermelon off rind
1.5 oz tequila
0.5 oz creme de fraise des bois liqueur
0.5 oz sweet and sour

Muddle fruit in glass until pulverized, like the teenagers. Add liquor, shake vigorously and strain. Serve in martini glass and garnish with pierced strawberry or eyeball.

It seems that I thought it would be a good idea to post a new cocktail recipe every week through 2009, which is what happens when you leave me in a room with a bottle of 10 Cane. So, without any further ado, I present the first of the fifty-two.

2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, a man who would, over 37 short years, come to embody Scottish literature. Moving between rural Ayrshire and Edinburgh high society, Burns became a major celebrity – his intemperate ways helped him to premature aging and an early grave which is about as rock’n'roll as you can get before Rolls Royces and swimming pools were invented.

Every year, Scots celebrate January 25th the same way – with a dinner for Burns Night. There are toasts to the poet’s immortal memory, the Selkirk Grace, even an address to a haggis. In addition to the traditional celebration, the Scottish Government has launched Homecoming 2009, a series of events aimed at attracting people with Scottish ancestry to visit the country. The fun kicks off on Burns night and, over the course of the year, will cover events like the Edinburgh International Festival, the Heineken Cup Final and the Royal Highland Show. One thing that isn’t included in the calendar is, of course, anything cocktail-related.

See that? Smooth.

There are a decent clutch of contenders for a Burns night cocktail. You could go for a Rob Roy, or a Whisky Mac or Rusty Nail could be in with a shout. Then again, there’s always the Bobby Burns, detailed in the Savoy Cocktail Book, a blend of Scotch, sweet vermouth and Benedictine. It’s a good starting place and a great drink, so I haven’t made any huge changes to it. The major change is that I decided to use Drambuie instead of Benedictine, mainly because it’s Scottish and it fits the idea of the drink. There’s a bonus given that as a whisky-based liqueur, it blends well with pretty much any Scotch as well as bringing a bunch of interesting floral and spicy flavours. On top of that, I decided to push the boat out and use a single malt for the whisky. I had wanted to use Auchentoshan – a Lowland malt – purely because it’s made closer to where Burns grew up than most others, but it’s also triple-distilled and unpeated and didn’t come through against the Drambuie. In the end, I went for a 12 year-old Bowmore, kinda smoky and a bit peaty, but nowhere near as full on as some other Islay malts. Finally, I lobbed in a couple of dashes of Fee Brothers Peach Bitters. It’s not a hugely exciting recipe, but it is a tasty drink and at least it’s a start.

Only fifty-one to go…

Homecoming Cocktail
40ml blended Scotch Whisky (I used Johnnie Walker Black Label)
15ml Drambuie
25ml sweet vermouth (Martini Rosso)
2 dashes Peach Bitters
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled Rocks glass. Garnish with an orange zest twist. It doesn’t have to be as mental as the one in the photo.

For centuries humanity has asked: How best to end a night of drinking? Sexiquette answers: take home the bartender. This week’s Sexy Kit is the Paris Sunrise, that perfect moment between the long night behind and the bitter hangover to come, when life is relaxed, boozy, and still full of promise.

Essentially a long, rambling dawn drive for champagne and oysters, Giovanni’s Room is the perfect way to start the day. After a night of clubbing and nervous flirtation you climb into a cab and make for a bright, cool cafe. Your companion – a wan young bartender. Enjoy a relaxing meal and the promise of drowsy, 9AM lovemaking and the long dreamless sleep to follow. This is the glimmering first sip, so drink up. And best of all – you’re in Paris.

Like Giovanni, the Culloden promises delight and packs a hidden punch. The champagne and Drambuie are a perfect blend of dry and sweet, light and dark, night and day. Plus, the recipe itself involves drinking.

Fill a glass with champagne.

Drink away top inch.

Float one inch of Drambuie on top.

Let gravity do the rest.

Our lingerie is Fantasie by Fifi Chachnil, not least because the pale pink and black lace compliment the light and dark tones of the Culloden. The matching thong and skirt make us think of draped bed sheets – which are the perfect attire for lounging under slanted garret windows. Yes, you’ve finally made it back to bed and you hate to be rude, but you’ve simply got to steal across the room for one last cigarette – and you want to wear something sheer and clingy when you do.

PS: By the way, sweeties, we have further articulated our raison d’être beyond our suggestive banner. Check out the new About page for our lofty manifesto, in the service of your pleasure and education. xoxo – suzy

Ultimate Martini Holiday 08

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® ULTIMATE MARTINI COCKTAIL

3 parts BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® Gin

A dash NOILLY PRAT® Original French Dry Vermouth

Pour ingredients into a shaker filled with ice, stir thoroughly and strain into a chilled martini cocktail glass. Garnish with green olives or a twist of lemon, if desired.

In case you haven’t heard enough about politics recently, I missed a press release Oct 31, from the Jack Daniels Distillery.  Of course it was Halloween and the scary cocktails kept me a little busy, but this is exciting and interesting news.  The Jack Daniels Distillery will honor the next President we now know to be Obama by setting aside a barrel of Tennessee Whiskey at the time of the swearing-in ceremony.  This “Presidential Barrel” will be set aside to continue maturing through the seasons.  Once the whiskey reaches full maturity, the barrel will be bottled, sold and all proceeds will go to various charities.  There is more commentary within the Jack Daniels press release which makes for interesting quoted reading. 

Malt Advocate honored Welsh Whisky Co. with “The Microdistillery of the Year” award for their highly regarded single malt whisky, Penderyn.  The list of honorees will be published in the January 2009 issue of Malt Advocate.  Gillian Howell, distiller of Penderyn, accepted the award at Whiskyfest earlier this month.  Penderyn is distilled in a specially designed still, aged in used bourbon barrels and finished in Madeira casks.  John Hansell, editor of Malt Advocate describes Penderyn as “soft, pleasant whisky, with layers of creamy sweetness (vanilla, toffee), delicate fruit (coconut, blueberry, black raspberry), and almond.”  Read more in the Welsh Whisky press release.

Several Diageo employees were honored at the National Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Conference last month for their outstanding dedication to community service.  The women recognized: Elizabeth Gutierrez, Pamela Penn, Garset Gayle-Flemmings, and Marsha McIntosh.  The press release describes what each of these women do within their respective fields and the activities they pursue in community service.  We all would do well to read about these women and take a look within our own communities to see what part we could do to lend a hand no matter how small or large a part we are able to contribute.  Ladies, thank you for the positive news!

I must admit, I am not very Facebook savvy, however Facebook is CorkSavvy.  CorkSavvy just launched a Wine Journal and Virtual Bottle Rack for Facebook.  This too brings wine lovers a variety of tools that entertain and educate.  Rather than keep a handwritten journal that so often may get lost or may not be available while you are out of town, now CorkSavvy makes it easy for mobile use.  Keep detailed tasting notes, memorable vintages and dining experiences with the click of a few computer keys.  Something else you can’t do with handwritten journals that you can do with CorkSavvy…share with friends anywhere in the world at anytime.  Read about it in the press release and give it a try.

Millbrook Vineyards and Winery offers custom labeled wine for personalized gifts for the holidays.  Millbrook’s entire selection of wines is available for label-customization.  The turnaround time for custom-labeled wine is seven to ten days which sound about normal for online ordering to me.  Shipping is available almost everywhere within the U.S.  The exception of course would be states that still do not allow wine to be shipped in state.  Take a look at the Custom Labeled Wine press release from Millbrook and then hop on over to their site for a virtual tour.

Seann William Scott

DRAMBUIE hosts the 2009 DRAMBUIE Pursuit in May 2009.  This is an adrenaline-packed competition, consisting of a series of grueling outdoor adventure races across the Scottish Highlands.  Events include archery, white-water rafting, dune-buggy racing and many other breathtaking challenges.  The course follows a 100-mile course that has roots in the history of passion and rebellion of Scotland’s rebel Bonnie Prince Charlie.  This is the Prince of DRAMBUIE lore who gifted the recipe of this delicious liqueur to his loyal subjects.  Read the press release to find out more about the 2009 DRAMBUIE Pursuit and find out how you can apply for a chance to join actor Seann William Scott’s team.

This was mentioned yesterday morning in front page posting, but there is a press release to read in full.  BORU Vodka’s “Defend the Bar Band” competition has chosen a winner.  Loveblisters song “Devotion” may be heard through YANGAROO’S DMDS format.  The link is found in the front page posting or click on the YANGAROO press release.  The Loveblisters sound fabulous by the way.  So did many others.  I am sure the battle was fierce and a tough choice to make.  Good luck to all who entered. 

·         Stirred Not Shaken!

·         Jack Daniel Distillery to Honor Next President with Special Inaugural Barrel of Tennessee Whiskey

·         Welsh Whisky Honored as 2008 Microdistillery of the Year

·         Diageo Employees Recognized at National Women of Color STEM Conference

·         Facebook Gets CorkSavvy: Share Your Wine Favorites with the Online Wine Journal

·         Custom Labeled Wine: A Creative, Affordable and Tasteful Holiday Gift

·         Seann William Scott to Compete in the 2009 DRAMBUIE(R) Pursuit Competition

·         YANGAROO and Castle Brands Collaborate for eNote Promotion for Boru Vodka

These are the press releases posted yesterday.  On with the show today!  As always…I appreciate every read!

The Intoxicologist

Str8upcocktails@gmail.com

http://www.drambuie.com/

http://www.pursuitof1745.com/

www.jackdaniels.com

www.yangaroo.com

www.bombaysapphire.com

James Moreland

http://www.Diageo.com/

http://www.DRINKiQ.com/