Basic Daiquiri/Sea Breeze

Well, I'm certainly making progress on this project. I don't know how I should feel about being ahead of schedule: proud for sticking with the project or afraid for my waste line that I'm drinking so much more than usual. I will say that it's been more than 6 weeks since I made a drunken fool of myself, so that seems promising.

The basic daiquiri actually came to fruition last night, and it was a minor success. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1 ounce lime juice

1 tsp sugar

-Shake well with cracked ice and strain into glass.

The drink was generally good, but there was a problem with the sugar. I don't think I took the "shake well" instruction seriously enough so I ended up with a bunch of sugar that wasn't properly incorporated into the drink. By the end of the drink I had a sludge of sugar at the bottom that was not at all like the milk at the end of the cereal bowl. Next time I would shake more or use simple syrup.

So the above picture is more conceptual than literal: I'm vegan so I would never drink a bird no matter what my cocktail book told me to do. Here is the recipe for a sea breeze:

1 1/2 ounces vodka

2 ounces cranberry juice

2 ounces grapefruit juice

-Shake in cocktail shaker and add to iced glass.

This is a case where I bought the quality mixer and it turns out that I just don't like grapefruit juice. This drink was overall okay as in, I think it was made properly, but I didn't particularly care for it. If you like grapefruit, then you'll probably like this drink since that's all it tastes like.

When I'm not drinking cocktails for this project, I am mostly drinking wine. Tonight, post sea breeze, I had a glass of pinot gris from A to Z in Newberg, Oregon. Very nice. I am no wine expert (another project for another year), but I am enjoying this one.

Also, while I'm reviewing things, I'll put in a plug for No Logo by Naomi Klein. Yes, it's 10 years old and a little out of date at times. Yes, if you've spent enough time with Maria B or in Eugene in generally, you probably know a lot of the information in there. However, I still think it's a really good and important read, especially the first three sections. I've dedicated most of my summer to reading this and Alex Ross's "The Rest is Noise," and both were worth the time commitment.

Not to end the post on a down note, but I have to give my movie choice for the evening, the 2002 version of The Importance of Being Earnest, a thumbs down. I thought this movie adaptation didn't play to the play's strengths at all. I know that English people in the countryside saying clever things isn't always movie magic, but trying to infuse the movie with additional locations and fantasy scenes was unnecessary. Boo.

Enjoy and bottoms up!