Sangria

Sangria is such a memory drink for me. It was one of the first things I ever drank out: I went with my roommate freshman year to Little Italy for dinner. We had heard that they didn't really card at those restaurants, so we should be fine to order wine, but throughout the meal neither of us could quite get up the courage to ask for fear of being embarrassed. We kept going back and forth, should we or shouldn't we, when finally the waiter comes and gives us each a glass of sangria for free without asking for ID. It worked out, but how chicken were we?

But more than anything, I associate sangria with Sam & Lesley and Mexican restaurants. Sangria is a Spanish drink, but they serve it by the pitcher in quite a few New York Mexican restaurants and nothing goes better with anything than chips and salsa. I just think of walking around Gramercy in the spring of senior year looking for a spot to get sangria after seeing the cinematic masterpiece that is "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Being cut off by the waiter (in chips and salsa that is). Wine hangovers in the morning. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for the city these days and this is the perfect drink to bring it out.

Here's to making more (hazy) memories this summer with sangria by my side:

1 bottle full-bodied red wine

2 ounces brandy

2 ounces simple syrup

sliced fruit

1 cup soda water/ginger ale/lemon-lime

-Stir ingredients in a pitcher with ice cubes and add soda just before serving (so it doesn't go flat).

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Sidecar

The sidecar is a classic that I've always wanted to order, but was always a little more than I wanted to spend. If you have the money, you should definitely go for it because it's a great drink.

The sidecar was my companion the other night as I watched Jonny Depp Jack the Ripper flick "From Hell." It was a good thing I was drinking something good because the movie was not. Jonny, you're pretty to look at and a good actor, but no. Honey, no. I'm sorry, but prostitutes in Victorian London did not look like this:

Age her by 25 years, yank out some of her teeth and infect her with any number of maladies and then maybe she would look like a 19th century Whitechapel resident. Seriously.

Umm...well that was a tiny rant that had nothing to do with the booze. Here's how you can survive mediocre (I won't use the term "bad") movies too!

1 1/2 ounce cognac or brandy

3/4 ounce Cointreau

Juice 1/4 lemon

-Shake in cocktail shake and strain into cocktail glass.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Brandy Alexander

Although I understand why the Brandy Alexander is more popular than the original Alexander -- it's smoother, sweeter, and less complicated -- I don't know that I like it more. Don't get me wrong, I love brandy like Liz Lemon loves sandwiches, but this drink was a little bit easy. Not to say that I wouldn't have another because I most certainly would. It may even make my top ten list when I reach the halfway point, I'm just saying that the original Alexander might be a spot or two higher. It's creamy and delicious could probably get you into trouble.

1 ounce brandy

1 ounce créme de cacao

1 ounce cream (or soymilk)

-Shake with cracked ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

French 75

At the very beginning of this project, nay BEFORE this project even began, I flipped through my recipe book and saw this little gem. I saw it and knew deep within my heart that it was going to be the best drink ever. I looked forward to the day when I would have all the necessary ingredients and I would be able to have my first taste of what I was sure would be my cocktail life partner. Well last night, the universe aligned and...

...I was a bit disappointed to be honest. Part of the problem was that I used Brut champagne instead of Extra dry like the directions say. Oops! But the bigger problem was that it was too lemony, which I suppose is an easy fix for next time, but I still don't know if the French 75 would be quite the drink I had imagined. It just sounded so luxe on paper and tasted a little meh in real life.

Based on some minimal reading online (usually I like to pretend that I'm the first person who's ever thought to make a cocktail blog and ignore all others except when stealing images), I found that this is usually made with gin instead of brandy, but my book lists that as a champagne collins. I like my books version better: more variations, more betterer.

1 1/2 ounce brandy

1/2 ounce simple syrup

1 ounce lemon (don't use this much!)

Extra dry champagne

-add simple syrup and lemon to iced highball glass, then add brandy. Fill with champagne and stir gently.

Enjoy and bottoms up!

Metropolitan

A+, 5 Stars, Two thumbs way up! I liked this drink so much! It did what I've been wanting a drink to do: it skirted the line between light, delicious girly drink and heavy, unsubtle manly drink (I'm looking at you, Old Fashioned). I don't know if this would be so good if I weren't the experienced drinker I am at this point (at least in comparison to the lightweights I know), but I'm going to recommend it anyway.

1 1/2 ounce brandy

1 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth

Splash of simple syrup

Dash of bitters

-Stir over cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass.

When I was looking for pictures to put on my post, I noticed that a fair few places on the internet had the metropolitan confused with the cosmopolitan. They share none of the same ingredients! I have yet to try the cosmo, but I think the metro has a lot more intrigue to offer!

On another note, I know not many people read this and even fewer comment. So I was hoping you would tell me your favorite cocktail, whether it be a frequent bar order or something you mix up at home! Do it to make me smile inside!

Champagne Punch

Yay! I got my first punch out of the way! I really feel like the punch chapter has the potential to ruin this whole project for me, unless I manage to get a full time job. Sad.

Anyway, I should say that the above picture is just A champagne punch and not THE champagne punch that I made. Mine being much less beautiful but probably just as tasty. Here's what you do:

4 ounces lemon juice

4 ounces pineapple juice

3 ounces grenadine

1 cup brandy

3 ounces triple sec

1 bottle white wine

2 bottles chilled champagne

-Combine everything except champagne over ice and stir. Add champagne just before serving.

In general this was good, but wasn't nearly as flavorful as I was expecting. I really thought there would be multiple layers of delicious, complex and surprising. I think it would have tasted pretty similar with just the wine, champagne, and triple sec.

I should say that I didn't drink all this punch alone: I brought it to a house warming party for El, and I am told people drank it completely. I wouldn't know because I'm an old lady who left at 9:00 to go home and sleep.

I did some more imbibing tonight, but I'm super super tired now, so I'll save that post for tomorrow.

Enjoy and bottoms up!